Page 122 of Rebel Bride
Summer knew how I felt about her.
My dad and I had talked it out—damn, I wish I’d done that sooner.
And my mental block when it came to skating with Carter would soon be a thing of the past now that I knew the root cause. Summer and her amazing analysis had opened a whole new world to me.
This next year was going to be fucking awesome.
She appeared at the door, looking far more somber than the situation warranted.
“Everything okay?”
“You asked Ryder to offer me a job?”
I had asked him to keep my part in this under the radar. But Summer was no fool. She would wonder what had changed to flip Ryder’s thinking.
“It’s an internship with the Rebels. What you wanted. You get to do this thing that’s your dream.”
You get to stay with me.
“I don’t want your help. I don’t need your help.”
“We all need help, Summer.”
She threw up a hand. “And I’ve accepted about as much as I can. I’m accepting help from people every day.”
“How is that a problem?”
“Because there comes a time when I need to stand on my own two feet. Make my own way. I can’t be relying on you like I did with Dash.”
“I’m not him.”
She looked exasperated. “I know that! But you’re a professional athlete with a big career that will always come first.”
I shook my head. “Who says? If you prove yourself with Ryder and the Rebels brass, you can get a job anywhere.”
“Oh, is that what you’re going to do? Make every franchise hire me when you’re traded?”
“If I have to!”
She stared at me. “Hatch?—”
“I can’t always be the good guy. Sometimes, I have to take what I want.” I threw back the covers and stood upright. Let her see what I was offering. The whole fucking package. “And I want you.”
She held my gaze, and I would have kissed her—I needed to kiss her—but she had to make the move here. She was the one with doubts.
For the first time in my life, I had none.
She remained still. “This ‘can’t always be the good guy’ thing? Are you saying that because you came on board the Rebels for your dad?”
“Right. I didn’t want to disappoint him, so I made that move for him. Now I’d like to make a move for me. I waited a long time for you, Summer. Are you telling me you’re going to invent some other reason for us not to be together?”
She took a step back, in the completely wrong direction. A weird look came over her face.
“Maybe you should have made a move five years ago before Dash and I were truly a thing. Maybe everything happened this way for a reason. As a warning to me not to get involved with an athlete. I’m no man’s trophy. I’m not some prize to be won because you think you deserve it after you’ve suffered for so long. Suffering you brought on yourself, I might add, because you decided it was better to be a jerk to me instead of getting to know me.”
This was going all wrong. I had obviously hit a nerve.
“That’s not what I meant.” I cupped her jaw and drew her close. “I’ve never thought I deserved you. But I do think you’re a prize, and I’m prepared to work like hell to win you. Is that so bad?”
