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“And you’re a fan,” I supply, feeling a fuck-ton better about showing up over here after all.
Natalie nods, her breath whooshing out. “I’m a fan.”
I wait a beat…
Her brows pinch, and her eyes flick from my mug on the big screen back to my knowing grin. “Of the game,” she adds a little breathlessly. “I’m a fan of the game.”
My grin spreads wider, becausethisis the girl from Vancouver.
“Yep. Got it.” She’s notjusta fan of the game.
“Vaughn!” Oh yeah, there it is, the exasperated laugh she kept giving me that first night.
“Vaughn,” I mimic, taking a step closer, because fuck if I can stop myself when her smile lights up like that.
“I was watching thegame. I rewatch all the highlights.” Her arms cross and her hip juts out. “So whatever you’re hoping was going on here… forget it.”
Wiping the smile from my face, I shrug. Wait a beat. And lean closer to her ear. “So you weren’t watching my face, thinking about what it was like having it between—?”
Eyes scrunching shut, she clamps a hand over my mouth.
I’m pretty sure she doesn’t mean to encourage me with all that shocked indignation. But even with just one night behind us… she ought to know better.
I’m standing close now. And when she meets my eyes, her head tips back and she’sAllie. She blinks, pulling her hand away.
This is the girl whose laugh and smile and soft, needy moans I can’t stop thinking about. I went nuts when she took off like she did. No number. No idea how to get in touch with her.
But now here she is, those bright blue eyes locked with mine, her breath shallowing out as the seconds pass. As my fingers itch with the need to touch her.
She’s right here.
I could do it. Reach out and slide my hand beneath those soft curls. Pull her in so her perfect little tits press into my chest. Take her mouth.
Slip into all that sweet and wet and—
But now I know who she is. And who she is, is why she left. Even before I was playing on her brother’s team, we would have been looking at a total shitstorm if anyone found out she’d let me touch her. One I wouldn’t have minded so much then, but with everything I’ve got at stake now, Natalie Baxter is a risk I can’t afford to take.
I step back, crossing my arms over my chest. It doesn’t feel like enough distance, but until I get past this initial shock, I’m not sure anything would be.
Maybe it’s enough for Natalie though, because she smiles and shoves her hands into her pockets, shrugging her shoulders into a hunch.
She bites her lip and looks away. “So what do we do from here? I mean, now that you know?”
Now that I know her last name is Baxter and one wrong move means my career is fucked? And I thought she threw me off balance in Vancouver.
“For starters, you’re going to start showing up for games and all the social shit you’ve been dodging to avoid me. You won’t see me at most of it anyway, and even if you do, so what? I’m just another guy on the team and you’re just another family member.”
That pink bottom lip pulls free from the clasp of her teeth. It’s soft and full, and I probably shouldn’t be wondering if it tastes like the cherry ChapStick I’m betting she still keeps in her jeans pocket.
“Should we pretend we don’t know each other? Maybe pretend we’re meeting for the first time?”
Wiping a hand over my mouth, I laugh. “No way.”
Natalie did a pretty bang-up job of omitting a few pertinent facts when we first met, but something tells me she’s not quite the actress she’d need to be to fake never having met me before. Not after what we did.
“Nah. People will figure we’ve met somewhere along the line. No one is going to question it or be watching too closely.”
“Makes sense.”
