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He lies on the bed and pulls my center toward his face. Dane knows how to please me, stroking me soft then hard, lapping me, then striking with precision. I finish just when the door chimes and the food arrives. He wipes his mouth on his forearm. Shades of pink kiss my skin as I run into the bathroom.
Returning in my pajamas to the living area, Dane has Netflix pulled up. “Remember the Titans or After? I know you read the After series.”
“Honestly, can we watch a movie that leaves me laughing? Anything Jennifer Anniston.”
“Old school, I like it.”
He turns on The Good Girl. I grab a chicken finger and throw it at him, but he just picks up another one, dipping it into the ranch, and rewards me with an effervescent smile. Then he feeds me. “Open.” I part my mouth, and he sticks it in an inch or so. “If I have one job now, that’s to feed your body and your heart.”
I bite off the end, chewing under his gaze. “I give you an A plus. I may give you extra credit after the movie.”
He tugs me into his shoulder, and he presses play. As I snuggle into his naked chest, an overpowering sense of happiness washes over me. We're cuddled up on the couch, watching a movie like we’ve done hundreds of times, but now we’re more than best friends—we’re a couple.
I wouldn’t let myself believe that my crush on him would ever get to the next level. He never let on that he felt the same way. Yet here we are, wrapped up in each other, and it feels like we’re meant to be. As a content sigh escapes me, I rest my head on his shoulder, feeling grateful for this moment and for the person beside me. He looks down at me, brushing a stray hair from my face, making my heart flutter.
Chapter Thirty-One
DANE
My alarm beeps from my phone, and it registers that we fell asleep while watching the movie. Lettie’s head lies in my lap, and she stirs as I reach for my phone to turn it off.
I whisper, “Sorry, I forgot to turn off the alarm.”
“What time is it?”
“Four thirty.”
“Oh crap, I’m supposed to meet Jasper at five.”
I let out a heavy sigh. “Don’t you think you should have a shorter day since you compete tomorrow? All athletes have a walk through the day before but not a full-out practice.”
“Dane, as much as I want to stay here with you, this is the next step in my future. My sponsors are paying him because he’s the best. The person that can get me to the next level.”
Damn, I thought maybe I was her future.
My head rests on the back of the couch and can already feel soreness setting into my neck muscles. Slowly, she sits up, putting her bare feet on the floor. “I have to get ready,” she says. “Let’s go have a bagel in the coffee shop.”
Within a minute, she is dressed for riding, and I’m still tying my tennis shoes. We sit for fifteen minutes, eating, and I show her the messages I received from my coach and all of the other people I’m ditching right now.
“You should go home. I want you to stay, but basketball is your job. They actually pay for you to play.”
“Hey, I provide services for their money. I laugh at all their fucking jokes, and sign shit for their family members twice removed.”
She chuckles with her spoon of yogurt in her mouth, and all I can see is her feeding our children. Two frizzy-headed girls who I have to braid their hair while Lettie plays with dinosaurs with our two boys.
“Elizabeth, I trust you got plenty of sleep,” Jasper needles as he approaches our table.
He makes the bile in my stomach rise. I say, “Nope.”
At the same time, Lettie says, “Yep.”
I want that fucker to think we were having sex all night long even though we didn’t. A grin tugs at his lips, and I want to smack it off.
The camera crew sneaks in behind Jasper. “Lettie, do you mind if we follow you while you’re training today? This will be a fantastic local story that may go national. It may be what you need to get Olympic sponsors.”
Jasper rolls his eyes.
“Great idea. If nothing else, Grans and Paps will love seeing the footage.”
