"I think I love you." Oh, holy shit, I can't believe I blurted that right out. Who says that when someone says, "I think I'll just keep you naked"? That is so not the right response.

I stop and look at him, panic probably written all over my face, because that's exactly what I feel right now, just like I'm about to have a heart attack. Those are words you definitely can't un-say.

He's looking at me weird. Shit, he's looking at me really weird.

And he's not saying anything.

I open my mouth again and then I suddenly can't stop talking. "I haven't been in love before, so I could really be wrong and I mean, maybe the horrible feeling I've had in my chest is just indigestion or stress, either is totally plausible. And the smart part of me knows that you're a player – I mean, a football player, not just a player… although there's that, too, because really, you are a celebrity, and there are going to be a lot of women throwing themselves at you – and you're too young and you're leaving next year and I'm here. And you're cocky. I mean, good God you're arrogant. And stubborn. I told myself it makes no sense, but –"

"Shut up, Cassie," he whispers, bringing his lips down on mine. I kiss him with everything I have. "I'm in love with you."

"You don't know that," I say. "It really is way too soon to know that and –"

"Will you just stop talking already? I'm thinking about you and not football, for fuck's sake. I've spent a bunch of nights up here the last two weeks up here, trying to sleep without you. I can hardly eat."

I raise my eyebrows. "Something's definitely wrong with you."

Of course, "hardly eat" probably means a half a pizza for a snack instead of a whole one.

"And when I sat outside your house, it –"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." I put my hand up. "You sat outside my house?"

"Not in a stalker way," he defends himself. "I didn't have binoculars. You know you can see through your living room window from the street at night. It's not safe at all."

"That sounds exactly like a stalker, you freak." I slap him on his very hard, very muscular arm.

"I was making sure you were safe," he says, giving me a what-did-I-do-wrong look. "I mean, I did a crap job of that. If I'd have been looking out for you during the day, I could have followed you to the athletic center and – damn it, Cassie, I don't want to watch you through a window."

"Great. It's super that you don't want to creep around outside my bedroom window."

He pauses and takes a deep breath, his wide chest expanding even more. "I'm telling you that I don't think there's any other explanation for the fact that there's been a giant knot in my stomach for the past two weeks other than I'm in love with you. Plus, I want you around all the damn time. When I'm not around you, everything sucks. So I'm in love with you and that's all there is to it. You're just going to have to live with it."

"You have such a way with words," I say, as he picks me up and carries me to the back of the truck.

"Please," he grunts. "Your 'I love you' speech wasn't any more eloquent than mine."

He hoists me up into the truck bed and I scoot backward across the mattress, my back on the pillows. Colton crawls over me, his face above mine, and his cock goes between my legs immediately.

"Eloquent," I say. "Big word."

"Learned from the best," he murmurs.

This time, when he enters me, he takes his time. His eyes lock on mine and they never waver as he rocks slowly inside of me. I think I could stay like this forever and be happy. My heart feels like it's going to burst.

When I finally come, after he's fucked me until I'm a puddle of mush, it's with his hands on mine, fingers interlaced, looking at him. When he comes, it's with "You're Mine" on his lips.

---

"Oh hell," Colton groans before we even open the door. "I know that voice. Brace yourself."

Doreen's laugh is audible even through the front door, and I hear Tank's and Sable's muted voices.

"It's about time!" Doreen calls. "There's food on the table. Breakfast for dinner!"

There's a cornucopia of food on the table, to be precise. A stack of pancakes a mile high, mountains of eggs, bacon, and sausage, and enough pastries to open a bakery. Colton puts his hands on my hips, pulling me back against him, and whispers in my ear. "You already had sausage, didn't you?"

"Shut up," I hiss, slapping his hand. "Your mother is right there."

"Get in here and eat before all of this gets cold," Doreen gestures to us to join them as Tank and Sable pull out folding chairs around two card tables set up in the living room. Our kitchen table is definitely too small to host this spread. I'm half-expecting Tank's folding chair to collapse underneath him. Are folding chairs rated for football player weight or do they make special steel-reinforced ones just for them?

"Eat up, boys," Doreen orders. "You need stamina for the game." She eyeballs Colton. "And if you're going to give me grandchildren."

"And, there it is," Colton says.

I choke on the sip of orange juice I'd just taken.

Doreen spears a pancake with a fork and puts it on my plate like she didn't just mention Colton impregnating me. "I always tell the boys to wear condoms, but that doesn't apply to you anymore, Colton."

Sable giggles and Tank snorts. Beside me, Colton grumbles. "Shit, ma. It was awkward enough when you were sending me condoms in the mail. Telling me not to wear them is over the line."

"I'm just saying that you can't go wrong with a nice little accidental pregnancy," she says.

I think the bite of pancake I just took went right down the wrong pipe. I'm going to aspirate on pancake in the middle of dinner.

"No more, ma," Colton says in his I-mean-business voice.

"I'm glad the two of you are together, that's all I'm getting at. And you two, too!" she adds, with a glance at Tank and Sable. "Lord knows why it took you weeks to get over that stupid argument about the thesis," she says with a sigh. "If he's ever that stubborn in the future, Cassie, you can send him right back to me for an attitude check."

A laugh bubbles up in the bottom of my throat. "Yes, ma'am."

"Traitor," Colton whispers. He reaches down and squeezes my thigh.