Page 131 of Kiss Me Tonight

Peeling my eyes open, conscious of the tears slipping down my cheeks, I meet his gaze. His rugged features, once so impassive that his ambivalence drove me insane, are cracked wide open. He hides nothing from me: not the way his mouth trembles as he tries to smile or how his eyes glisten, his own tears ready to spill.

To the world, Dominic DaSilva is a bad-boy charmer, a smooth-voiced asshole, a football-playing legend.

To me, he is this man.

Open. Vulnerable. Trusting.

“And then I met you,” he rasps thickly, “a woman with sapphire eyes and the sweetest laugh that kept my ass on that bar stool when I knew better than to stay. Even when Topher banged up your car, you didn’t yell at him. I watched you bring snacks every day for the boys, even though every granola bar and carrot bag came out of your own pocket—but you couldn’t bear to see any of them go hungry. You showed everyone suchlove, and I . . . I wanted that, baby. I wanted to feel loved by you and you better believe that scared the shit out of me.”

“Dominic, I do. I lov—”

He cuts me off with an abrupt shake of his head, holding one hand up. “Let me finish. Please.”

I nod, no matter the fact that these bars are in my way and I’m desperate to go to him.

Clearing his throat, he goes on. “When I saw Clarke striding across that field, I wanted to nail him to a wall. Knock him down. Put him through misery because he’d done that to you for fourteen fucking years.” His mouth curves in an amused smirk. “Except that you knocked him down yourself—because that’s the sort of womanyouare. Everything about you is vivid. Your smile, the pitch of your laugh, to the way you constantly surprise me.” A soft, husky chuckle that goes straight to my core. “I enjoy every single minute of being shocked by you. You put me in my place, and I . . . Well, I never expected the wordsI love youto pop into my head just as you bashed a bottle on your ex-husband’s head like a total badass, but there you have it. Figures I wouldn’t fall for a normal woman who only wants flowers and a date.”

He stands, rising to his full height. My chin tips back, so I can keep my gaze zeroed in on his face. “I got you, instead,” he tells me, ambling closer, until his hands are on either side of mine on the bars and he’s leaning down so that my whole world is nothing but his black eyes. “A badass football player. The best damn coach this town has ever seen. A mother who will go through hell and back for her son. And a woman . . .” His throat constricts. “A woman who saw a broken man, and instead of walking away, you pushed me back into the light—a place I never even knew existed. I love you, Aspen Levi. I love you so fucking much and, honestly, I’m only a little sorry that I waited until you were in prison to tell you, but no time like the present, right?”

I hear nothing but the sound of blood roaring in my head.

And his confession on repeat:I love you, Aspen Levi. I love you, Aspen Levi.

“Fifteen years ago, I thought I fell for a man who spun fairytales and promises he’d never keep.” When Dominic opens his mouth, I touch my finger to his lips, silently asking for him to give me this. “Topher kept me sane. Topher kept me moving. I wanted out. I wanted tolive—but shackles don’t always come in the form of physical handcuffs. Sometimes they’re more subtle, like a ring on your finger.”

I catch Dominic’s hand, holding his fingers through the bars and flip his hand over, palm down, so I can find his ring finger. It’s bare, just like mine, and I kiss it. Once. Twice. “Coming back to London terrified me. I’d left this place behind, thinking I was about to embark on this crazy adventure. And I came back fifteen years later, with darkness in my heart. Except that you’re wrong about me.” I glance up, and our eyes lock. “Topher kept me breathing, but you . . . you brought me back to life. I love you, Dominic. I love you so, so much.”

“Jesus fuck, Aspen.”

My smile is all kinds of wobbly at hearing the familiar curse. “Let me out of here so I can kiss you.”

And then that devilish grin I’ve come to know all too well tugs at his lips. He pulls back, just far enough to wiggle the keys. “Let you out?” he teases roughly. “And here I was gonna suggest that I make use of your conjugal-rights visitation.”

I can’t stop my jaw from dropping open. “Conjugalrights?”

His dark eyes flash with humor. “You ever done it in a prison, baby?”

I laugh, even as I fight back the tears because how . . . how did I deserve a man who’ll find the hilarity in every situation—even when I’m locked up in jail? Pushing my fingers as far as they can go through the cage, I point at his hand. “If you love me like you say you do, you’ll use those keys and take me home.”

“Idolove you.” He catches the tips of my fingers and dips his head to kiss them one by one. “Thing is, I won’t make it home. So I’m thinking—even though I’m new at this relationship thing—that we should practice our compromising skills. I suggest the truck as middle ground. What do you say?”

“I say you’re crazy.”

“Is that a yes, Coach?”

“It’s a yes, you jerk. Now get me out of here!”

40

Dominic

Two Weeks Later

The Athlete’s Reckoning

I’m No Hero by Dominic DaSilva

Yeah, you read that right.

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