Page 54 of How to Score Off Field

Tess goes still. “If you…”

“If I lived closer, I think I would…like very much to date you.”

Shit.

That was more of a confession than a compliment. Definitely not a compliment.

I pull back.

“Sorry. I don’t think that complied with the rules.”

She looks as stunned as I feel, having said the words out loud; the words I’ve been thinking since I climbed into her car two days ago at the airport. And the confession has nothing at all to do with her long brown hair, or her perky tits, or her smooth, long legs.

No, it has everything to do with how sweet she is. And patient. And kind. And how she’s always smiling and hasn’t said anything unkind since the minute I saw her.

She’s a nice person; pretty inside and out.

I pick the book back up, dragging my eyes away from the low-dipping neckline of her top and the swell of those sweet tits. “What’s, uh, one secret you have never told the person sitting across from you?”

“Is that a trick? That could be anything. You and I have barely spoken.”

“Answer it however you want to answer it.”

I am all ears.

I am still tingling from whispering in her ear, my own nipples hardening from the smell of her perfume. And then she leans toward me so she can lie on her side, I get a full view of her breasts, the edge of her areola peeking out from the sheer fabric.

“Hmm. One secret I’ve never told you…” She brings a finger up and taps it on her chin. “Promise you won’t hold it against me, and things won’t get weird?”

Oh shit.

Where is she going with this?

I force out a laugh. “Now I’m scared.”

“Ha. Don’t be. Just promise you won’t be weird.”

“You know my brothers and I weren’t allowed to be Boy Scouts, right? I can’t do that whole Scout’s Honor bullshit, but I can pinky swear.”

I hold my hand out so she can loop her pinky around mine.

She doesn’t.

She just smiles, grabbing hold of a nearby throw pillow, hugging it to her chest, and blowing out a puff of air.

She squeezes her eyes shut for good measure. As if she can’t dare say anything while she looks directly at me.

“I’ve had a crush on you since I was a teenager.”

Wait.

What?

“Say again?”

“I said, I’ve had a crush on you since I was—”

“No, I heard you, I just…” I pause. “What?”

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