Page 61 of The Sweetest Risk

“Like legit kill you.”

I look over at her, pleading, “That’s why this needs to be a secret until we are ready to tell him. Please, Jen, don’t say anything. And I know that it is unfair for me to ask since you are about to marry him, but…”

“But, you love her.”

I swallow. “Always have.”

Jen walks over and places her hand on my forearm. She looks up at me earnestly. “I promise I won’t say anything, Tristan. Just be careful. There’s a lot at stake here for you. You’re basically an honorary Beckett. Why risk this?”

“Because she’s worth it.”

Jen nods slowly. “Yeah, I get it. I fell for a Beckett, too.” She pats me on the shoulder then walks over to the couch and grabsthe remote. “Don’t mind me. I am just going to carry on with my morning as if we didn’t have this conversation. I also want to binge a couple of episodes ofSelling Sunsetbefore everyone else gets up and teases me for it.”

“I wouldn’t dare tease you for it. You are keeping a huge secret for me and I don’t know how to repay you.”

“What secret?” Jen winks at me. “I have no idea what you are talking about, Lawson. Now go ahead and get Brooke some coffee already so you can take it back to her without anyone waking up and asking questions.”

I finish getting coffee for Brooke and make my way back upstairs. Even though I feel a weight lifted off me that more people are fine with us being together, I have a lump in my stomach that will not go away. I need to come clean to Brooke about that damn bet with Hastings. I need to do this before Bradley finds out about us. That way, if Brooke decides she wants to break up with me over that stupid bet –, which I didn’t dream was possible, given I didn’t think I’d ever have a chance with her in the first place – Bradley won’t ever have to know about us at all.

I need to tell her. But I don’t want to ruin this trip. We are heading home tomorrow, so I just want to have a perfect day with Brooke. Hastings isn’t here to threaten telling her. No one else knows about the bet.

I’ll tell her. Soon.

I open the door quietly and sneak back into my bedroom, trying not to spill hot liquid all over myself. As if the coffee gods summoned her awake, Brooke stirs as I approach the bed. It is pretty good coffee.

I sit down next to her and kiss her forehead, “Morning, beautiful. I brought you coffee. Thought you might need it. Especially since you didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.” I wink.

She smiles and props herself up against the pillows, dragging the sheets with her to cover her perfect body. I want to throw these sheets out the window. She reaches her hands out to grab her mug. “Thank you.” She takes a sip, then studies my face. “You turned back into Clark Kent, huh?”

“I have it on good authority that you kind of like the Clark Kent look.”

“Your sources are correct. I love seeing you in your glasses. It softens all that hard exterior you’ve got going on.” She waves one of her hands around, gesturing toward my body.

“My hard exterior, huh?” I smirk at her.

Brooke’s cheeks turn bright pink and her eyes turn dark as she rakes them over me. I can read what is replaying in her mind from last night because it has been on constant repeat in my own head. She takes another sip and says, “Actually, come to think of it, your exteriors aren’t really that hard. It’s kind of disappointing, actually.” She shrugs. “You’d think for a pro athlete…” She’s baiting me and it’s working. I take her coffee out of her hands, set both our cups on the nightstand, then start tickling her sides.

“Please, Tristan, stop,” she whispers between laughing. Her laugh is fucking everything. I didn’t get too many glimpses of it these past ten years, with her hating the ground I walked on and all. Now I intend to make her laugh every day. This version of Brooke is my favorite version – no bullshit. Completely unfiltered. Completely herself. I get into the bed with her, cover her body with mine and plant kisses all across her face, which makes her laugh more.

“Promise me you will never stop laughing or showing the world your beautiful smile,” I whisper to her. “Never stop being who you are.”

She grabs the back of my head and brings me down to her lips and kisses me hard. White hot desire bolts through my body.I immediately get hard and we are just making out. Jesus. Is this how it is going to be? Brooke kisses me and I can’t control my body like a fucking teenager. Who am I kidding? Brooke can just look at me and I get turned on. I want to continue what we are doing, but I’ve changed my mind from five minutes ago. I need to tell her now, or I won’t have the balls to do it later. She needs to know the truth. That’s the only way we can move forward with this relationship.

Although it kills me, I break our kiss. “Wait, Brooke, I need to tell you something. Well, two things actually.” Brooke’s eyes are dark and goddamn insatiable.Focus, Tristan. “Well, first, Tess and most of the guys on the team aren’t the only ones who know about us.”

The lust in her eyes is replaced with panic. I quickly reassure her, “It’s Jen. Jen was downstairs right now and saw me in these glasses and connected the dots. I swear I didn’t say anything. And she promised she won’t say anything to Bradley.”

Relief settles on her face. “Okay. Well, if I had to choose between her and Bradley to find out, I’d definitely prefer it to be Jen. She is already like a sister to me.”

“I feel the same way. And she was really happy for us.”

“Good.” That spark in Brooke’s eyes returns in full force. Her hand trails down my stomach and grabs my throbbing dick. Jesus Christ I need this woman right now. I attempt to take off my glasses, but Brooke uses her other hand to grasp onto my forearm. She shakes her head. “No, I want you to keep them on.”

“So, you really do have a thing for Clark Kent?”

“Maybe. But I definitely have a thing for you, Hot Shot.” She continues to stroke me, moving her hips up to meet my body. I will never be sick of this ever. If I get to spend mornings with Brooke like this, completely enraptured by every inch of her, every piece of her, I’ll die a happy man. This is definitely not the time to tell her anything that will ruin this moment.

I reach in between our heated bodies and feel how wet she already is for me. I stick a couple fingers inside of her and rub my thumb against her clit. Her back arches up again as I ram my fingers in and out of her. Her breathing staggers. “Tristan, please. I want you inside of me again. Last night wasn’t enough.”

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