Page 56 of Crossing Lines

Ace snapped his brows together, then pointed his thumb at his own chest. “No,I’mthe hottest guy on campus.”

With a mock scoff, Mason rounded me, keeping his eyes fixed on mine. “How’d you do it?” He tongued the inside corner of his mouth. “Was it your steely resolve? Your confident disposition? Or were you just in the right place at the right time?” Hestopped and hooked a brow. “That’s it, the night at the gay bar. You got him then.” He tapped my chest.

I grabbed his finger and gave him a sly smile. Fine, I’d go along with his game. “Damn right. I saved him from that asshole stalker guy, and he fell for me right there.” Okay, maybe I laid it on a little thick.

“Fell for?” Mason’s brows shot up, then he cocked his head. “You two in love?”

“Iam.” I planted my hands on my hips, my gaze reaching each one of them in turn. Archer had to know I was in love.

Patting my shoulder, Mason said, “I’m sure he loves you too, bro.” He slid his arm along my shoulder and hugged me into his side. “Listen, you go for it, and we’ve got your back.” He zipped his lips. “None of us will say a word.”

“Unless you need us to.” Ace stepped forward. “Group hug?” He wrapped his arms around mine and Mason’s shoulders, then Archer joined in. “It’s got to be hard keeping it on the down-low so the organization doesn’t find out.”

“But if they do, we’ll help you however you need us to.” Archer pressed his forehead to mine. “We love ya, man.”

Ace and Mason followed in with, “Love ya.”

“Yeah, I love you guys too.” I reared back, breaking the group hug. “Here I was, sure you were all going to tell me to stop seeing him or something if you knew.” I shook my head with a tsk.

“It’s too late for that. I’ve seen how you two look at each other.” Ace slapped at my arm.

“I think he’s in love with you too.” Squeezing my forearm, Archer gave me a warm smile.

“God, I hope so.” I clutched the sweatshirt over my heart. If he did, then no matter where on the continent we ended up in our careers, we’d find a way to make it work.

“You got this, Boehm.” Ace grabbed my face and kissed my cheek. “Now, go off and do nasty things to Coach Hot Stuff.” He chortled, with Archer and Mason joining him.

“You bet I will.” I walked out the door, my head held high and chest puffed out.

After drivingthe full bottom floor of the parking garage, I huffed with a slap to my steering wheel. This was stupid. I wasn’t going to be spooked by Owen. I pulled into a guest parking spot, climbed out and strode to the glass entry door with my keycard in my hand.

As I stopped at the door, the reflection of a man caught my eye. I jumped. “Fuck.” Swirling around, I stopped with my fists up, my pulse pounding.

“Hey, man, sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.” A student stood there with his backpack hanging off a shoulder, his palms held high. “Is there bad crime around here or something?”

As I relaxed and blew out a breath, he dropped his arms. I said, “There is, but not enough for my reaction. Sorry. I’m on edge is all.” I opened the door and stepped inside, holding the door for him while he keyed in.

“Thanks, man.” He waltzed down the hallway, whistling as he went like nothing had happened.

“Okay…” I pushed the call button for the elevator and made my way to Ryan’s apartment, then knocked on his door. I had the key to his place now, but it didn’t feel right to barge in on him.

The door opened, and with furrowed brows, his gaze found mine. “Hey, Jonah.” Tugging on my forearm, he pulled me inside, then poked his head out to look both ways. “Sorry.” He shut the door. “It’s good to see you.”

“Are you really that freaked out?” I stepped to him and placed a long kiss over his mouth, his body melting against the front of mine

“I…yeah.” As he stepped back from me, he dipped his head, then rubbed his eyes.

He didn’t look so good. “Hey, come here.” Wrapping an arm around his waist, I guided him to his couch and sat with him. “You haven’t seen Owen since you got home from the game last weekend, right?”

With a quick nod, he said, “Yeah, but every time something happens, it feels like people know about us.” He glanced out his patio door, darkness creeping over the mountain and high-rises. “I told my mom about you today.” He stared at the floor.

“Yeah?” My heart swelled with warmth. Was Archer right? Did he love me the same as I loved him?

“I did. She was concerned at first, you know, the whole coach-player thing, but then she wanted to know all about you.” His soft gaze drew to mine. “She was pretty excited about your prospects with the Maple Leafs.”

“I’ll bet.” I covered his hand in mine, kissed the back of it, then held them both over my thigh. “If I go up there?—”

“She’ll want to meet you.” His gaze searched my face. “Jonah, I hope you do get to meet her. I hope…well, I want to make this work.”

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