Page 63 of Forbidden

Joy leans back and looks at me, her brows furrowed. “What about you? Are you not celebrating?”

I bark a laugh. “I think celebrating by yourself is a bit sad, even for me. I might order take out. That can be my celebration.”

Aldo shakes his head. “Nah. That’s lame as fuck. Come celebrate with the team.”

“You know I can’t. You’ll be celebrating at the Hive or the Den, won’t you? I can’t turn up. No one will relax with a member of the faculty there. You know it.”

Joy and Aldo share a look and I know I’m right. I may have stopped competing professionally a couple of years ago, but I remember what it was like.

“It’s fine,” I reassure them. “It’s part of the job. Have a shot for me. But I didn’t say that, of course.”

Aldo smiles again and it’s hard to tear my gaze away. He is seriously beautiful. I’d noticed he was attractive from day one, but since the club, it’s like someone turned up the brightness or changed the filter. From his long, dark eyelashes to the way his white smile contrasts with his olive skin, he’s stunning. It’s hard not to think about the way his tongue felt against mine. The soft pants against my ear as we ground on the dance floor. The slick feel of his heated skin beneath my fingers.

I look away and bend my knee, bringing my foot up onto the seat, hoping it hides my growing arousal before anyone notices.

Joy reaches out and puts her hand on my other leg and I suck in a breath. It’s an innocent gesture—one she’s done a million times since we were kids—but it’s the first time she’s touched me like this since I came back, and she has no idea how close she is to my thickening cock.

“We should figure something out,” she says, squeezing gently. “It’s not fair that you have to go home alone while we all party.”

I try not to squirm under her touch. “It’s part of the job, Joy. Do you ever party with Doug?”

That adorable little line appears between her eyebrows, and I reach out and smooth it away before I realize what I’m doing. Her eyes widen and I snatch my hand back at the same time she moves hers. Now that the air has been cleared between us, old habits are starting to creep back in and it’s going to be hard to remember and respect the new boundaries.

“It’s different with Doug,” Joy says carefully, inspecting her nails. “He’s always been our coach.”

I stare at her for a second before looking at Aldo, who looks uncomfortable as hell. This is Doug’s fourth year at Franklin West, which means he was their coach when they were freshmen. I instinctively feel protective over Aldo, that Doug would even think about going there with a student, but immediately realize, I haven’t got a leg to stand on. I’m their coach, too. And Doug is only thirty-one. I’m one hundred percent certain that I would have found it equally hard to hold back from kissing Aldo if I was seven years older.

“Have you heard from him?” Aldo asks.

I pull out my phone, unsurprised to see no new messages. “I told him about our win. He did reply to a message about the PCC coach, but that’s it.”

Aldo gives me a sad smile. “He hates that guy. He always puts on a really shitty British accent around him.”

“That makes sense.” I chuckle. “He told me to push him in the pool.”

Joy snickers. “I would have loved to have seen that.”

The rest of the journey passes comfortably, the three of us chatting about swimming and life in general, and something settles in my soul. A warmth, spreading out through my lungs, making it easier to breathe. It’s only when we pull off the I-5 onto the US-26, that Aldo leans forward across the aisle.

“I have an idea,” he hisses.

I raise my eyebrows. It’s dark outside and the bus is quiet, with most of the team having fallen asleep. “What?”

“Why don’t we get Jon to drop us off at your place? I’m guessing we’ll pass near it on the way to campus.”

I frown, glancing at the driver and the headlights illuminating the road ahead. “I mean, kind of.”

“Great idea!” Joy says, nodding at Aldo. “Put Wes in charge for the last half an hour of the journey. It makes no sense for you to go back to campus, only to drive all the way back.”

“My car’s there,” I say as if that’s the only reason this is a bad idea.

Joy elbows me. “Not a problem. We can all get a ride there in the morning or something.”

In the morning?My heart speeds in my chest. “But why? You need to go back and celebrate with the others.”

“We don’tneedto,” Aldo says. “We’d rather celebrate with you.”

I glance at Joy, as he seems to be speaking for her too, but she just smiles up at me, her eyes even darker in the dim light of the bus. “Are you sure?”

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