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“It was good. But we’re playing LSU.”
“Your old team.”
He nods, a grim look on his face. “It’s going to be an interesting matchup. They know me well, but I know them well too.” He nudges my shoulder. “You should come on Saturday. Do you have work? It’s at noon.”
Part of me wants to say no right away, but wouldn’t a girlfriend go to her boyfriend’s games, especially when he’s playing his old team? It would probably be weirder if I wasn’t there. “Sure, that sounds nice.”
“Awesome.” He smiles widely, transforming his face from simply handsome to stunning. My breath catches in my throat half a second before I remember I’m not supposed to let this attraction root any deeper. “Feel free to bring Laura or anyone else, I have plenty of tickets.”
“Will your brothers be there?”
“Not Cooper, unfortunately. He has a game in Vermont. But Seb will be there, and my parents.”
I nearly choke on my drink. “James.”
“What? You’ll like them.” He leans in a bit, dropping his voice even lower. “Even fake girlfriends can meet the folks.”
“What about friends?” I whisper back.
For some reason, that makes him brush his lips against my forehead. “Definitely.”
His kiss unleashes a cloud of butterflies in my belly. I’ve been trying to ignore it—especially when he crossed over the line—but it’s useless. Something about my body reacts to his in a way it does for no one else. I want to feel his lips on mine. His hands. When he brushed my skin as he zipped up my dress earlier, I had to press my legs together to relieve the ache his touch inspired.
If his kisses are anything to go by, he would be amazing in bed. If only I’d be capable of keeping it casual, I’d be all over him. We’d never work as a couple, but as a hookup?
“You’re staring,” I tell him.
He grins. “Sweetheart, you stared first.”
Crap. That was probably true.
He puts his hand on my thigh. It’s underneath the table, so no one can see; it’s not for the benefit of the server or the nosy couple. It’s very clearly for one person—me.
I swallow. His gaze flickers down to my throat and lower before settling back on my face. His hand, which covers my thigh easily, squeezes lightly. “Don’t try to make this any more or less than it can be,” he says.
I nod.
“Don’t leave me tonight, baby. Stay.”
I shouldn’t say yes. I should keep the boundary between us as airtight as possible. Because this scares me. This could so easilylead to deeper feelings, and I’ll be the one looking foolish again the second James finds someone he truly wants to be with or decides he doesn’t need our deal anymore.
Before him, I had no trouble doing the smart thing. Now? I make decisions I shouldn’t left and right. Like asking someone my body aches for to pretend to date me.
Yet the streak continues; I nod. I lean in. I press a lingering kiss to his mouth, promising him—and myself—something I have no business offering.
But in this moment, with candlelight shining on the table and James’s ocean eyes on mine, I don’t care.
Chapter 17
Bex
The second we get in the house, James hauls me over his shoulder. I shriek at him to mind the dress, which just makes him laugh. Thrown unceremoniously over his shoulder, I’m aware of every single one of his muscles. This is why athletes are the best; their bodies are toned to perfection. He steadies me by cupping his hand on my ass, making me shiver as he climbs the stairs.
Hopefully Cooper is super intoCrime and Punishment. It would be just my luck if he came out just in time to see James drag me, caveman-style, to his lair. I knew he was working up to something; he kept his hand on my upper thigh the whole ride home.
I might be ateenybit thrilled I’m affecting someone so much. This is going to blow up in my face, but I’m resigned and determined to have fun first.
“You’re being barbaric, you know.”
