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"It wasn’t enough."
"You have to say no to this challenge."
"Too late, I’ve already said yes."
"If you get hurt, it’ll cripple the chances the team has of winning the league."
His features shadow. "That’s true. Which is why I cannot not win this fight. But if, for some reason, I don’t, I’ve arranged for Finn to take over as Captain."
I search his face. "So this is it? Nothing I say can sway you from this fight?"
He holds my gaze and his features soften. "You're worried about me?"
"Of course I am." I slap at his shoulder. "I’m wearing your ring. It means…something."Oh god, did I say that? How could I have let that slip? It means nothing that I’m wearing his ring. Nothing. This is an arrangement, that’s all it is. So, why do I feel sick inside at the thought of him putting his life and his career in jeopardy?
A slow burn starts somewhere behind his eyes, until that cold fire crackles in his irises. It feels like the dark blue air bubbles you see trapped under a sheet of ice. Bubbles which ebb and flow and burst, lending intensity to his expression, the one that has always pinned me down and rendered me helpless to his influence.
"Forget it; it’s your life. Do whatever you want to do with it." I lower my hand and begin to turn away, then gasp when he clamps his fingers around my neck and pulls me into him.
36
Rick
She stumbles into me. Her sweet honeysuckle scent teases my senses and goes straight to my head. Her gaze widens; she looks up at me and her pupils dilate. "Wh-what are you doing?" she whispers.
"The ring means something to you, hmm?"
She swallows, then holds up her hand and looks at the circle of diamonds. "I don’t want it to. It’s an empty gesture, so the rest of the world can believe our farce, but from the moment you slipped it on my finger"—she laughs, a low confused sound—"it felt like we were connected."
"I felt it, too."
She jerks up her chin. "You did?" She swallows.
"Do you still have feelings for that douchebag, Dennis?"
She hesitates. And it’s as if she’s plunged a sword into my chest. Anger sparks at my nerve-endings; my chest tightens. She must see something on my face for she shakes her head. "You’re misunderstand. I told you I was in love with him when we were in a relationship. And at least according to how I felt then, I thought I was in love. I know now it probably wasn’t. But I’m still upset from walking in on him with another woman, someone who was my friend, no less."
"She was your friend?" I frown.Why the hell didn’t I know about this?
"Was. She worked at the same agency as me. She worked on different accounts, and we competed to get promoted in the company…for awards…to win the biggest accounts. I thought we were friends, but I guess she didn’t. Which became painfully clear when she decided my personal life wasn’t off limits, ya know?" Hurt clings to her expression. The sides of her lips draw down. "When I think about it now, I realize it wasn't so much that I was sad to lose Dennis. It was the betrayal that hurt—the idea that two people I trusted, two people I considered allies, would do something behind my back that they knew would hurt me… She was a colleague. I thought of her as a friend, but she viewed me as an adversary." She sighs. "I don't know, I suppose it was my fault. I was so focused on building my career, I didn’t have enough time for Dennis and—"
"Stop. Don’t blame yourself for what happened. No matter what went down, I know you gave it your best shot. She's a bitch and never deserved to have a friend like you. And it’s Dennis's fault that he didn’t understand you and support you. If you’d been mine, I’d have never allowed you to get hurt. I’d have done everything in my power to make you happy. I’d have supported your career, and been there for you emotionally, mentally"—I bend my knees and peer into her eyes—"physically."
She swallows. "When you say these words with such conviction, I’m almost sure you mean it."
"I never say anything I don’t mean."
"And the way you always know what to say to calm me down, it’s just…" She shakes her head. "It’s so right."
I massage the muscles at the base of her neck which have wound up as we've been talking. I dig my fingers into the tendons and work out the knots.
She sighs and melts into me. "Thanks." She pushes her forehead into my chest, then wraps her arms about my waist. "That feels so good."
I bring up my other hand and continue to knead her back, her shoulders, then the dip at the base of her neck. "Oh my god," she groans, and the blood drains to my groin.
She makes a humming sound at the back of her throat, and my cock instantly lengthens. My balls tense, and my pulse rate speeds up. She moves in closer, and when her pelvis cradles the tent at my crotch, she freezes. "Umm… You’re."
"Ignore it," I say through gritted teeth.
