Page 57 of Front Runner

All my senses were focused on her, heightened by the surreal feel of being completely alone in a group of strangers. Before I was ready, the song ended, switching to a fast-paced girl rock anthem that had the ladies in the crowd around us cheering.

Riley blinked and let me go, swaying toward Eva as if she were drunk. “Thanks for the dance, but I need to head to bed.”

She directed her words at Eva, but they were meant for me.

Eva leaned in, close enough that I could hear her words too. “That was the hottest thing I’ve ever been a part of, and if you don’t immediately leave and ride him like a prize pony, we can no longer be friends.”

Riley snickered and sent me a loaded glance. “Give me a ride home?”

I nodded, more than ready to drop the façade. With Eva’s blessing, I made space to let Riley and Eva move past me on their way back to the table. Surrounded by gyrating women, I sucked in a breath and tried to will my hard-on down enough for me to walk normally.

At the current rate, I wasn’t convinced I’d get Riley to my car before I tore the underwear off her. And that train of thought wasn’t helping.

I forced a litany of non-sexy thoughts into my mind. Math homework. Winter in the mountains. Sledding with my sister. The time my mom yelled at my coach for encouraging violent plays.

After another couple of seconds, I was reasonably sure I’d at least make it to the table without bending Riley over it. Fuck. Wrong image.

I hurried through the crowd and nodded goodbye to Noah and Mac, who was accepting accolades from the group of cheerleaders while Eva scowled at him. Riley stood at the end of the booth waiting.

She led the way out of the bar with my hand at her back, and I guided her to my car. The cold air helped clear my head, which was good because I wasn’t sure I should be driving while distracted.

Riley shivered under my hand again, this time, probably from the cold. The temperature had dropped while we were inside, and I could see my breath fogging out in front of me.

“I think I have a clean hoodie in the backseat,” I offered.

She let out a snorting laugh. “That’s the worst line I’ve ever heard for getting me into the backseat with you.”

I smiled as I unlocked the door and tucked her inside. “I wasn’t aware I needed lines.”

“Apparently, you don’t,” she mused, but she didn’t sound too pleased.

I leaned across her to grab the sweatshirt and drop it in her lap before shutting her door. By the time I’d climbed into the driver seat, she’d pulled the thick material over her body. Despite being super tall for a woman, my hoodie was big on her. It came down farther than the dress.

“We can’t do that again.” Riley didn’t look at me as she spoke, staring out the windshield at the trees beyond the asphalt.

This was not the way I’d expected the drive home to go. That dance had been sexy as fuck, but I’d let my desire for her override my caution. It had felt like we were alone, but anyone could have noticed us. Eva’s cover wouldn’t work if someone took a second look.

I cranked the heater and pulled out onto the road before I responded. “I won’t apologize for dancing with you, but I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

She spared me a glance. “Any of it. The sexy talk in the game. The locker room. The dance. We’re being reckless.”

While I’d been daydreaming about moving in together, she’d been coming up with ways to keep us apart. My first reaction was to argue—to prove my point by pulling over and kissing her until she forgot everything but my name—but Riley continued before I could speak.

“You make me forget.”

Her soft admission washed away the hard edges of my response. At least I wasn’t alone in the feeling.

I reached over to cover her hands, clasped tightly in her lap. “You’re right. Today was reckless. I keep hoping…”

She glanced at me when I trailed off. “What?”

“That something will change. Something will let us be together out in the open. I hate the secrecy.”

Riley flipped her hand over to link our fingers together. “Me too, but we can’t pretend the rules don’t exist just because we don’t want them to.”

I kissed her fingertips. “What do you need me to do?”

She laughed. “Be less sexy?”

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