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“I’m here for him, actually.” I don’t know what possesses me, but I shake myself free of Darryl and walk over, reach up to put my arms around this stranger’s neck . . . and kiss him.
Fucking kissed me better than anyone in my life and then left like we hadn’t just sparked like lightning.
“I’ll tutor you,” she says. “But only if you agree to pretend to date me.”
“You know,” he murmurs, “you can call me anything you want, but I do like the way you say James.”
“But he needs to believe it, and if I was really dating you, I would defend you every time someone so much as looked at you the wrong way.”
If I had to pretend to date anyone, I’d choose her a hundred times over.
“Good girl,” he praises as he snaps his hips forward. His hand finds my clit again, rubbing in time with his thrusts. “What a good fucking girl.”
“And I’m hoping to add new routines, anyway.” My heart does a somersault; I can’t help smiling. “Oh yeah?” “Waking up next to my girl can’t hurt.”
“James—I’m gonna—” “Come, princess,” he tells me roughly as he presses a third finger into me. “Come on my fingers and I’ll give you my dick.”
After all was said and done, my father and I agreed: no girlfriends until I got into the league. No distractions. But being able to hold Bex, just like this? I’m willing to take the risk.
If I could only pick one person to be around, one person to know, one person to love, for the rest of my life—I’d choose her. We’re still pressed tightly together when I hear her breathing begin to even out. Pressing a kiss to her forehead, I slip out of her. She turns into my chest, yawning, nestling her head against me. No, we’re not alone in the world, but right now, underneath the covers—it does feel like we’re in a world of our own. “One day I will tell our kids that,” I whisper. My heartbeat quickens at the thought. “Because I’m yours, forever.”
He sees me. Before him, I don’t know if I believed in love—not really. I believed in the idea of it, the way it could hurt people, but I didn’t believe I would truly feel it, or that I deserved it anyway. Every step of the way, James has shown me I do deserve it, that I deserve someone like him, someone good and devoted who makes my heart sing whenever I see him. Someone who makes me feel like I’m worth something more than the life I resigned myself to when I was a teenager. Someone who pushes me and protects me and holds me when I cry.
You’re not going to be able to do everything, and the sooner you accept that, the sooner you’ll be able to sort out what’s important.
“You’re my princess, you’re worth the whole world.”
“You’re my princess. And princesses always get what they deserve.”
“Good girl,” he praises, cupping my cheek. “You’re such a perfect girl for me, Beckett.”
