Page 26 of Coaching Prince Charming

“That, too,” I agreed. “We’re nothing without a little bit of online whoring.”

Nate barked a laugh and shook his head, and it was scary how proud I was that I’d made that happen. I rubbed my open palm against my pants, wiping off the sudden slickness of perspiration.

I could sense his proximity in more ways than one. He was there, next to me, with all his glorious beauty and the heat radiating from his body. He was mostly facing me aside from one leg that he stretched away from me.

“I hate to lose a good player,” Nate said carefully. “But it would be worse to cage you and force you to play against your will.”

I bit my lip and looked into his eyes. The quiet moment that followed made me aware of my own heartbeat. “On the upside, you’re not my coach anymore.”

A tremor passed over his brow, his eyebrows curving for an instant before he smoothed his expression. I could see the tension in the way he gripped his knee with one hand. “I’m still college staff, Carter. It changes nothing.”

“I’ll drop out,” I offered.

“Why would you do that?” he demanded in a tone that was abruptly loud and frustrated.

His voice triggered my annoyance, and I held nothing back. “Don’t act like you don’t know.”

Hastily, Nate lifted his hand from his knee and rubbed his face. “This is wrong, Carter. All of this is wrong. You’re putting me in an impossible position.”

“Because you like me, too?” I asked, my voice thin and high.

He pressed his lips tightly. I saw now that the anger this caused wasn’t simply because I was annoyingly forward. He did like me. The sparks flaring from his eyes weren’t fueled by hate. They were sad, in part, but they were also lustful. I had always wanted him to look at me this way.

“Because you know we are the two sides of the same coin,” I said, putting my Coke on the table and shifting to face him with my whole body. In doing so, I gained an inch or two of space between us. “We keep running from the truth, Nate. But I’m done running. It’s fucking liberating to tell you this.”

“Carter, I’m…”

“If you say you’re too old one more time, Nate, I swear to God…” I rolled my eyes at him and still leaned in a little closer.

“But I am,” he said firmly. I wondered what it cost him to keep doing this. The beads of sweat on his forehead were telling enough that his resolve was beginning to crack.

“And Dana’s your oldest friend. I know, I know.” I pouted for only a second. “You keep flinging these reasons at me, Nate, but I’m done playing by anyone’s rules.”

“Even if they’re my rules?” he asked in a voice slightly louder than a whisper. He closed his eyes while a frown creased the space between his eyebrows.

“I would if they were really yours,” I admitted. “But they’re not. It’s your loyalty to my dad and some foolish idea that you’re doing me a favor. I don’t believe it.”

His lower lip trembled, and I could feel my heart splitting for him.

I put my hand over his, expecting him to jerk it back and send me away at any moment, but he didn’t. He was still and silent, not even breathing.

“If you tell me there’s no chance at all, I’ll believe you,” I said. It was a gamble, but I would respect the outcome. “Not even the slightest chance. If you really think that, I’ll get up and go away. I won’t bother you again.”

“You’re not bothering me,” he whispered.

I needed a second to still my heart a little. “So you don’t think it’s totally doomed.”

He opened his eyes, and a storm of emotions was raging in them. “Do you have any idea how hard you’re making this?”

“Tell me,” I dared him.

He flipped his hand over, suddenly controlling my wrist. It made my stomach leap to be at his mercy. “If you can think that I’m immune to someone as sweet and good-looking as you, Carter, then you don’t consider me human. But that’s not what you actually think, right? You think I’ll cave in if you push hard enough.”

I nodded. My breaths were too shallow to let me speak at all.

His grip on my wrist tightened, and he leaned closer. “You keep teasing me, flirting with me, torturing me.” His face was getting closer to mine. His smooth, clear skin still had a bit of that summer tan. His cologne crawled into my nostrils, reminding me of a forest breeze in the mountains. “Do you have any idea what that does to me? I’m trying to do the right thing, Carter. I’m trying to be a good person, but even I have a limit to what I can take.”

I bit my lip hard. With every word he said, the distance between us closed. I realized that I was leaning in, too. The room was getting hotter every second. Or it was my body that was heating up. I gazed into his eyes and read the pained expression as the full admission. “I don’t want you to obey the rules, Nathan,” I whispered. Where he gripped my wrist, my skin burned.

---