AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Sorry.” He swam up to me, resting his upper body on my knees. I ran my hands through his hair, gazing down at him.
“Thank you.”
“You don’t need to thank me, Lily. It’s what boyfr…” He froze, his lips stuck mid-word. “I didn’t mean—”
“Can I ask you something?” I said, fighting a smile.
“Anything.”
“What are we, Kaiden? I mean… I don’t need a label or anything, but I guess I want to know if—”
“Mine, Lily, you’re mine.” The possessiveness in his voice made my breath hitch.
“Does that make you mine?”
“Yeah, it does.” He leaned up, kissing me. I curved my hand over his shoulder, whimpering when his tongue slid against mine.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that,” I breathed.
My heart was still racing but it was for an entirely different reason now.
The warm water lapped around us as our tongues slid together. Kaiden made everything quiet. My overactive thoughts, the pit in my stomach, the little voice in my head telling me to stay in the shadows.
He silenced them all until I was just a girl kissing a guy…
And falling headfirst in love with him.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Kaiden
“Looking good, Thatcher,”Coach Ford boomed across the field as I jogged back into position. It was my first practice as quarterback, but the mood was tense.
Monroe’s guys were wary of me, of falling in line behind me. But Coach had set them straight in the locker room. Monroe was out for the rest of the season, and since he needed extensive surgery on his arm, he wouldn’t be back to school anytime soon. We had seven games left to play, and if we wanted to make the playoffs, we couldn’t afford to mess up now.
I knew it. They knew it. We all knew it.
I just hoped they could put the shit with Monroe behind us. I didn’t want their approval or even their friendship. But I needed their respect on the field. We needed to be able to work as a team if we were going to get the job done.
“Okay,” he yelled. “Run it again.”
Aaron crouched down, waiting for me to call the play. I gave the order, and he snapped the ball to me. Dropping back, I waited for my running back. He faked the handoff and I rolled around him, cradling the ball right into my body and then sent it sailing down field to the open arms of the receiver.
“Nice.” Aaron held out his fist and I bumped it, glancing over to where Coach was saying something to Xander.
I still couldn’t get a read on our new assistant coach. He wasn’t like any coach I’d ever met. He was tardy, refused to let us call him coach, and usually looked like he’d just rolled out of bed. But Coach seemed to like having him around.
“Thatcher, get over here.” He beckoned me over to them.
“What’s up, Coach?” I said, a little breathless from forty minutes of solid drills.
“I want you and Xander to work together on some escape drills for the rest of the session.”
“Okay.” I frowned underneath my helmet.
“Don’t look so concerned,” he chuckled. “Xander was one of the best QBs the Raiders has ever seen. Almost as good as me.”
Something passed between the two men, but then Xander glanced away, releasing a long, steady breath as if he was struggling to keep his shit together.
