Page 119 of Game Plan

He pushed himself up on one arm and claimed my mouth in a slow kiss. “You like me cocky. Admit it.”

“You think?” I smiled against his mouth.

“Don’t pretend otherwise. I know you do.”

I leaned back to watch him. “Mase, you would tell me if I were ever just a game to you, right?”

Every trace of humor vanished from his expression, and he moved to a sitting position, pulling me up with him without letting go. “Mel, you are not a game and have never been. Back in high school, I cleaned up my act because I was serious about us, and I knew you would never give me a chance unless I could prove to you that I was done being an idiot. All the times I acted out, it was because I couldn’t have you…or thought I wasn’t good enough for you.”

“Oh, Mase…”

“I’m sorry it took me so long to figure my shit out. I’m also sorry for making you doubt my intentions, and for all the idiocies I did in the meantime.”

“For the longest time, I pushed down my desire for you because I thought you would never fall for a girl like me. That I was mostly invisible to you.”

“Baby, you were never invisible to me. Not a single day. Not since you’ve moved next door and stirred up an array of hormonal reactions inside me. That confused me a lot, and I had no clue how to be the man—or rather the boy—you deserved.”

I sighed, and he wrapped his arms around me while I buried my face in his chest, breathing in his masculine scent. “I’m glad you’ve managed to shake off your old habits. You were right all this time about us. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you for so long. Thanks for not giving up on me.”

“I’ve always known you were the one. I even made a whole playbook to win you back after our friendship fell apart last year.”

“You made a playbook for me?”

He nodded. “Yeah. It was a four-step game plan.”

“Tell me more.” I batted my eyelashes. “Please.”

“Okay. Step one was to set you free and wait. Step two was to see how things would evolve once we were in college and to make sure you and Clarke were over.”

I heard the wistfulness in his voice.

“To be fully honest, I prayed every night for it to happen. I’m sorry if I was never a fan of your relationship.”

“Never be sorry, okay? It was never my intention to break your heart. I’ve said it many times already, but I wanna make sure you know it.”

“I do.” He planted a kiss on the top of my head. “Step three was to revise my plan once we were in college. Which I did multiple times because you were not easy to convince at first.”

I cringed. “And step four?”

“Sweep you off your feet.”

I felt giddy inside hearing how he had planned to seduce me. “Tell me, Mase. Did it work?”

His grin was full of mischief now. “What do you think, Shepard?”

“That you should write playbooks for a living. Football playbooks, romance playbooks, all kinds of playbooks.”

“Ha. Ha. No, thanks. They’re only reserved for you.”

“I like that.”

“Quick question, though. Will you wear my jersey at the game?”

“Yes. I thought you would never ask. By the way, given the choice, I’d never wear anything else for the rest of my life.”

“That’s my girl.” He kissed me as we lay back on the bed, holding my naked body against his.

“Are you coming home with me for Thanksgiving next week? I was thinking we could leave on Tuesday night after practice or early Wednesday morning and come back to Crestwood on Friday night or Saturday morning.”