Page 139 of The Risk Taker

His eyes meet mine, and his smile is so full of relief it guts me. Like he finally stopped bracing for the worst. Like for the first time, he realized he doesn’t have to hide who he is or who he loves. He can just be himself.

“So fucking happy.”

God, I love him. I love him so much. All I want to do in this exact moment—this second—is kiss him again. I want to grab his face, press my mouth to his, and show him how much this means to me.

Because he didn’t just come out. Hechoseme.

And it feels really fucking good.

37

NATHAN

By the time I’m dressed and out of the locker room, the adrenaline from kissing Logan in front of everyone has worn off.

I keep replaying it in my head, the look in his eyes when I grabbed his jersey and pulled him toward me.

I don’t know where that confidence came from but it felt good. So good to just… stop pretending and do what I want to do for once in my life.

But now, the nerves are catching up.

I spot Ryan heading toward my sister, leaning down to kiss her. I sigh and make my way toward them before I talk myself out of it.

“Izzy…” I call out. They turn around, their eyes flicking to me when they see me approaching. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

She checks her phone and sighs. “We’re actually running a little late?—”

“It’s important.” The words come out faster than I mean them to.

Isabella blinks at me. “Why? What did you do?”

“Can you just—” I scrub a hand down my face. “Can you come with me to Dad’s office?”

She arches a brow, suspicious. “Why?”

“I just need to tell you guys something.”

She huffs out a laugh. “Okay, well that sounds ominous as hell.”

I shoot her a glare. “Isabella.”

God, she’s stressing me out even more than I already was. Why the hell are little sisters so stubborn?

Ryan looks at my face, realization kicking in. I know the bastard tells her every fucking thing, but I hope he hasn’t told her yet.

“Go with him,” he tells her. “I’ll wait for you in the car.”

Isabella’s brows dip, but she steps away from Ryan anyway, letting out a sigh. “If you make me late for class, I’ll force you to do my homework for the whole semester.”

I roll my eyes as we start walking down the hallway, and every step I take makes my stomach tighten more. I thought telling the team would be the hard part. Turns out doing something big when you don’t have time to think is a lot easier than facing the people who actually matter.

I keep thinking about how confident Logan is. How he doesn’t give a fuck what anyone thinks and does what he wants. I wish I could borrow even half of that right now.

Dad’s office is cracked open. The light from his desk lamp spills across the floor. I knock once, then push the door wider.

He looks up immediately, glasses low on his nose. “Hey,” he says. His eyes flick between us. “Everything alright?”

Isabella shrugs. “I have no clue.” She gestures vaguely at me. “He practically kidnapped me.”