Total pages in book: 186
Estimated words: 176552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 883(@200wpm)___ 706(@250wpm)___ 589(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 176552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 883(@200wpm)___ 706(@250wpm)___ 589(@300wpm)
I didn’t let myself linger on the symbolism. He unlocked the car, and I slid into the passenger seat, grateful for the pre-warmed interior. The leather was buttery-soft beneath me, and the air smelled like him—clean, mint-laced. A scent I’d once thought meant safety and comfort. He got in a beat later, shutting the door behind him with a muted thud. Then, with a look I couldn’t quite read, Ashton reached over and touched my cheek, fingertips gentle, coaxing me to face him.
His lips moved against mine with a tenderness that made the weight of the day dissolve. Then he deepened the kiss with a soft nudge of his tongue, coaxing rather than claiming. A quiet sound escaped me, something caught between surprise and surrender, as his hand slid from my jaw down the side of my neck, warm and steady. There was no rush, no urgency, just the steady pressure of his mouth against mine and the faint, velvety sound of lips parting, meeting, parting again. When he finally pulled back, his green eyes were full of easy affection. A crooked smile softened the edges of his face.
“You’re so damn pretty,” he murmured, his fingertips brushing one last time across my jawline.
“So are you,” I teased.
He laughed and righted himself in his seat. “What do you want to eat? I’m starving.”
I buckled my seatbelt and fished my phone from my bag. “I’m fine with whatever,” I answered, typing out my usual check-in text to my family.
Everyone got one, so there weren’t any hurt feelings. My parents, grandparents, and baby sister. It didn’t matter that we were still in the same town or that I visited every few weekends on top of seeing them at half our home games. They were adamant that I keep in touch. Ryder and Cade usually came along when I went since their house was right across the street. That Friday, in fact, we were heading back together.
“‘Whatever’ isn’t an answer,” Ashton prodded as he pulled out of the lot, glancing over at me.
“What are you in the mood for?”
He grinned. “You.”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s dessert.”
“Then we really need to find our main course.”
I smiled at the flirtation, telling myself, for what felt like the thousandth time, that this was what I needed. Something easy, predictable, and soft enough not to bruise me. He didn’t unravel me with a single look or make my lungs forget how to work when our eyes collided. He didn’t lace through every half-formed thought and dream like an inescapable ghost. He didn’t have possession of parts of me I’d buried so deeply I pretended they didn’t exist—the parts that had always, without question, belonged to my best friend. That’s why I was with him.
And exactly why I never should have been.
CHAPTER TWO
RYDER
I wrapped a towel around my waist, using another on my hair as I stepped out of the shower. Covering up wasn’t mandatory. Most of the guys let their dicks swing free without any shame. It didn’t bother me one way or the other, but I liked to spare myself the interest in my piercings. No matter how many times I explained the process, someone always asked about it once they caught a glimpse, and I had better things to do than discuss having my dick pierced.
The usual noise filled the locker room: laughter, lockers slamming shut, the low hum of post-practice energy winding down. My muscles still buzzed from the workout I always got on the field, a steady ache settling in my shoulders and legs. The shower shoes Sanjana always cycled in for me squeaked against the floor as I walked, each step pressing into sore calves and thighs that felt stretched tight but solid, in a good way.
From the showers, Dougie’s unmistakable voice echoed through the steam, belting out an N-Sync song in a dramatic falsetto. A chorus of groans and laughter followed, but that didn’t stop him from going all in. A few of the guys caved and sang along like a fucking choir, their voices ranging from surprisingly decent to completely off-key. Same shit, new day. Dougie always picked a different song, anything from country to heavy metal. The man was a living-breathing jukebox.
I moved to my locker, grabbed my lotion, clean clothes, and deodorant, feeling every pull and flex in my shoulders as I got dressed. Cade and Xander were on either side of me, talking about some chick who wanted a two-man.
I was too busy trying to ignore the fact that there was one person notably missing. Ashton had showered fast, said something about meeting his girl, and then got the hell outta there. If I had her waiting on me, I wouldn’t have even bothered with the locker room. I’d have insisted we shower at home, so we could both unwind differently. Together. But I wasn’t the one she was going home with.