Page 95 of Bluffed By the Offense
“Talking about past girlfriends? That’s a big no.”
“We’re not really dating, QB.”
“And yet, here you are, alone in the dark in my arms,” he says with a soft laugh.
Something about the way he says it makes me hyper aware of him, the warmth coming off him, the way his arms bulge where he’s got them secured around me, the solid mass of his thighs on either side of mine.
“Your brother’s claustrophobic?” I ask.
“Yeah.”
“Is he your only sibling?”
“No. I’m the oldest of five.”
“That explains a lot,” I say.
“You’re the oldest of two,” he says.
I like that he knows that.
“Tell me about your family,” I say.
“They are my life,” he says. “Them and Trey. He’s my brother from another mother.”
He proceeds to tell me about each of his siblings and his mom. I settle into him and listen, picking up each piece of information he shares and adding it to the puzzle that is Marcus Delaney.
I’m snuggled deep in his arms, his melodic storytelling lulling me into an unexpected peace.
The door to the seatrain flies open and I shield my eyes from the light flooding in at us.
“Delaney!” Treyvon shouts.
I jump up and away from Marcus’s lap like I’ve been bit by a rattlesnake.
“Gettin’ cozy in the seatrain?” Trey says, wagging his brows.
I feel the blush rise up my cheeks.
“I’m just teasing, Cass,” Trey says. “You’re good. I’d curl up with my girl if we got stuck somewhere.”
“Your girl?” Marcus says, standing and dusting himself off.
“If I had one,” Trey says.
I almost say No one in this seatrain has a girl, but then I look over at Marcus.
He smiles at me—almost a shy smile.
He saved me.
Not only that. In the darkness, when it was just the two of us, he showed me a side of himself I never imagined existed.
And even in the light spilling in and flooding the space around us, I know I won’t ever see him the same way again.
Chapter 20
Marcus
