Page 9 of Puck Princess

“Because I know better than anyone what you look like when you’re flirting with someone!” The room fills with hot hair. Our breathing is uneven, a cocktail of anger and frustration and… something else.

“You can’t lie to me, Callie Coleman.” My voice is low and gravelly. I pierce her gaze with mine and slowly watch her stubborn glare crumble.

“I didn’t want you to get hurt.” She sags like it takes physical effort to drum up the admission.

“Hurt how?”

“I didn’t want to tell the truth about Miles because I knew… I knew you’d want to kill him. And I didn’t want you to put your career on the line for me, Owen. I’ve already compromised it enough as it is.”

My chest is dangerously tight. It takes everything in me to stay seated, to grit my next words out in anything below a roar. “Did Miles hurt you?”

Her jaw tightens again. Her expression shutters, her mental walls higher than the Empire State Building.

I lean in closer, our thighs touching. “Was it the other way around, Callie? Didhecome on toyou?”

She swallows hard and turns away from me, but I can’t let this go.

“Look.” I pull out my phone and pull up the already-viral story. “Whatever you were trying to stop, it’s too late.”

Callie’s jaw drops as she watches the recorded footage of the fight at the game.

“I already fucked up my career for the next few games, at least. Maybe longer. So tell me the truth, Callie.”

Instead of talking, though—instead of admitting to what I’m pretty sure I already know—Callie’s chin quivers. “I’m sorry, Owen. I’m so sorry.”

She breaks down. And it breaks me. I wrap my arms around her and pull her against me. It feels like clicking a missing piece into place.

“It’s not your fault.”

“This is exactly what I didn’t want to happen,” she sobs. “I-It’s why I didn’t say anything. It's why I l-lied.”

“Look at me.” I cup her face in my hands. Tears run down her cheeks, and I wipe them away with my thumbs. “Look at me,Cal. Whatever price I have to pay for what I did tonight… you’re worth it. You’re worth all of it.”

Her eyes trail up to mine, tear-filled and heartbreakingly blue. And I can’t stop myself.

I kiss her.

It’s not harsh or hungry or rushed.

It’s the tiniest scratch on the surface of the deep, deep well of unexplainable things I feel for this woman. And yet, even with our mouths closed and our bodies still, the touch of her lips to mine is the realest thing I’ve ever felt.

After a short eternity, I pull back. Our eyes search each other.

I swallow hard as she continues to lean into me.

Does she want more? Should I take more? The last thing I want is to do something we'll regret. Something that will only hurt her more.

I’m in the middle of a spiral, trying to convince myself that her head against my chest is enough, when Callie suddenly tips her chin up and presses her mouth to mine again.

It’s a delicate line we’re walking, and I’m not sure if it’s the right one. But once her lips part, it’s impossible to find the brakes.

I pull her into my lap so she’s straddling me. She smells like sugar and heat, and God, I’ve missed her. I tilt her face so I can take the kiss deeper, but I’ll never have enough. I could suffocate in this moment and my last thought would be that I need more.

A moan vibrates through her chest as my fingertips find their way under the straps of her tank top. I push them from hershoulders and she arches her back. It’s the only invite I need. I peel the shirt down away from her breasts, exposing them.

I kiss a trail from her neck down to her chest. She gasps as I circle her nipples with my tongue. Her hands tangle in my hair and she starts to grind in my lap. I’m painfully hard, and I know she can feel me against her.

We’re both imagining a few less layers—the way I could be inside of her so easily.

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