Page 100 of Burner Account

Adamo:No because you being all lovey-dovey seems like the first horsemen of the apocalypse or some shit

Me:(middle finger emoji)

Isaiah lowered my phone,and as he handed it back, he said, “That was… when we were texting after the last game?”

I nodded, pocketing the phone. “Yes. I was absolutely crushed that we’d lost. Getting eliminated—it sucks. It hurts. But when I was texting with you, I mean…” I shrugged. “I was still smiling like a dork because even while I felt like shit after that game, I was talking to you.” I swallowed. “And my teammates could see it.”

His eyes pleaded with me to convince him.

“I’m happier with you than I’ve ever been in my life,” I said. “That’s all that matters to me besides makingyouhappy.”

Isaiah dropped his gaze to our joined hands, swiping at his eyes with the other.

“To answer your question from earlier,” I whispered. “About whether I’d have noticed you if we hadn’t known each other online before? The truth is that I don’t know. I’ll never know.” I tipped his chin up again so he was looking at me. “What Idoknow is that I knew you before I ever saw you in person, and when I met you, I was so attracted to you I couldn't breathe.”

He searched my eyes, his expression full of what I could only read as both disbelief and a desperate need to believe me.

“The version of you I knew online,” I went on, “Yeah, I was close to him. Incredibly close. But it wasn’t until I met you in person that I started thinking of you as someone Iwanted.”

His eyebrows climbed. “Really?”

“Yeah. Because it’s different in person, you know?”

Chewing his lip, he nodded. “Yeah. It is.” He dropped his gaze, shoulders sinking a little. “I just don’t get what I could possibly have to offer someone like you.”

“Someone like me?” I laughed softly and pulled him closer, wrapping my arms around him and letting him bury his face against my neck. “God, Isaiah. You think you don’t have anything to offer?” I held on to him as I tried to hold on to my composure. “You’re everything I could ever want in a man.”

The sigh he released almost broke something in me. From the moment this conversation had started, I’d been terrified he was about to walk out and not come back, but the way he exhaled and held me tighter… No, he wasn’t leaving. I could feel it to my core. And I could barely breathe through the relief.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered unsteadily. “I’m such an—”

“You’re someone who’s been told he’s worthless by someone who wasn’t worth a damn,” I growled, stroking his hair with a trembling hand. “And you’ve had it reinforced by people who are supposed to love and support you. I’d have doubts too if I was in your shoes.”

Another sigh, and we just stood there for a moment, as if he needed to let the dust settle as much as I did.

“For the record,” I murmured after a while, “Ian was my friend.” I drew back so I could look in those beautiful blue eyes. “But Isaiah is the man I fell in love with.”

His lips parted.

“I mean it,” I whispered shakily. “I love you, Isaiah. Everything you were before we met, and everything you are in person. I have no idea how things would’ve gone if we’d met face to face first. All I know is, the way they did happen, I couldn’t have stopped myself from falling for you if I’d wanted to.” I smoothed his hair. “And I definitely didn’t want to.”

Surprise and disbelief held in his expression for long seconds. I couldn’t decide if I’d said too much, too little, the right thing, the wrong thing. Just that it was the truth, and all I could do was hope it was enough.

And then…

Oh, God.

I’d adored this man’s smile from the first moment we’d met. Watching it break through all that pain now, his eyes lighting up even while a few tears still clung to his long lashes—so this was what it felt like to melt for someone.

“You’re amazing,” he breathed. Then he cupped both sides of my neck and drew me in.

Our first kiss had been a relief after going out of my mind with lust for way too long. This time… Oh, fuck. I had to wrap my arms around him just to stay on my feet, and I wanted to anyway because I needed him as close to me as possible. His lips moved so gently and perfectly against mine, and his touch was so tender and unsteady, I thought I might lose it after all.

When we came up for air, we were both out of breath. His forehead was hot against mine, and his hands still cradled my neck as I held on to handfuls of his shirt.

Isaiah’s voice came out thick: “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t—”

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