Offside (Rules of the Game, #1)

by Avery Keelan

He was magnetic. Hypnotic. Utterly addictive to look at.

Just my luck: one of the hottest chicks I’d ever met hated my guts. Or was she hot because she hated me? Maybe it was a bit of both.

It was kind of nice being with someone who, like me, didn’t feel the need to fill every second with idle chatter.

“I didn’t know what I was missing until I found it.”

But part of me felt strangely guilty that he was so upset.

“We’re endgame. Right?” My parents were crazy in love. I never thought I would find that until I met her. And now that I had, I’d fight for it. The tension in her body eased, and I finally won a full, genuine smile. “You think?” “I know it.”

I would watch her from afar like a totally normal, not at all overprotective boyfriend would.

Oh, how the turn tables.

“That isn’t his choice to make. It’s your body.”

“You know I’m going to ask you to marry me one day, right?” “You are?” “Count on it. Are you going to say yes?” “Of course.”

The distance I’d put between us was literal torture. Like I was missing a limb,

All I wanted was to be in his arms with my face buried in his neck. To touch him, kiss him, breathe him in.

Just touching him again was a gift.

He was my home, my heart, my person.

“I missed you,” he murmured. “I couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t eat. Couldn’t breathe without you.”

There is no scenario where I am better off without you.

My heart swelled at the love brimming in her eyes.

Despite how exhausted I was after the past few days—and how tired I looked, based on what I saw in the bathroom mirror earlier—I felt beautiful because of the way he was looking at me. Because of the way always looked at me.

Part of me wanted him to go slow, to be loving and gentle. The other part wanted to be claimed, taken, his.

You’re my once in a lifetime.”