Page 11 of Nash

“Ouch.” I splay my hand over the center of my chest. “Is that what you think of me?”

Reese visibly swallows, flashing me an apologetic look. “No,” she says. “That has nothing to do with you. Past trauma. It slips out sometimes.”

“Who hurt you?” I ask, unable to keep the primal dominance out of my tone. Don't know where that sneaky fucker popped out of, but for some reason I feel incredibly protective over this girl.

“Nobody worth mentioning,” she says, her eyes trailing me up and down. “You really want to do this?”

“Will it help you?” I ask. “You and the page and the team?”

“Yes.”

“Then yes.”

Reese blows out a breath, starting up another little pace right in front of me. I can't help but grin down at her, absolutely fascinated by the way her mind and body seem to sync up and operate at top speeds.

“If this is going to work, we're going to have to lay out some ground rules,” she says finally glancing back up at me.

“Oh, this should be fun,” I say. “Hit me with it.”

“Rule number one, no falling in love. Rule number two, no sex. We can look like we're in love and we can act like we want to have sex but neither of those things will be happening.”

I cock a brow at her. “The first one is easy,” I say. “The second one? I can't make any promises. If you ask for it, I'm giving it.”

Pink dusts her cheeks as she shakes her head. “I willnotbe asking.”

“We'll see,” I say. “Anything else?”

“We'll have to figure out safe boundaries,” she says. “Like how much PDA you'll be comfortable with.”

“How about I let you take the reins on that? I'll follow your lead.”

“You're going to give me free rein?” she asks, and I nod. “So you're saying that I could climb into your lap and kiss you like no one is watching, even though the camera is on?”

Heat bolts straight to my cock, twitching at just thethoughtof having her supple body atop mine, a camera rolling to capture every delicious inch.

“I told you, you can use me,” I say.

She bites her lip, trying to hold back a smile. “Okay,” she says. “So we have a deal?” She reaches her hand between us, and I laugh as I shake it.

“We have a deal.” I hold her hand a little longer, dipping down to catch her gaze. “And I just have to say, if anyone's going to fall for the other, it's going to beyoufalling for me.”

She draws back her hand, rolling her eyes. “Maybe I'll make you fall in love withme, ever thought about that? Maybe I'll make you fall hard and then leave, just to see if you actually have a heart.”

“You think you're that irresistible?” I ask, totally on board with the sassy teasing she's delivering.

“I know you thinkyouare,” she fires back instead of answering my question.

“Please,” I say. “All it would take is one more kiss and you'd probably be asking to wear my last name on your back to the next game.”

“You are such an arrogant ass,” she says, but she can't wipe the smile off her face, or the interest churning in her eyes.

“You seem preoccupied with my ass, Reese's Pieces. If you want to take a peek all you have to do is?—”

“Seriously?” Kiplin's voice cuts over me, and we both snap our attention to him. “I think you're both idiots,” he says, shaking his head, his headphones still on. He re-racks his weights, glaring over at me. “And there's absolutely nothing wrong with blaring Taylor Swift or enjoying knitting,dick.”

He flips me off before heading out of the weight room.

Reese looks up at me, her shocked gaze mirroring mine before we burst into laughter.

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