Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 95951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
I can’t do this.
I can’t sit here, watch her swim, breathe in that suit, and act as if she means nothing to me.
I have to go.
The words are on the tip of my tongue when she and Sloane stop next to me. Sloane links her arm through mine and nods at Corie. I watch Corie’s throat bob with her swallow, and she steps to my other side, mimicking her best friend and linking her arm with mine. I lean into her just a little because I can’t seem to control myself where she’s concerned.
“You’re swimming with us,” Sloane announces.
“Don’t let him out of it.” Landry smirks.
“Did you put them up to this?”
Landry shrugs. “Maybe,” he says, before shoving the second half of his donut into his mouth.
“I wasn’t going to leave,” I grumble under my breath.
“No, but you would have sat in a lounger running plays through your head for next week. You’re the number one-ranked quarterback in the league, Beckett. You’re also human, even though with how often you work out, some could debate that.” Landry smirks. “You need to leave the game on the field. One day, you’re going to wake up and see that it’s all passed you by.”
“What?”
“Life. Live in the moment.”
“You’re acting like I’m some kind of monk. I’m here all the time. I don’t live at the stadium.”
“During the season, you do,” Reid chimes in.
“And in the offseason, you’re still a machine,” Baker adds.
“What is this? Pick on Knox day?”
“They care about you,” Corie says from beside me. I turn to face her, giving her all of my attention. It’s not hard to do. “They just want to know you’re enjoying life.”
“My trunks are in my truck,” I tell her.
“Perfect.” Sloane releases my arm and skips over to Foster. “Corie, follow him and make sure he doesn’t chicken out.”
“Yeah, don’t let him leave,” Landry tells her.
They know what they’re doing, well, they don’t, but they made a good choice. No way am I leaving when Corie wants me to stay.
“I’ll watch him,” Corie assures them. She starts walking toward the side of the house, leading me toward my truck, and I follow her. I’m beginning to think that I would follow this woman anywhere.
When we reach the side of the house, I remove her arm from mine and wrap my arm around her shoulders. I kiss the top of her head as we continue to make our way to my truck. She doesn’t pull away, which makes me want to hold her closer.
At my truck, I don’t move to release her. Instead, I wrap both arms around her, pulling her into my chest. Briefly, I close my eyes and pretend like this isn’t wrong. That she’s mine, and I’m allowed to hold her like this without caring who might see us.
“Knox?” I pull back just enough so she can lift her head and look at me. “Your trunks,” she reminds me.
“Can’t we just stand here like this the rest of the night?” I’m only half joking. I know we can’t, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to.
“You said you wanted to kiss me.”
It’s dark, with only the light of the moon, so I can’t see her face well, but I can imagine a soft pink glow to her cheeks. “I do.”
“I think I’d like that.”
“You think?” I ask.
“I know I would, but I don’t know what this is, Knox. I told myself I was going to focus on my career. After my last breakup, I needed some time.”
“Did you love him?” I know she told Landry she didn’t, but I still need her to tell me again.
“No. It was more the idea of him. Having someone who was mine for me, not because of who my brother was. A male version of Sloane.” She laughs nervously. “With all the relationship stuff.”
“My career is my priority. It always has been, so I don’t know that I have much to offer you.”
“You have you,” she says sweetly.
“And your brother is my best friend. My teammate. He’s threatened all of us by saying that you were off-limits. It’s a non-negotiable for him.”
“Landry stepped up when we lost our mom, but he’s not my father. He’s my brother. He can’t dictate who I kiss and who I don’t. I know it’s complicated, and we work together, but you told me all you can think about is me, and I confess I’ve been thinking about you, too. No matter how often I tell myself I need to put distance between us, I end up right next to you, in your lap, in your arms. I admit, it’s a nice place to be.”
“It’s more complicated than that, Corie girl, and you know it.”
“It is, but for once, I want to be selfish. I want to know what it’s like to kiss you. Not because you’re Knox Beckett, quarterback extraordinaire. I want to kiss you because you’re Knox. The guy who’s always sweet to me. The one who can make my body ache with a look or a simple touch. I’ve never had that before, and I want it just this once, out here in the night, under the moonlight.”