Page 128 of They Wouldn't Dare

I laughed and pulled away to see her face. Yara lifted her brows, tilting her head to the side. She’d been asking me this question for the past few weeks after she found one of her journals from our senior year in college.

“Yara, come on,” I said, holding out only because I enjoyed hearing her guesses. Seeing her try to put the puzzle pieces together. “Really?”

“Really.” She poked my chest. “Why are you so secretive about it?”

“I’m not. I totally forgot about it until you started bringing it up.”

“David, please.” Yara crossed her arms over her chest, offering the prettiest pout I’ve ever seen. I groaned. It was impossible to deny her anything.

“You are so gorgeous,” I mused, taking her face between my hands and pulling her close enough so that my forehead pressed against hers. “You know that.”

She grinned. “I do. Now stop stalling.”

“Fine, fine. But only because I’m exhausted and need to get up early tomorrow.” I exaggerated a sigh. “I was… seeing you.”

Yara laughed and pointed at me. “Iknewit! I knew you didn’t have anyone.”

“Hold on, hold on.” I held up my hands. “No, you did not. There’s no way you knew that.”

“I did! You were so obsessed with me, you couldn’t have been dating anyone else.” She was buzzing with vindication.

I playfully bit the finger she pointed at me. Yara snatched it back and used her other finger to carry on its blaming legacy.

“Obsessedwith me,” she repeated with a laugh.

“Was not.” I grabbed her waist, trying to pull her back into my lap. Yara put up a fight, and we ended up wrestling until she was lying underneath me on the couch.

“Not fair.” She wiggled out of breath and full of laughter. “You’re not allowed to use pro-football moves. We agreed.”

I snorted. “That was hardly a pro-move. You should see me on the field.”

“I always see you on the field.” Yara had never missed one game. Whether she had to take her laptop for work into the NFL suite or not, she was there, cheering me on.

“Sure, but are you ever paying attention to anything other than my ass?” I asked.

She was silent for a moment before letting out a huff of surrender. “Fine. I yield.”

I grinned. “You yield?”

“Yes, for now.” She squirmed some more before I got off her.

“I just…” I laughed under my breath a bit, remembering how caught up I’d been in image and trying to hide the parts of me I didn’t want her to see back then. “I said I was seeing someone so you wouldn’t think I was waiting around for you all the time.”

She sat up, readjusting her bonnet with a bright smile on her face. “But you were.”

“When I wasn’t practicing.” I ran a hand through my hair. “Sure, I guess.”

“Sure?” Yara laughed and crawled into my lap. “That’s all I get? A sure? I guess?”

“Fine. Yes, then,” I said, voice hoarse as she lowered herself onto me. I knew she felt how hard I was from how her pupils dilated. “I didn’t realize it, but I was obsessed with you. Seeing you. Hearing you. Wanting you. You were the best part of every moment. Still are and always will be.”

“Why couldn’t you just say that?”

“And ruin all the fun we had?” I shook my head. “I wouldn’t dare.”

Yara leaned in closer, her lips hovering over mine. “You’re really a piece of work, you know that, Mr. Evans?”

I nodded. “But you love, don’t you, Mrs. Evans? You love me.”

“Till my final breath,” she promised. “What about you?”

“Till my final breath,” I agreed. “And many millennia after.”

Yara shook her head, smiling. “Always trying to one-up me.”

I kissed her, tattooing the promise on her lips so she’d memorize the taste of it.

The feel of it.

The truth of it.