Page 83 of The Assist
I scrub a hand through my hair. “You know this can’t stay a secret forever.”
“I know,” she says quietly.
“I’m not asking you to make some big announcement. But I don’t want us to sneak around like I’m some dirty secret forever.”
“You’re not,” she says instantly. “You’renot.”
She moves closer again, kneeling in front of me on the bed, hands sliding over my knees. “This… whateverthisis, it’s the only thing keeping me sane right now.”
I reach out and cup her face in my hands. “Then let me take you out.”
Mia blinks. “What?”
“An actual date. Food. Drinks. Clothes that aren’t falling off you every time I breathe near you,”
She swats my chest. “Don’t act like you don’t live for that.”
“Ido. But I also wanna be able to look across a table and see you laughing at something dumb I said. I wanna see you in public. I want… I dunno, people to know I’m punching way above my weight.”
Mia chews on her bottom lip, hesitation flickering across her face. “We’d get spotted.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
“No, not maybe. Someone would see us. And then I’d be the team physio who couldn’t keep her hands off a player, and it wouldn’t matter that I’m good at my job, or that I worked my arse off to get here…”
“Mia.”
She falls quiet.
“I get it,” I say. “I do. And if that’s the price of this, I’ll pay it. I’ll sneak around with you, I’ll lie through my teeth,I’ll pretend we don’t spend every night thinking about each other, because it’s worth it.You’reworth it. But don’t think for a second, I’m okay with hiding this forever.”
Her eyes shine like she might cry. She doesn’t, though. Mia Clarke doesn’t cry unless it’s behind a locked door.
I reach for her hand. “Let’s do something lowkey. One night. You and me. No teammates. No rink. No pretending you don’t want to jump me every five seconds.”
That earns me a half-laugh. “You make it really hard to say no, you know that?”
“Is that a yes?”
She hesitates. Then nods. “Fine. One date.”
I grin. “I’ll make it good.”
“You better.”
“I’ll wine and dine the hell out of you.”
Mia narrows her eyes. “If you take me to Nando’s, I swear to god…”
“Wow. You think so little of me.”
“Iknowyou. I’ve seen your lunch orders.”
I lean in, lips brushing hers. “Don’t worry, baby. I’ve got plans.”
She kisses me back. It’s slow and intentional. It doesn’t take much to heat things up again. One look, one touch, and we’re going at it like we haven’t already torn each other apart twice tonight.
She ends up back on my lap, grinding slow and dirty, her hands in my hair while mine slide under her T-shirt. There’s no better view. I could watch Mia come apart every second of every day. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
