Page 111 of The Score

“I know, G told me. Butwhywas he here?” A curse slips out when I remember our run-in with Paulson this morning. “His frat brother… Paulson told him he saw us together?”

Her nod bumps her head on my collarbone.

“Asshole,” I mutter. Then I take a breath and smooth my hand over her silky hair. “I take it Sean was pissed?”

“He…” Her voice cracks. “He called me a disease-ridden whore.”

Red-hot fury slams into me like a cross-check to the chest. It takes every ounce of strength to push it away, to banish it from my body. I want to kill the bastard for saying that to her.

“You…are not…” I take another breath “…a disease-ridden whore. Do you hear me? You arenotthat. Ever. I don’t know why that son of a bitch would even?—”

“Because of you,” she whispers.

My hands clench into fists against her shoulders. “What?”

“He thinks you’re riddled with STDs because you…have an active sex life?—”

“I’m clean,” I interrupt. My voice is low, rippling with anxiety. Fuck, I really hope she believes me right now. “I’ve never had unprotected sex in my life, Allie. I got tested before the season started, but I can do it again if you—” I stop. Fuck that. I’ll do it even if she doesn’t ask me to, just to squash any seed of doubt that piece of shit Sean might have planted in her head.

“I trust you, Dean. I know you’re safe, okay? It wasn’t the disease part that upset me. It was the other part. The way he looked at me…” Her small body shudders. “He was so disgusted. It’s like in that moment, he truly saw me as a whore and he hated me for it.”

The fissure in my heart cracks wide open, sending jagged shards to my gut. Sean should be thanking his lucky stars he’s not here right now. I want to wrap my fingers around his throat and squeeze the life out of him.

“Baby…” I swallow my rage. “Baby, look at me.”

She slowly raises her eyes to mine.

“I don’t give a shit what Sean says or what he thinks—you didn’t do a goddamn thing to deserve his verbal attack, you got it? You’re not a whore. You’re…”Perfect, I almost say, but I don’t get the chance, because she’s trembling again.

“Then why do I feel like one?” She blinks rapidly, as if she’s trying not to cry. “God. I hate this. I told you, I’m not cut out for casual sex.”

My palms grow damp. I don’t want her to continue. I’m too terrified of what she’s going to say.

“I’m not sure I can do this anymore.”

Fuck.

“It’s too confusing. Sleeping with you when we’re not actually together?—”

“We’re together,” I bite out.

She startles. “What?”

It feels like someone jammed a handful of gravel in my throat. I gulp through it. “We’re together,” I repeat.

She looks baffled. “We… Why?”

“Because we are.” A nonsensical response, but it’s all I’ve got. I don’t want this to end. I can’t explain why, but I just know I don’t want this to fucking end.

“You want…” The groove in her forehead deepens. “You want to be with me?”

My heartbeat grows erratic. I haven’t had a conversation like this with a girl in years. Not since Miranda. But Allie isn’t Miranda. Allie is… She’s… Fuck, I can’t make sense of my jumbled thoughts. Except for one. The bone-deep certainty that Ican’tlet this end.

“Dean?”

I tighten my hold on her, burying my face in thecrook of her neck. “I want to be with you,” I mumble. “So that means we’re fucking together, okay?”

Shaky laughter tickles my cheek. “You’re freaking me out right now.”

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