Page 70 of Offside Devil

“I have one in my bedroom.” He takes another step closer to me. “Do you want it?”

I have to tilt my chin to meet his eyes, and the second I do, my head goes empty. He’s tall and broad and every breath is like walking through a pine grove in the winter. He smells clean and I want to know if he tastes just as good.

“Your bedroom,” I breathe, grabbing at the scattered words I can recall. “I want…”

Suddenly, Zane’s hand is on my waist. His fingers bunch in the fabric of my dress and I fall back against the wall.

No, correction: he pushes me against the wall.

Then our bodies find each other like magnets, helpless to fight against the attraction that’s been there since the moment he barged through that bathroom door.

He dips his mouth to my ear, his breathing tickling over my neck. “I heard exactly what you want.”

Of course he overheard my confession to Taylor. I knew he did, but hearing him admit it feels like we’re crossing a line we can’t come back from.

“Zane…” I don’t know if I’m going to apologize for saying it or say it all over again. I can’t think straight when he’s this close.

He turns his face into the crook of my neck, growling against my skin. “I like it when you say my name. I can’t stop thinking about what it would sound like if you screamed it.”

His words are like some spell, slipping through my body and taking control of my actions. Without meaning to, I arch my hips forward until we’re flush together. The hard press of his erection against my stomach makes me dizzy.

Zane curses softly and grabs my hips. He drags me against him and we both shudder.

Wetness pools between my legs and I’m not thinking about anything beyond this hallway. I can’t. My world has narrowed to his breath on my neck and his hands on my hips.

He bunches his fists in the material, dragging my dress higher and higher up my legs. If he wanted to cinch it around my waist and fuck me right here, I’d let him.

I want him to.

I have one half second of clarity. Enough to say, “Aiden might come out and see. We should?—”

Zane yanks himself away from me like we were just doused in ice water. I stumble forward, off balance without him.

Go to my room, I was going to say. Finish this somewhere private.

But he drags a hand through his hair and takes a few more steps away from me. Like I’m a sinkhole that will suck him in if he gets too close.

“Forget it. Wear whatever you want.” He spins around, leaving me needy and breathless against the wall. “I don’t care.”

29

ZANE

I did not invite Daniel over for breakfast as a buffer between me and my nanny, but when Mira walks out wearing cutoff jean shorts and Daniel’s jersey again, I think maybe that’s exactly what he should be.

Daniel whistles. “Damn, girl, you look almost as good in that jersey as I did.”

Mira laughs, tucking the front of it into the waistband of her shorts. “We can swap outfits if you want. See who looks better.”

“Four years ago, I would have had you beat.” Daniel knocks on his left leg. “Now, I’m at a bit of a handicap.”

He doesn’t wear shorts anymore. He used to, back when we’d go to the gym to lift or meet up with some of the team for a pickup game of basketball. Now, it’s always pants.

Daniel isn’t shy about telling people he has a prosthetic leg, but he never liked it when they brought it up. Or when they stared.

The familiar guilt turns my stomach and I drop my half-eaten toast on the plate.

Mira seems to notice me all at once. Her eyes shift to mine and then away just as quickly. “I’m going to call Evan and take Aiden to the park,” she announces one notch below a yell.

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