Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 125866 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 629(@200wpm)___ 503(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125866 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 629(@200wpm)___ 503(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Kyle’s eyes snapped to mine in the mirror, and then that gaze dropped to where my chest was struggling to take a deep breath.
He wet his lips, swallowing once before he slowly started sliding the zipper down.
His knuckles brushed against my spine as he did, and my eyelids fluttered shut at the touch.
Neither of us said a word, the only sound being the soft snick of the zipper as Kyle carefully guided it all the way down to the small of my back.
My chest was on fire with how hard it was to breathe, and then I felt the warmth of Kyle’s breath against my ear.
“Maybe we should practice.”
I swallowed, trying to wet my mouth so I wouldn’t cough from the desert dryness when I attempted a response. “Practice what?”
I opened my eyes, finding Kyle staring right back at me with just a slight tilt of his lips.
“Flirting,” he said, and his knuckles found my spine again, this time running up the length he’d just traced down.
I shivered, feeling every centimeter of that touch until he found one of my straps and carefully, slowly, slid it off my shoulder.
“Touching,” he said softer, and my heart stopped when he bent and lowered his lips to the sensitive spot just behind the shell of my ear. “Kissing.”
My next breath shuttered out of me, and I ripped away from his grasp, folding my arms hard over my chest to keep the dress in place.
“Ha-ha, so funny,” I deadpanned, hoping I came off as agitated or annoyed rather than the shaking mess of nerves he’d turned me into. “Next, you’ll say we need to practice horizontal dancing.”
Kyle quirked a smile. “That wasn’t on my list, but I’d be happy to add it.”
I rolled my eyes, thankful for the distance that was allowing me to find at least some semblance of my dignity again. “Okay, Casanova. Thanks for your help. Now, get out.”
He laughed a little, sliding his hands in his pockets as he backed up on a shrug. “I’m serious, you know.”
“I’m sure you are.”
“Better for us to get comfortable when no one is around. Wouldn’t want my friends to see that pretty blush on your cheeks the first time I kiss you in front of them.”
My eyes widened, my cool fingertips floating up to touch my cheeks that were as hot as an oven.
That made me scowl, and I resorted to shoving Kyle the rest of the way out of the room while he laughed.
When I was alone again, I pressed my back against the door, one hand flying up to my forehead as I closed my eyes and internally groaned.
What have I gotten myself into?
Kyle
The next day, I sat in my car with a bag full of rocks in my lap, but they might as well have been in my stomach.
I was about to meet Sebastian for the first time.
When Madelyn and I had made this plan, I’d peppered her with questions about her son. I wanted to know everything — what he liked, what he didn’t like, anything I could find out to get to know him a little before we actually met.
For reasons I couldn’t articulate, it mattered to me that his first impression of me was a good one.
It mattered to me that Madelyn was trusting me to meet him. Period.
It’d been surreal, to listen to her talk about her son, to know she was a mom at all. I’d watched her so closely as she detailed everything about him, the way she lit up with pride, how her smile seemed genuine for the first time since the day I’d shown up at that house and ran straight into my blast from the past.
Today was a big deal. It meant a lot to her, to me.
And as if all that wasn’t already enough to make my gut heavy with a mixture of emotions, I’d pulled into the park and immediately received a phone call from my agent.
About me being seen with Madelyn.
“There are no pictures, though?” I confirmed again, my heart thundering in my ears at the thought of having to tell Madelyn about this.
“No pictures,” Giana echoed. I could hear her typing away in the background. “I mean, there was one, but it was blurry and far away, and the only part of the woman they could see was one leg. Not really the kind of gold the press will pay for.”
I let my head fall back against the headrest. “Thank fuck.”
I’d been lucky with the media so far, most of it dying down soon after the draft. There was team press, of course, but that was on our terms. For now, I was just a rookie tight end. I wasn’t hot enough to be in any kind of spotlight.
But apparently, I wasn’t free of the claws of the press on a slow news day.