Page 121 of How to Prevent a Fumble

“I mean it. We really can’t do this, Leo. It’s not real.”

I press into her slightly, and I feel a shudder jolt through her. “This feels really real to me.”

With effort, Briar turns around, and I back away just slightly, my face still inches from hers.

While her brown eyes search my face, mine dart right to her beautiful pink lips. It’s been forever since I kissed them that night, and I’ve thought about how they felt every single night since, alone in my room, my dick gripped firmly in myhand as I read those dirty little stories on my phone, picturing Briar in every single one of them.

“I don’t want to get hurt again,” she says quietly.

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Then you’ll understand why this can’t happen then?”

I shake my head, the tip of my nose grazing hers. “I think it’s exactly why this has to happen. I don’t want you to ever get hurt again. Not you, not Elara, not anyone you care about.”

“Leo, you’re going to be the one to hurt me.”

My stomach plummets at her words.

“I’m not. I don’t want anything more than I want you, Briar.”

Her eyes graze over my face before landing on my lips, and I wait for her to come to me.

I don’t have to wait long.

Briar brings her face closer, her lips feathering over mine before she closes her eyes.

She looks like everything out of every fantasy I’ve ever had. My dream girl. Dangerous, capable of unraveling me to the fullest extent. The one thing that I don’t think I truly deserve to have.

The trophy just out of reach.

Fuck a Heisman. Fuck a Lombardi.

Having Briar Crosby love me would be the ultimate prize.

Having her trust me enough to let me in? Better than anything I could ever imagine.

“Do you trust me?” I ask into her lips.

“No,” she whispers.

“Do you want to?”

Her tongue peeks out, brushing against my lip, and it takes everything in me to wait as my dick throbs.

“Yes,” she whispers, her lips so soft against mine.

The seconds tick by, her eyes still shut.

“Do I have permission to kiss you?” I ask.

Another beat passes, and just when I think she’s about to answer, she turns, breaking us from our trance.

And my head is left spinning.

“I’m so sorry,” she says, her eyes shining. “I just, I just can’t right now, Leo. I want to, I promise I want to. God, I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything. I just can’t.”

“First,” I say, not bothering to hide how hard I am from her as she puts distance between us. I want her to see what she does to me. “You don’teverhave to be sorry for saying no. It doesn’t matter how much I want it.” I don’t bother sayingor anyone else,because I’m not putting that energy out there. “I want you, Briar. But I want to deserve to have you. Is there anything I can do to make that happen?”

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