Page 88 of Beautifully Conflicted

“Typical.” I chuckle softly, placing a soft kiss on his pec so he knows I’m only teasing. “You’re so cocky.”

“I go after what I want. That’s why I transferred here. It gives me the best shot at getting scouted.”

“Bullshit. If you’ve got talent the scouts will find you no matter where you are.”

“Maybe, maybe not. That’s a risk I didn’t want to take. Instead of waiting for the life I wanted to find me, I decided to take steps to make it happen.”

“Why Front Range University? I’m sure there are other schools that would’ve wanted you.”

“You’re here.”

My head bobs as he shrugs again, only this time instead of letting it drop with his chest I prop myself on an elbow and gape at him.

“You picked this team because ofme?”

Damien has the nerve to look perplexed. “I told you, I go after what I want.”

“Yeah, butme?Ihatedyou up until a few weeks ago.”

“Pfft. You didn’t hate me, you just wanted to so you wouldn’t have to admit the truth.”

“And what’s that?”

“You can see yourself falling for me.”

My jaw falls open as I try to rationalize how he could know that. I’ve barely admitted it to myself, and even in the moments where I questioned whether I might like him and not just his body, I never got as far as falling for him, just liking him. It wasn’t until Aiden called me out for stolen kisses this evening that I even considered we might have something more than a fuck buddy arrangement going on, but I haven’t allowed myself to examine that too closely. How the hell can he have me pegged before I rationalized it?

“Don’t make it a thing.” Damien steals my line from the night I admitted I didn’t want anyone but him, and before I can retort, he pulls me down so my head is back on his chest.

“You’re holding me in bed while I talk to you like my therapist. How is it not a thing?” Obviously, themore than sexidea had already crossed my mind, but knowing it’s crossed his is not helping my mental state.

“Fine, it’s a thing, but there’s no need to overthink it. You need someone to talk to, and you know your secrets are safe with me. We can leave it at that.”

“I’m not going to fall for you,” I insist. “I can’t. There’s too much at stake.”

“I know.” His fingers resume their lazy path along my arm.

“But you’re still hoping I will.”

“I was hoping that before I transferred here.”

“All the more reason for me to leave right now, before this goes any further.”

“You won’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because you don’t want to, and as long as this stays a secret you don’t have to. You’ll cling to it right up until the last second, same as I will.”

All of a sudden it hits me, Damien is way too calm for a conversation that revolves around hope and what-ifs. I sit up with a gasp. “You think I’ve already fallen for you,” I accuse.

His jaw clicks back and forth as he considers how to answer that. “I know you have.”

My mind cycles through a litany of reasons why he’s wrong, but none of them, not my family or my career or even Aiden knowing the truth, can erase the obvious.

What the fuck do I do?

“Nothing has to change.” It’s like Damien can read my thoughts.

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