Page 123 of Pucking Bad Boys

Becks takes off his jersey and begins shedding his protective gear, piece by piece. “I think your attitude problem has nothing to do with me outplaying you today. Are we going to talk about it, or not?”

Fuck. I hate when he reads me better than I can read myself. I thought he would have lost that ability since we haven’t spent much time together in the last five years.

“What is there to talk about?” It comes out like a growl, but he doesn’t look scared of me.

Big mistake. He should be. When Talia is concerned, I’m not playing around.

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the elephant in the room. Or is waking up naked in bed with your girl and another guy a regular thing for you?”

“It’s not a regular thing.” I snap.

Becks nods. “I didn’t think it was. So do you want to tell me what the fuck is going on?”

What’s going on is that I did what I did because I still have a deal with Talia and I wanted to honor it. But I think I fucked up. I should have let Becks kiss Sam last night and kept biding my time until Talia fell for me.

There’s no way I’m going to admit that to him, though.

He looks me dead in the eyes. “You’re in love with her.”

It isn’t a question.

I debate how I should handle this and in the end I decide to go with the truth. “I am. But I haven’t told her yet. It’s too soon. I don’t want to scare her. And I would appreciate it if you could keep it to yourself.”

Becks snorts. “Right. As if I were going to tell the girl I’ve been falling for since the second I saw her that someone else is in love with her.”

I fucking knew it. “You’re in love with her?” It’s more of an accusation than a real question.

“I’m sorry. I had no idea that Talia was with you when I met her. Maybe I should have kissed her that night. You hadn’t changed your relationship status yet. I might have had a chance. But we’ll never know, right?”

The trouble is, I do know.

If Becks had kissed Talia on his first night in town, he would be her boyfriend now.

And it wouldn’t even be a fake deal.

The problem is that I’m in love with Talia too. I think I’ve been for months. From the second I wound up single.

All bullshit aside, I know that what we have is real. The way she kisses me, trusts me, how she looks at me. She feels the same way I do. So much so that she said she didn’t want to end our deal last night. Even if Becks asked her out.

All I need is time to let our feelings grow and to tell her that I want to be with her. For real. Forever.

I answer my brother’s question with another question. “What do you want, Becks?”

He barks out a laugh. “Isn’t that clear? I want Talia. And I think she wants me too.”

There’s no way to lie my way out of this one. And I wouldn’t do it to Talia, anyway.

I know I’m the one for her. That I can make her happy. But if she decided that she wants Becks, I’d step aside. I love her too much not to do what’s best for her. But I’m not gonna go down without a fight.

“She’s attracted to you.” I admit.

Becks runs a shaky hand over his face. “I wasn’t sure she was. That’s why I didn’t make a move the night we met. Then the second I saw her again, I didn’t have the chance to gather my thoughts. You two were an item before I could even blink.”

“You snooze, you lose.”

“Stop being a smart ass, Mack,” he scolds me. “This is fucking serious.”

Don’t I know that?