Page 88 of Tough Nut to Crack

"I think you're the sexiest woman I've ever laid eyes on," I confess, doing exactly what Sage urged me to do.

I know I've told her this before, but I can't recall if she was clothed at the time or not.

"If I've ever said or done anything that made you doubt that I think that, then I want to apologize for it. It was never my intention."

Instead of her looking relieved, her face transforms, her eyes narrowing and her lips turning into a flat line.

"Have you spoken with Sage?"

"Yes," I answer without hesitation. "I'll never lie to you, Riley. You can ask me anything, and even if I know it's going to hurt you, I'll tell you the truth."

She takes a step back as if she needs some distance from me, and even though I hate even the idea of space between us, I don't move back into her space.

"The closet," she says.

Two words bring me back to a very different time in our lives, and they make my heart race like it never has before.

"The closet," I whisper. "Not talking to you after was the hardest thing I'd ever done."

"So you do remember?"

I lick at dry lips before responding. I know it is literally the worst time for my body to get lost in those memories because of the trajectory everything took not even twelve hours after.

"I do remember. How could I forget? It was the best kiss of my life, and it was what could've landed me in jail."

"Jail?" she asks.

I pull in a deep breath. I'm sure it's been long enough that there's nothing that can be done about it now as far as the police are concerned, and Lord knows we've done so much more in the last several weeks, but the same fear that wrapped around me the next day played a huge part in how I behaved.

"I assaulted you," I say, guilt for what I'd done wrapped around me to the point that it becomes difficult to pull in a full breath.

"What?" she asks, shaking her head. "You didn't assault me."

"Corbin said I did."

"What the hell does Corbin have to do with any of this?"

"I'm not proud of this, so please don't get mad. Keep in mind I was a teen boy, and although that's no excuse, I'm a different man now."

Her eyes narrow even further. "Could you just explain?"

"I bragged about touching your boob," I blurt. "We were in the weight room at the school the next day, and I bragged about making out with you and touching your breast."

"Okay," she says, cocking her hip out as if what I'm saying isn't enough of an explanation.

"I don't know if you remember, but my dad held me back before kindergarten."

"Nearly every boy around here was red-shirted, Mac."

"I turned eighteen in June that year. You were underage. I was an adult when I touched your breast. Corbin, you know he was even acting like an attorney back then, told me I could go to jail."

"Are you kidding me right now?" she growls. "You were worried about going to jail?"

I swallow. "I felt like a complete asshole, Riley. I touched you, and you stopped me. I did something you didn't want, and I could've gone to jail for it. I don't know which part made me feel the worst. I never meant to hurt you. I'd wanted to get you alone for so long."

"This is unbelievable," she growls, spinning around, giving me her back, and running her hands through her long blonde hair.

"You wanted the truth," I remind her.

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