Page 35 of Crossing Lines

I swallowed the pastry down with some coffee. “Yeah. I mean, if we’re going to take this risk and be together, we shouldbetogether, right?” Fuck, what if he wants to see who else was out there? I shifted in my chair.

“Yeah, okay. I see your point.” Dropping his gaze to his plate,he swiped his fork across some dried egg yolk. “Why are you so sure about me?”

“Why?” I blinked at him. “Why not?” I leaned toward him. “First time I saw you, it hit me like a puck to the face.” Love at first sight? Maybe. I’d never believed in shit like that before, but then it’d never happened to me either. “I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind ever since.”

He freed a rumbling chuckle. “Shit, I was thinking about Fate last night.” Shaking his head once, he said, “It’s uncanny how natural it feels to have you in my place.” His gaze crept to mine. “Last night was the best night of sleep I’ve had since the injury.”

“Because I’m a big teddy bear?” A wide smile tugged my lips. I loved where he was going with this. It meant maybe he was feeling as strongly as I was. I brushed my finger over his forearm resting next to his plate. “I’ll be your teddy bear anytime. Just sayin’.”

He choked out a laugh. “Yeah, okay. Except I’m not sure when we’ll be able to sleep in the same bed again, eh.”

“Next road game?” I waggled my brows at him. “I can sneak into your room.” My mind flooded with all sorts of scenarios.

“No, that’s not a good idea.” He pursed his lips. “We have to be careful, and doing something like that is not careful.”

“Then I’ll have to make something up so my roomies think I’m staying with someone else when I’m here.” Fuck, this was going to get complicated fast. Especially if I could only tell Archer. Tightness wound through my gut. How were we going to see each other?

“Anyway, let’s clean this up and get you home.” He picked up my now-empty plate and set it on his.

“Yeah, but let me do the dishes. You cooked.” I cleared the rest of the table, setting everything on the kitchen island next to the dinette.

An hour or so later,I’d changed back into my clothes from last night and Ryan drove me to my house in his red Nissan Ultima. I gazed at the front door. I was going to have to lie to my friends. But he was worth it. I twisted to face him. Could I kiss him goodbye? “So…”

One of his hands rested on the steering wheel while the other sat on the center console. “So.” He glanced toward the house.

Fuck it. I dove in, squeezed his hand, and planted a quick kiss on his lips.

With a start, he said, “Jonah, not here.” He scoffed. “Call me later when you’re alone. I want to know how things go after you talk to your friends.”

“I will.” I didn’t want to leave him. “They’re probably all studying right now. They might not even see me come in.” I patted his hand. “I’ll see you tomorrow at practice.” I raked my teeth over my lower lip. “Maybe we can get together after?” Ishouldbe studying.

“I don’t know. We’ll see how things go, okay?” He wrinkled his brows. “I’ll catch you tomorrow.”

“Yeah.”I’ll miss you…With a deep inhale, I climbed out of his car and shoved my hands into the front pockets of my jeans, my heart pumping fast. Would I be able to sound convincing? Lying wasn’t something I’d ever done.

Ryan drove off, his engine revving.

I glanced behind me. Fuck, I’d spent the night with him. He had feelings for me, and he wanted to keep seeing me. My heart lightened and I bounced with my steps to the front door.

The door swung open, and Ace stood there, leaning his elbow up high on the door jamb. “So, I see someone had a good night.” He stepped aside.

“I suppose.” I had to play this down. I ambled into the house and swiped my gaze across the room. Archer sat at the dinette with his laptop open while Mason and Tyler played a video game on the television from our couch.

Archer stood, the chair groaning across the tile floor behind him. “Well?”

Fuck, they all knew. “Well, it was uh…an interesting night.” I’d start there.

Ace shut the door behind me and followed me in while Mason and Tyler paused their game and turned around.

“You got laid. By Coach Hot Stuff!” Mason cackled, throwing his head back.

“No, I didn’t.” I scoffed a sigh. “I passed out on his couch, and he was nice enough to make me breakfast this morning and drive me home. That’s all.” I made a point of looking at each of them, except for Archer.

Archer strolled to me. “No fucking way.” He cocked his head, eyeing me up and down. “What really happened?”

My pulse hammered in my chest. He wasn’t buying it. I had to lay it on thick. I locked my gaze on Archer’s. “Yes, way.” I glanced at Ace for a beat as he planted his hands on his hips. I paced across the room, focusing on my sneakered feet. “Last night, there was a guy at the bar that Ryan, uh, Coach Gibson had gone out with and ended up blocking. The guy was a douche nozzle.” I rubbed my sweaty palms together. “Anyway, this guy, Owen, grabbed Coach and I saw it. When I got to them, he had him pinned against the wall. So, I threw the guy off him and ended up punching him.”

“You got in a fight last night? At the gay bar?” Mason dropped his jaw open and smiled. “Dude, way to go.” He held up his fist.

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