Page 123 of Sweetheart

"It's okay, Bishop," I said.

"Sorry, but my girlfriend's not wearing some other guy's clothes."

"Well, there aren't a lot of options available, so… What are you doing?"

With one hand, Sam lifted the shirt he was wearing over his head.

"What's it look like?" he said then tossed the material back to me. "You can wear my jersey, Kent."

"And what will you be wearing?"

Sam shot me a look over his shoulder. "A smile when I see you in it."

Oh.

Okay then.

As I slipped into Sam's jersey, I couldn't be too mad at Onyxfor running off with my clothes.Sam's scent surrounded me, and he actually did smile when he saw me wearing it. For my part, I had a hard timekeeping my eyes off his broad shoulders andmuscular, toned chest. The moonlight played off the contours of his skin, making him look like a piece of art, and making itnearly impossiblefor me to look away. Also, I realized it wasn't the first time I'd seenRyker—or rather, he recognized Aurora and me. "Hey, I know you," he said. "You guys played my little sister's birthday party. I told myroommatesall about you. You rock." Of course, that made both our nights. Despite her thievery, Onyx was a loving, affectionate dog, letting Aurora and me fawn all over her.And Sam couldn't stop sneaking glances at me in his jersey.

Overall, I'd say skinny-dipping was a success.

CHAPTER 18

Not going to lie. I wanted to keep it.

Sam's jersey.

I wanted to keephim.

But I knew returning the shirt was the mostsensible thing to do.You couldn't hang onto something—or someone—unless they wanted you to. And Sam had never said he wanted to be mine. He also didn't tell me I couldkeephis jersey indefinitely which was really the point. Showing up at Sam's houseSaturday afternoon, I knocked on the door, carrying his freshly laundered, meticulously folded shirt in one hand.

Sam answered the door, wearing a smile.

"Starlet," he said.

"Bishop," I said back.

"I'm honored. Can't believe youwoke up so early just to see me."

A scoff. "Please, it's aftertwelve. I've been up since5:00 AM."

Sam winced. "Why?"

"Well, I hadthe morning shift at the diner. Didn't you wonder why I'm wearing this?"

"Thought you dressed up just for me."

"Very funny," I said. "Anyway, after that, I checkedin with our vendors for the festival. They're all set. Then I emailed all the volunteers to make sure they'reup to date.Then I went to the store, and…"

"I get it," he said and shookhis head. "Wasn't expecting to see you today."

"I know." I gave a shrug. "But I guess we weren't expecting to see each other last night either."

"Do you want to come in?"

Shaking myhead, I thrust his jersey at him. "Nope, I just came to give you this."

Sam frowned at the materialthen looked back to me. "You didn't have to come all the way here for that."

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