Page 27 of Stalked By the Linebacker

“You know I wasn’t flirting with him? Or anyone else,” she blurted.

Staring at her standing in the middle of the road, the skirt of her dress billowing in the soft breeze with her long tresses, all I wanted to do was pull her into me and kiss her. Fuck, she looked adorable.

“I know,” I rasped. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t make a move tonight. Not when she had been drinking and her inhibitions were down.

“Okay. Good.” She nodded, and we walked right to my car. I opened the door for her, and when she looked up at me, her big beautiful doe eyes staring at me with want and sweetness and something so big I didn’t dare name, I knew what it was like to be tempted. I’d always lived to work hard and learned to play just as hard through the years in college.

But I had always had a plan.

Always been proud I’d been a man of my word, never promising anyone more than what I was willing to give.

But with Libby? Fucking hell, I was ready to throw all that out the goddamn window.

With her, I could see myself promising to grab her the moon if I needed to, even though I knew it wouldn’t be possible, all to keep her looking at me like I was some kind of Prince Charming. I’d do anything to make her smile and laugh. To be the one she counted on.

But I couldn’t give her what she was silently asking for. She might not have been completely drunk, but she was still buzzed. I opened the door for her, and I felt the disappointment that flashed over her beautiful face.

“Thanks,” she whispered before slipping into the car. When I leaned in, she gasped, sitting completely still like a good girl while I helped buckle her seatbelt for her. Our eyes connected, and I winked.

“Precious cargo. Gotta keep you safe.” And then, because I was just a man after all, I pressed my lips to her forehead before forcing myself to stand and drag my ass to the driver’s seat.

The short drive was quiet.

My head was filled with shit I wanted to do to Libby. Anytime I glanced over at her, she quickly turned toward the windshield in an attempt to pretend she hadn’t been staring at me. Before I knew it, we were pulling into the dorm parking lot. I had a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel to try and keep my hands to myself.

“Are you mad at me?” she asked out of now where the moment my car was put inPark.

“What? No. Why?”

“You’re quiet,” she pointed out, and suddenly, her two brows bunched adorably, like she was annoyed. “And you wanted to leave the party.”

“Do you wanna go back to it?” I asked, running my fingers through my hair and tugging at the ends because my self-control was slowly loosening. “You looked like you were done.”

“I thought… just… I don’t know—“ She made a cute little growl-like sound. “Never mind.” She shook her head.

That’s when I knew I had no control over the situation.

She bent and reached for her purse. I looked like a fish out of water as I watched her toss the strap over her shoulder, when it hit me. She was going to walk away. Pissed.

“Wait!” I reached for her and caught her wrist only to be hit with those pretty eyes locked on mine.

“What?”

“I’m trying to be the good guy here.” My shoulders sagged when she didn’t try to pull her arm away from my touch. The pad of my thumb stroked her wrist.

“I don’t even know what that means.” I blinked at her response. “You kissed me like… well, you know.“ Her cheeks bloomed under the darkness of the cab. “And then you acted like I was one of the guys after we slept together. Or napped together. You know what I mean! Then you insist on this party like it was some kind of date, but when we get there, you leave me on my own.”

“You were having fun. You even played beer pong,” I pointed out. I hadn’t wanted to seem like some overbearing asshole.

“I did, and then you wanted to go. I thought you were, that we were…”

“What, princess?”

“Don’t call me that,” she murmured. I lost her eyes as she stared forward.

“Que pensastes, mi vida? What did you think, baby?” When she didn’t turn, I breathed in deeply, trying to keep some kind of control, but the car was filled with her soft feminine scent.

“Please look at me, Libby,” I urged with a gentleness that surprised me.

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