Page 116 of From Now On

Eve nods too, setting her mug on the coffee table right next to a stack of marine biology textbooks. “Right. Yeah, of course.”

I hook a thumb in the direction of her bedroom. “Just going to grab my sweatshirt.”

“I think it’s by my desk,” she says before heading into the kitchen with our empty mugs.

Eve turned a lamp on when she got up. The bed—and our jumbled clothes—are bathed by a soft glow as I grab my sweatshirt off the floor and tug it on.

Her sketchbook is sitting on top of her desk, open to a clean page. I grab a pen out of the cup on her desk and scribble my number on the blank sheet. I have Eve’s number from Conor, but since I never texted her, she doesn’t have mine.

When I return to the living room, she’s waiting by the doorway that leads to their front door. Foot propped against her ankle again.

“So, what’s the verdict?” I ask, sticking my hands in the front pocket of my hoodie.

Her forehead wrinkles. “Verdict?”

“You know. Am I good at bowling and sex?”

“Oh.” She huffs the syllable, then rolls her eyes.

I know the answer. She came three times. And she doesn’t have to admit it. I just enjoy teasing her.

I reach out, running my thumb along her jaw before tilting her chin up.

When Eve’s eyes meet mine, they’re surprised. I think she expected me to rush out of here after Sean’s call.

I’m still in a weird headspace from it, honestly. A little startled by my own behavior. By the realization that I have a breaking point. And not just with my brother.

Eve holds the power to wreck me, and I’m fairly certain she has no idea.

Like now, when she bites her bottom lip.

My thumb moves higher, pulling it free from her teeth.

“I think about kissing you every damn time you do that,” I confess.

Her eyes widen. And then she tilts her head. Bites her lip again.

“Do it,” she whispers.

It’s been a long time since I kissed a girljustto kiss her. There’s usually an expectation of something else to come later. But this—now—I justwantto kiss her. And it feels like I finally can. So I do.

We’re both breathing heavily when we break apart.

Some of her hair has fallen out of the bun it was pulled back in.

I tuck a rogue strand behind her ear. “Which game did you go to last season?”

“Uh…” She thinks. “I don’t remember the name of the other team. They had gray jerseys on, I think?”

Rochester State or Olympia, then. I can look up how I played in those games later.

“You had two assists.”

I still, wondering if I accidentally spoke aloud. How else would Eve know why I’m wondering? If I’d known she was there, it probably would have been my best performance of the season.

“I mean, I think it was two.”

Her cheeks are red again.

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