Page 78 of Golden Days

“An asshole.” I huff out a sigh. “My shoulder has been bothering me, and I lied to Lauren about it,” I admit softly, giving her an inch.

“Why?” she asks, nose crinkling.

I tighten my grip on the steering wheel. “I don’t know. I can’t sleep some nights. I’ve got a lot on my mind, I guess.”

“Like what?” she asks, fingers picking at the seam of her leggings.

Like how I don’t want to hold back anymore, how I want to kiss you and take you out on a date. How over the course of only a few weeks, I’ve let this crush develop into something much more. Something I’m scared to look at too closely for fear that it’ll finally be the thing that breaks me.

I clear my throat and land on something else, just as raw and honest. “The tournament, for one. I’m not worried per se, but I always get nervous before a big one. I’m also worried about Ezra. I don’t think he’s handling the fact he didn’t qualify for the tournament very well. And then there’s you.” It comes out before I can catch myself.

“Me?” she asks. Her stare on my profile burns, and I quickly glance over at her. She looks at me with a mixture of worry and something else. Excitement? I hope so.

Taking a chance, I reach out and interlock my fingers with hers. “Can we stop pretending for a minute?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” she says softly, fingers twitching against mine.

I let out a frustrated growl and withdraw my hand. With a glance at the slow traffic around me, I pull over, far enough on the shoulder that I don’t cause an accident. The car jostles us both as it comes to a sudden stop.

The only sounds in the cabin are the pelting rain and my beating heart. My fingers clench and unclench around the steering wheel for a few breaths. Then, I let go, unbuckle my seatbelt with shaky fingers, and turn to her.

“Yes, you,” I say, voice grave. “You’ve been driving me crazy in the best way possible, and I’ve tried to keep my distance, but damn it⁠—”

Hazel stares at me, mouth open, chest heaving. She’s wearing the same damn polo as that first night she came with me and met the team. It’s tight and soft-looking and goddamn perfect on her.

I groan. “Fuck it.”

My body propels me forward, and I cup her face with both my hands. I don’t linger on the softness of her skin or how cool to the touch she feels. I glance at her once to make sure she wants this and, by the way she melts in my arms and stares at my lips? Yeah, she wants this.

Her plump lips feel like a goddamn cloud and I—I feel like I’m floating. Her mouth opens against my tongue and I tilt her head, deepening the kiss. My thumb grazes her jaw, applying the briefest pressure.

The moan she lets out goes straight to my dick. I’m hard and aching for her. I’ve wanted her for weeks now. The torture of her shorts and dresses and the sight of her in my house doesn’t even compare with the longing I feel in my chest, though.

Our tongues brush and I press her closer to me, sinking my teeth into her bottom lip. She yelps and I pull back.

“Did I hurt you?”

“No, it’s—” She laughs, looking down between us. “The seatbelt.”

I glare at it. I want to tear it off, throw it out the fucking window. Hazel laughs and reaches down, pressing the button and releasing it.

She pulls back just enough to escape the contraption. I want to grab her again, kiss her again. But I wait. I need to know she wants it too.

Her brown eyes meet mine, and she runs a finger over her bottom lip, where I bit her just now. The smile she gives me brightens up the whole fucking sky.

Has the rain suddenly stopped? Or is that just my heart?

Slowly, she leans back in, cupping my face in both her hands. She kisses the corner of my mouth, then my jaw, the column of my throat. Her tongue darts out between my neck and shoulder, where the muscle is the tightest, and a part of me relaxes, forgetting about the pain.

“Fuck it, right?” she whispers as she reaches my mouth once more.

I can taste her smile as she lifts up on one knee and her lips crash back down on top of mine. The part of me that wants to doubt this tells me to go slow. The other, more powerful part of me that’s been dreaming of this for weeks says faster.

The devil on my shoulder wins as I wrap an arm around her waist, lift her up, and drag her into my lap. She lands on top of me with a giggle. My head lands between her neck and shoulder and I groan, reaching down and pressing the handle to bring the chair all the way back.

Her amusement dies quickly when she shifts and feels my hard cock. My fingers dig into her thighs, holding her in place. My lips latch on to her neck and I groan, dragging my teeth against her thrumming pulse.

She grinds once, her soft leggings and my thin athletic pants leaving nothing left to the imagination.