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That was the second time I’d screwed up today.

Although with Reese, I had a feeling that I hadn’t just screwed up.

I had royally fucked up.

She didn’t speak to me for the entire ten minute bus ride back to our stadium in Calhoun. She wouldn’t even look at me. Not that I blamed her. I’d been a complete ass and deserved every bit of her ire.

Hearing about what really went down between her and Warren hadn’t eased any of my anger. It was just now solely directed at him. It made me want to track him down and rip his fucking head off. The fact that he’d been trying to make her life miserable ever since that ill-fated hookup was like rubbing salt in the wound.

The guy was scum.

But according to her, I wasn’t looking much better than him. I had to fix that immediately.

“You want to talk about what happened out there tonight?” Jesse asked from the seat across the aisle.

I lowered the hood on my sweatshirt but didn’t look at him. “Just Warren being Warren.”

“Don’t bullshit me, man,” he said in a curt tone. “You weren’t your usual self around him tonight. Everyone could see it.”

From the back of the bus I could barely make out the top of Reese’s head leaning against the window. I couldn’t let her leave the parking lot tonight without apologizing or I might lose her forever. The thought had panic swirling in my gut.

“He just crossed a line tonight,” I answered. “And it struck a nerve. I didn’t mean to screw everyone out of a win.”

Jesse scoffed. “If we can’t manage to hold a lead for a couple of minutes because of one foul, that’s not on you. That win should have been secured regardless of what happened. We let the game get away from us.”

I did look over at him then. I assumed everyone would have been pissed at me for breaking up the team’s rhythm, but I should have had more faith in my teammates. I should have known they wouldn’t give me a hard time over one slip-up. Everyone had them now and then.

I fist-bumped him. “Thanks, man.”

“If there is anything bothering you, you know you can talk to me.”

I nodded. “I know.”

He slapped me on the shoulder just as we stopped in the team parking lot. I saw Reese dash out the front door like the bus was rigged with a bomb, practically sprinting to her car in the frigid winter air with bare legs. My damn fault. Since I’d ripped the hell out of her tights, she’d had to ditch them back at BelV’s stadium. She’d probably been freezing her ass off for the last half hour or so. I’d even heard Coach ask her what happened to them, and she made up some excuse about getting a runner in them.

Yet another thing I felt like an ass for.

I had to get off this damn bus immediately and chase her down without anyone else seeing.

I shoved past all the guys in front of me, grateful to see that Coach and Gus had already de-boarded and were nowhere in sight. When I finally tracked her down and saw that she’d parked around the corner of the stadium, completely hiding us from view of everyone on the bus, I thanked the lucky stars I hadn’t earned. She was digging through her purse, I assumed looking for her keys, when I caught up to her.

“Reese, wait. I need to talk to you.”

She glanced up in surprise, then schooled her features and went back to searching for her keys. “I have nothing to say to you. Leave me alone.”

Not a chance. “I’m sorry,” I blurted out. The hand in her purse paused. “I know… I know I was the biggest asshole back there and saying sorry doesn’t excuse the things I said to you or the way I acted. But I am really sorry.”

I almost wished she hadn’t looked up then because that’s when I noticed how badly she was shivering. Her teeth were chattering, for Christ’s sake.

“Okay, you’re sorry,” she said, her voice cold. “You said your piece, I heard it, now can you please leave me alone?”

Frustrated that I couldn’t wrap my arms around her and use my body heat to warm her, I asked, “Can we maybe continue this conversation in your car where there’s heat? You’re freezing.”

The laugh she released wasn’t a happy laugh. “No shit I’m freezing. And this little discussion is only delaying me getting into my car so I can get home to my warm bed.”

Okay. Looked like I was going to have to try a different tactic. If there was one thing I knew about Reese, it was that she appreciated honesty, even when it could be brutal. So, that’s what I would give her: the honest to God truth.

I threw my arms out to the side. “All right, you want to know what tonight was all about? Here it is.”

That got her attention. She now watched me with reluctant curiosity.

“I don’t like thinking about Warren ever having you. Hell, I can’t handle hearing him say your name, let alone think about him ever touching you. And he knows that. During the game tonight he was taunting me with what did or didn’t happen between you two. He was using you to get under my skin.”

“Why would he do that?” she whispered.

My hands now on my hips, I pinned her with a look. “Because he can obviously tell how I feel about you.”

She swallowed, her lower lip trembling. “How you feel?”

I nodded slowly, never taking my eyes off her. “I was insanely jealous tonight, thinking about you being with someone else, now or in the past. That wasn’t fair of me, I know, especially since I haven’t been shy about my many…liaisons over the years. I took that jealousy out on you in the worst way, and I can’t tell you enough how fucking sorry I am. But all of this tonight has made me realize one thing.”

Her breathing was erratic, the white puffs from her breaths coming out in a staggered pattern. “What?”

Here was the point of no turning back. Once I took this leap everything was going to change. Everything would be different. That was, if she was willing to take the leap with me.

“I don’t want to be with anyone else,” I said emphatically. “I haven’t for a while. And thinking about you with anyone else makes me want to punch a hole through the damn wall. I don’t even know when it all started happening, but I’m a miserable jackass on the days I don’t get to see you. When we go for days without talking, all I can think about is who else could be flirting with you when I’m not. Or who else might be making you laugh at dirty jokes, even though you try not to. Or who else might be ogling your ass in those skirts you wear. I can’t make any of that go away, no matter how hard I try. Like it or not, Reese, you’re mine now.”

I took deep breaths, completely uncertain of how she would react to hearing all that, especially after our earlier fight. I never knew what to expect with her. She always kept me guessing, which was both aggravating and stimulating at the same time. It was one of the things that had endeared me to her from the beginning.

“Does that mean you’re mine now, too?”

Wait, did I hear that right? She didn’t hate the idea of being with me?

Part of me had expected her to slam her car door in my face and run over my foot as she peeled out of the parking lot.

“If you want me to be,” I said. “I told you. There’s no one else I want.”

Some of the euphoria left me when she didn’t respond right away. I would have given anything to have been able to read her mind. Though maybe ignorance really was bliss sometimes.

“I know after how I behaved tonight I don’t deserve your forgiveness,” I pushed on. “And now I’m asking for even more than that, so I understand if you don’t want anything to do with me. Or if you’re just not ready. All I’m asking for is a chance. I’ll do whatever you want me to do if you just give me a chance to prove that I’m better than I was tonight.”

When she still didn’t say anything, I was prepared to walk away. I didn’t know what else I could say. Which was why I couldn’t have been more shocked when she dropped her purse to the ground and flew into my arms. I caught her around the waist, lifting her up, just as she brought her mouth to meet mine in a kiss that I swear I would remember for the rest of my life.

It was the first time she had kissed me.

Her mouth opened up for my tongue in delighted welcome. Her poor lips were so cold it made me want to use my mouth to warm every inch of her shivering body. Every single inch…

Now, she could feel my jutting erection against the juncture of her thighs. Great. I didn’t want her to think this whole scene had been about sex. That my confession had been motivated by getting her into bed. But I couldn’t have helped my reaction to her if I tried. This was what she did to me, whether I was touching her or not.

I pulled away from the kiss, though it killed me to do so. “Sweetheart, I’m painfully aware that you no longer have any constricting tights on underneath that dress. So, we might want to cool off before things get out of control here.”

I set her down on her feet, loving the pink tinge to her swollen lips. From me.

“Believe me, I’m cooled off enough.” She tucked her hair behind her ear, seeming almost nervous all of a sudden. “I should probably get going, anyway.”

I shoved my hands in my pockets to keep myself from pulling her back into my arms. “Yeah, you need to get out of the cold before you get sick.”

What a lame thing to say. Real smooth, Donovan.

She peeked up through her lashes. “Do you want to come over?”

I wanted to shout, “Hell, yes!” but I restrained myself. I probably shouldn’t reveal how desperate I was for more time with her. But if she was willing to give me that, a pack of wild dogs wouldn’t be able to pull me away.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Sensing I needed to reassure her, I said, “Nothing more has to happen if you don’t want it to. I won’t pressure you for anything just because you’re inviting me over.”

She grinned. “I know you won’t.”

Fuck yes.

I guess that meant she forgave me.

There was no way I deserved this girl.

But I would take as much of her as I could get, for however long she would let me have it.