Page 9 of Stalked By the Linebacker

“I thought you saw me coming.” Saw him coming? Nope. Not even close. Never in a million years would I have thought a friendship, or whatever this was, would happen. But I didn’t think that was what he was talking about. “What were you thinking about?” he pressed, and I shrugged.

“Oh, umm, just about this weekend.”

“And how you’re going to finally hang out with me?” he asked with a cocky gleam in his gaze. On any other guy, I would find it gross or skeezy. But why was everything so different with Hector? Crank! I needed to think of him as Crank!

“Oh, umm…” I stammered. I had stepped right into that. I looked around even though I knew it was just him and me and the cook in the back. “Can we talk?” It was time to lay things out.

“Uh-oh.” He laughed easily, crossing his arms in front of his broad chest. My eyes bounced from his pecs to his biceps to his forearms. I had no idea how a man’s body could be built the way his was. Muscle over muscle. I doubted he had an ounce of fat. I wouldn’t have believed the guy ate carbs if I hadn’t seen it firsthand.

“Mi vida, my eyes are up here.”

“Shit,” I muttered under my breath, ignoring the sweet term of endearment.Mi vida.My life. I wish! He probably called every girl that.

“I just wanted to say…” He stepped closer, and his hand cupped my elbow. The pad of his thumb stroked my skin, and I wanted to melt right into him.

“Sweetness, you’re killing me here. What do you wanna talk about?”

“You sound worried,” I murmured.Did I sway in closer?We were so close I could feel his body heat radiating onto me.

“Honey, when someone tells you we need to talk, it’s not usually a good thing.” He wasn’t wrong there. “What’s going on?”

“What are you doing?” I blurted, and his eyes widened slightly.

“What?”

“I mean here. Us.” I pointed back and forth between us, accidently poking his hard chest. “I mean—" I shook my head.Us? There is no us.“I mean, I get you having to work, sorta, but you know you don’t have to hang out with me.”

“Lib—"

“And if it’s your mom or Blanca making you hang out with me or whatever, I will talk to them.”

“First off—” His hand moved from my elbow down my forearm and didn’t stop until my hand was in his. For a moment, my heart stalled in my chest. I had no idea how our hands fit so perfectly together, but they did. A soft jolt of electricity went through me like it did anytime he touched me.

He didn’t do it often, but every time felt like a first.Like a gift. A gift? Maybe I am seriously touch-depraved?His eyes dipped to our tangled fingers, and there was something about him that intensified. “First off,” he repeated.Is it just me or is his voice even deeper? Huskier?His dark eyes connected with mine. “I don’t do anything I don’t want to do, Libby. Ever.”

“That doesn’t mean they aren’t bugging you about—“ I started to argue, but he didn’t let me finish.

“They’re not.” The intensity in his eyes and the confidence in his voice woke something up inside of me. “They have no idea I have seen you since that first day I stopped by.” Suddenly, my mouth felt bone dry. I licked my lips and felt his gaze drop to my mouth.Why is he looking at me that way, and why does that make my lips feel all tingly?

“Oh,” I muttered, still confused.

He was a star football player. One of the best linebackers to hit the field, not just at U of D but for college football. He had a life. One filled with practices and team events. We were both taking summer courses. It just didn’t add up.

Why was he trying to spend time with me?

“I don’t like whatever you’re thinking,” he murmured, and I licked my lips.

“You don’t know what I’m thinking.” His thumb stroked the top of my hand. The caress sent a shiver down my spine, and my nipples tightened under my oversized uniform shirt.

“I can tell by that look on your face, if I knew, I wouldn’t like it.” His free hand rose between us, then Crank tipped my head up so our eyes would connect. Locked in, I stared into the dark depths of his gaze. “Hang out with me.”

“Is that a request or a demand?” I asked. His lips twitched.

“Whatever one has you hanging out with me works.”

“Fine.” I sighed. My eyes widened when I realized what I had just agreed to.

“Uh-uh.” He shook his head, and his hand tightened around mine. “No take-backs.”

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