Page 131 of Worth the Trip

“Personal deficiency.”

“It became personal when you showed up exposing all that leg.”

I looked at the entirely reasonable amount of calf visible beneath my dress. “You coach at a university. Surely you’ve encountered knees.”

“Not yours.”

Damn him.

I lifted the breakfast bag between us. “Do you want this, or should I let the eggs file a grievance?”

He took the bag and looked inside. “Two sandwiches? Fruit too? And water?”

“You coached all morning.”

“Hershey.”

“What?”

His teasing eased. “You remembered.”

“I pay attention.”

His eyes stayed on mine for a second before he set the bag and coffee on the bleacher behind me. Then he opened his arms.

“Come here.”

I went immediately.

Landon closed his arms around me with a low breath, one hand spreading across my back while the other settled beneath my curls. He smelled like grass, soap, heat, and the clean salt of a man who had been working beneath the Texas sun. I pressed my cheek against his chest and held him tighter, letting the week between us collapse beneath the first full contact.

“You sweaty,” I murmured.

“And you squeezing me harder.”

“I’m being polite.”

“Polite women don’t bury their face in a man’s chest.”

“Maybe I’m trying not to inhale.”

His laugh moved beneath my cheek. “Keep lying while you hold me like somebody issued a deadline.”

I smiled and stayed exactly where I was. His mouth touched my temple, then my cheek, then the corner of my lips with enough patience to make me aware of the kiss he hadn’t given me yet. I turned my face.

That was all the invitation he needed.

His mouth settled over mine, soft at first, warm with recognition, before the kiss deepened. My fingers gathered the damp fabric at his sides while his palm moved lower against my back, bringing me closer. I had missed him. Enough that pretending otherwise would’ve insulted both of us.

When Landon finally eased back, his mouth remained near mine. “You miss me?”

“Moderately.”

His eyes dropped to the arms still wrapped around him. “That moderate got a strong-ass grip.”

“You missed me too.”

“Bad enough that you ain’t have to tell me what I already know.”