Page 107 of Game Plan

I relaxed a little and blew out a breath. Okay, Mason could tell I wasn’t being harsh on purpose, but my defense mechanisms were kicking in. For a moment, I’d forgotten just how good he was at reading my moods.

“You can’t.” I failed at keeping my composure this time, a hint of a smile breaking free.

His own smile wavered just a bit. “Sure, I can…and I will.”

“Mase.”

“Mel. I’m desperate for a chance. Just one. You can even leave after the appetizers if I’m boring you, but please gimme one evening to show you we belong together.”

He stepped forward, and for a split second, I feared he would beg me on his knees. Looking into his eyes, I saw no trace of Mason Pierce, the player I’d known for most of my life. He wasn’t the womanizer or the infuriating boy who used to rile me up all those years ago. He wasn’t the hot-dog-dressed star quarterback trying to make a statement. He was him. No walls, no pretenses. Just him, pouring out his heart with a vulnerability I’d never witnessed before.

“Mase, what are you doing?” I begged him with my eyes to drop it, feeling the patrons’ gaze on us and my cheeks flaming up.

“Mel, there’s never been anyone else but you. For years now, I’ve been trying to catch your attention, but all I ever seem to do is push you further away. You always have this shield around you whenever we’re together, and I’m done with it. My heart is already yours, whether you agree or not… It has been for a very long time. Since we were just kids, to be exact. You are my person. I’m sure of it. And I believe I am yours. All I’m asking is a real chance. Not a coffee date or a walk around the park, but dinner. Where we dress pretty and eat a four-course meal, and I get to pick you up and open your car door. The whole nine yards. I know this isn’t a grand gesture. I tried it once, and it didn’t go as planned… I want to be able to kiss you and hold your hand and call you mine. All the things I already do in my head, but I am too afraid to do in real life, in case they chase you away. We lost our chance once. I’m not losing it again. It’s not⁠—”

Before he could finish his sentence, I rounded the bar, walked up to him, and crashed my lips on his, swallowing his last words.

Time stopped.

The beating of my heart pulsed in my temples.

My thoughts evaporated.

Every single pair of eyes aimed at us vanished.

In that moment, I wanted to prove to Mason—and myself—there was no future possible between us. That our chemistry was friend-zoned at the most, and he had to stop chasing me. Making all those declarations.

Instead, the feeling of his mouth against mine proved the opposite. It shattered my foundations, rocked my world, brightened the darker corners of my soul.

His lips claimed mine in the slowest and most torturous kiss of my life. Our tongues danced together. Kissing Mason Pierce felt as natural as breathing. He became an extension of me. Our heartbeats synced. Why did I resist him for so long?

I looped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer, deepening the connection we shared. Holding on to him like he was already mine.

A low guttural sound formed in his throat, and I moaned when it reached his lips. I was under a spell I wished to never wake up from.

Mason’s hands locked on my waist, and I melted into him. Like two pieces of a puzzle, it felt as if my body had been molded to fit his. How could I have been so blind not to notice it until now?

He glided a hand along my back, leaving goose bumps behind, and curled it around the nape of my neck.

I had never felt something so powerful and so right at the same time before.

My entire being shuddered under the intensity of our first kiss, and I felt my soul coming alive.

Heat flooded my body.

My head spun at a vertiginous speed, but I refused to abandon the ride.

Right now, I could tell something special was developing between us. That it wasn’t just a kiss, but the kiss. The one about to change the course of my life.

Forever.

Someone clearing their throat beside us snapped me out of the hypnotic state we had fallen into. Slowly, I returned to the present, still mesmerized by the guy who held me as if I were the most precious thing he had ever cared for.

“Melinda?” The voice took a long time to reach the processing center of my brain. When it did, I jumped back. My boss, George, stood two feet from us, his arms crossed, wearing a zero-bullshit expression. “This is not the place for public displays of affection, young lady.”

I coughed. “George, I’m sorry.” My voice cracked as I spoke. “I was… We were…”

Mason grabbed my hand in his and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Sir, it was all my fault. I’m the one to blame. Don’t get upset at Mel for something I did.”