I knew she was up there, watching me down on that field.

It fueled me, knowing that somewhere within the Cheetahs stadium, Demi was cheering for me. Hopefully.

Actually, she was probably rooting for me to get tackled by a three-hundred-pound linebacker. But that was beside the point. I hadn’t felt the need to impress anyone in a very long time, and it almost made me feel like the cocky teen I once was. The one who jogged out under those Friday night lights for his hometown to see.

Except when I finally caught up with her employees in the family slash friend’s suite after the game, where the players met the people who’d come to the game for them, she wasn’t there.

“Farrah, right?” I pointed at the girl I thought was her number two at Wish Upon a Star.

The girl, who looked a little bit like a goth version of Olivia Munn, did a double take when I approached her. “Um … yeah.”

“Hi. Paxton.” I wave. “I think we met at your office?”

The girl standing next to her, a petite blond who looked a lot younger than either of us, gaped at me. “You did. I mean, you met her. You met both of us. We both work there.”

“Down, Sparky.” Farrah rolls her eyes. “This is Gina.”

I wave at Gina, too. “Did Demi come with you?”

A look of … something passes between them. “Yeah, she did. Why?”

“Do you know where she is?” I’m being weird, I know it. But I don’t have to explain myself.

“She left a few minutes ago. Had to get home to feed her dog.” Farrah looks at me with questions in her eyes.

“Thanks for coming.” I smile, and quickly turn around.

Taking the player exit to the parking lot, I beat half of the traffic to get outside. I know what lot VIP pass holders get to park in, and I had to reach it before Demi could leave. This was neutral ground technically, I couldn’t just drive to her house or her office. She’d feel bombarded, and she didn’t want to talk to me as it was.

“Demi!” I shout, seeing her across the parking lot.

She’s dressed down in jeans and a simple shirt, but she still has heels on and my cock is stirring like a caged tiger as I near her. Jesus, I guess it slipped my mind all these years just how fucking beautiful she is. All long legs and poise, I want to break that professional façade all the way down.

What the fuck was wrong with twenty-something me? I hadn’t known what I’d had right in front of me.

Almond-colored hair whipped through the air as she turned her head, and I knew from the look on her face that she knew my voice. And from the look on said face, she wasn’t pleased to find me walking toward her.

“Paxton.” It wasn’t a friendly greeting, but it wasn’t a slap and I counted my blessings.

“Did you enjoy the game?” I’m standing too close when I reach her, but she can’t escape because the car is behind her back.

“I did, thank you. I have to go.” She wants nothing to do with me.

“Would you like to grab some dinner with me?” I’m shameless, but it’s hard not to be around her now.

Demi tilts her head to the side, her eyes giving nothing away. “No, thank you. I have a prior engagement.”

I catch the car door as she tries to open it and get in. “What, letting your dog out?”

She scowls. “Who told you that?”

I shake my head. “Doesn’t matter, but Fido can wait. Come have dinner with me?”

“Because it went so well the last time,” she mutters, and then her eyes go wide, like she didn’t mean to say it out loud.

I like when Demi goes off script. All of the times I’ve been around her in the last couple of weeks, she seems untouchable, icy. It dawns on me that I may be the cause of some of that, and guilt is a cold bastard.

“I admit, it didn’t go well, but I owe you. I’ve been an asshole, I know that. And it will give us a chance to talk about …” I point between us. “Us.”

Demi rolls her eyes and tries to get in the car again. A thought must permeate her brain, because she whips back around, and fury rolls off of her.

“Why do you assume I want to pursue anything between us? I have lived my life for eight whole years without ever seeing your face. And I’ve lived very happily, thank you. Why would I need even an ounce of friendship from you, let alone a romantic relationship?” She throws her hands up. “We don’t have to do this. We live in the same city, but it’s a big one. We don’t need to ever see each other.”

“Demi, I’m not an idiot. And neither are you. We’re two grown people who can admit that the minute you stepped into that conference room, a spark was reignited. We’ll never be friends, no, we never were. But I’m mature enough to admit that I feel an attraction toward you, and I know you feel one toward me. We have a past, yes, but we can rewrite it. I’m a different person, I’m not the asshole I was back then. And you can admit that each time you look at me, you know we could be something, too.”

I hoped she’d lean in, give me at least just a little something. I wasn’t crazy to think that we could pick up the tattered pieces of our college days and try to make something new work. Stitch a new quilt of those memories into something that lasted.

“I’m not sure what you want me to say, Paxton. Every time I look at you, I see how weak I was. I see how much you hurt me. How am I ever going to let go of that?”

I see the pain in her eyes, and I hate that I put it there.

“All I can tell you is that I am a different person. That the way you described what happens when people die … I took that to heart. In the time we’ve been apart, I lost both of my parents. Tragically. And it changed every fiber within me. So that prick who hurt you? He’s not here anymore. I know I can say that until the cows come home, but I’ll prove it to you too.”

Demi’s face reflects the sympathy she feels for me, and I want to erase it.

“No, don’t do that. Don’t feel bad for me, and don’t think I’m playing the orphan card to gain your trust. I’m simply saying that I lost the two people on this earth who loved me most, and it showed me how important love is. And right now, the only woman who I want to get to know more, who I could possibly love, is you. I’m not playing around. It’s like I saw you and a switch flipped.”

The doubt still lingered in her expression. “I don’t know …”

“You don’t have to know.” I was desperate now, and I could feel it to my marrow. “Just let me show you.”

Exasperated, I see her relent. “If I let you show me, can I get in my car and drive home to take care of my dog?”

“Yes.” I immediately move out of her way, because she gave me an inch and I don’t want to take a mile.

Demi rolls her eyes again before she backs out of the parking spot and drives away.

I just smile to myself, knowing that I just did the single most important thing I’ve managed to do in a long time.