Page 39 of Pucking the Team

I hold her gaze, letting her see the sincerity in my eyes. “I’m saying I want to do this right. Take you on real dates, spend time together outside of work. See where this thing between us can go.”

She bites her lip, a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth. “I’d like that. But Ryan… I’m not ready to commit to anything exclusive right now, at least not yet, and I want to make sure we’re on the same page about that.”

“Of course,” I agree readily. “We’ll take it slow, figure it out as we go, okay?” I brush my thumb along her cheekbone, marveling at the smoothness of her skin, the delicate flutter of her lashes against my fingertips. “I just…I don’t want to waste this chance.”

“Neither do I,” Emma says. She tilts her face up to mine and kisses me, soft and sweet. I lose myself in the taste of her, the gentle pressure of her mouth moving against mine.

All too soon, she pulls away. The limo slows down, and I realize with a sinking feeling that we’ve arrived at Emma’s place.

With one last lingering look, Emma slips out of the limo. I watch her walk toward her building, her hips swaying slightly with each step. She pauses at the door and glances back at me, biting her lip. Then she disappears inside, leaving me alone with my racing thoughts.

I slump back against the seat, my head spinning. I know pursuing a relationship with Emma is a terrible idea. We’re coworkers, for one thing. And then there’s the issue of my dick—I’ve yet to meet a woman who can handle it. Madison was always uncomfortable during sex. Emma didn’t seem shocked last night, but who knows if she’ll want to try taking me or if she’ll be overwhelmed by it.

But as the limo pulls away from the curb, all I can think about is how desperately I want to hold her again. To run my fingers through her silky hair and taste the sweetness of her kiss.

I’m falling for Emma, hard and fast.

CHAPTER 17

EMMA

The day after my trip to Detroit, I text Lukas and ask him to meet up. He seems eager, so I tell him to meet me at Dark Matter, my favorite neighborhood coffee shop. Hopefully that sends the message that this is not a sexual thing.

I really like Lukas. Our attraction is animalistic. There’s something broken and wild about him that calls to the broken and wild parts of me. But if we’re going to keep seeing each other, I need to clear the air with him.

I need to know what happened with Ryan’s girlfriend.

When we get to Dark Matter, Lukas envelops me in a hug, his hard body pressed against mine in all the right places. I try to steel myself against his charms, at least for the duration of this conversation. We grab lattes and sit down on one of the shop’s pillowy couches, our knees grazing each other and sending sparks right through me. Get it together, Emma.

I take a deep breath and look into Lukas’s eyes. “So…on that trip with Ryan, I had a good amount of time to chat with him. We got kind of personal with it, and he told me that you two have history. That you slept with his high school girlfriend.”

The warmth in Lukas’s eyes disappears. “Of course he told you. Ryan cannot go two seconds without making everything about fucking Madison from ten fucking years ago.”

The anger in his voice is surprising, considering that he was the one who did a bad thing and he’s not denying it. But I don’t want to start accusing him of something without all the facts. “So, it happened then?” I grab his hand, squeeze it, trying to show him that I want to be on his side. “Just tell me the truth, Lukas. I’m a big girl, I can handle it. But I want to know this story from your perspective.”

Lukas sighs, running his other hand over his face. He looks exhausted by this. “Yeah, it happened. Ryan and Madison came to town, and we went out to a party. All of us had a lot to drink. Like, way too much.” He shoots me an embarrassed look. “Frat party, you know? I remember being at the party, and then the next thing I know, I’m back in my dorm room, and Madison is on top of me.”

I chew my lip. “You…were blackout drunk?”

He nods slowly, his gaze going somewhere faraway. “Once I realized what was happening, I told her to stop, I remember that much. But I don’t know, maybe she didn’t hear me, or didn’t think I was being serious. I probably could have done more, but I was so out of it…”

I stare at Lukas in shock, my stomach twisting into knots. “Lukas…that’s assault. If you told her to stop and she didn’t, that’s not okay at all.”

He shrugs, still not meeting my eyes. “I mean, I get it. I was a horny 19-year-old, and there was a hot girl on top of me. My body was into it even if my mind wasn’t fully there. It’s not her fault I drank too much.”

“No.” I shake my head vehemently. “Consent matters. Being drunk is not consent. If the genders were reversed, no one would question that it was wrong of her.”

Lukas finally looks at me, his green eyes stormy with conflicting emotions. “You think? I don’t know, Em. I’ve never really thought about it like that. I just figured it was another notch on my bedpost, even though it was one I was ashamed of.”

I take both of Lukas’s hands in mine, holding his gaze intently. “Lukas, listen to me. What happened to you was not okay. It wasn’t your fault. You were taken advantage of when you weren’t in a state to properly agree to it. That’s on Madison, not you.”

Lukas blinks rapidly, and I can see moisture gathering at the corners of his eyes. He clears his throat gruffly. “I…wow. I guess I just never saw it that way. Because I’m a guy, you know? We’re supposed to always want it.”

“Toxic masculinity is a hell of a drug,” I say wryly. “But your feelings matter. You matter. And I’m so sorry that happened to you.”

There’s silence for a moment, before he speaks. “Thank you, Emma.” Lukas’s voice is hoarse with emotion. He leans forward, resting his forehead against mine.

I breathe him in for a beat, then two. God, I came here half-expecting to break things off with him, and now I’m falling harder and faster than I ever could’ve anticipated. I pull back, unable to hold in my next question.

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