Page 104 of Coach's Temptation

What. The. Fuck.

I blink. Hard. “Excuse me?”

“I knew it.” She throws her hands in the air, spinning in a frantic circle before jabbing a finger at me. “This was your goodbye gift. The apartment. The wholeyou deserve everything speech.”

Okay.

Not what I was expecting. But I can deal with this.

“Natalie—”

“No. No, don’t try to soften the blow.” She shakes her head, swallowing hard. “I get it. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I mean, I’d be crazy to expect you to stay when you could havethat.”

Her voice pitches higher, faster, like she’s running out of air. She starts flapping a hand in front of her face. I'm pretty sure she's looking for a fucking brown paper bag to help her breath.

“Fuck, Natalie,” I mutter, gripping her jaw gently and tilting her face up to mine. “You really think I’d just renovate your entire apartment, tell you I love you, and then pack my shit and leave?”

She swallows.

“I don’t know! You haven't exactly been open about what is happening, have you?”

Fuck this. Enough is enough.

One swift move and I snag her wrist, spin her, and pin her against the kitchen counter before she even knows what’s happening. She gasps, her chest rising and falling fast, hands flattening against my shirt.

Her lips part, but I don’t let her get a word out before I kiss the ever-loving hell out of her.

She melts instantly. Of course she does. She always does.

One hand grips her waist, the other tangles in her hair, and I kiss her until she forgets every single word of what was bordering on a full-blown ridiculous meltdown.

She’s moaning into my mouth, pressing closer, clutching me like I’m not going anywhere.

Because I’m not.

When I finally pull back, her eyes are glassy, her breath shaky, but her brain is finally on pause.

I cup her jaw, wiping a stray tear from her cheek with my thumb. “Natalie. Baby. I’m not leaving you.”

Her brows furrow. “You’re… not?”

I smirk. “No. I'm feeding you.”

She blinks and her tiny nose crinkles in confusion. “Wait. What?”

I stroke my thumb across her bottom lip and laugh. "What I need to tell you is about your parents. I invited them for dinner. They'd be on their way over now to see the apartment and meet me."

Silence. Total, complete silence.

Then I feel her stiffen in my arms, her expression shifting so fast it’s almost impressive.

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

Oh, fucking hell.

Natalie is still frozen, blinking up at me like I just announced my intention to move to Mars.

"You invited my parents? For dinner?!" she echoes, her voice about two octaves higher than normal.

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