Page 42 of Offsides

That thought sobers me.

Eli notices the change immediately. “What?”

Shaking my head slowly, I step closer. “It’s just … this is it. You realize that, right? There’s no coming back from this. Either we … get together? Or … I’m not sure what the right term is. Date?”

He shrugs. “That works.”

“Right. Either we date, or we …” I shrug, my hands spread. “Or we go our separate ways. I don’t think I can just be friends with you knowing that you’ve been secretly harboring feelings for me all along.”

He swallows hard then looks away and squeezes the back of his neck, the motion highlighting his delts and biceps, the waffle weave of his shirt clingy enough to show the muscle definition.

I swallow hard. I’ve always had a thing for a nicely defined set of shoulders, and Eli’s no slouch in that department. (Ha.) He normally works out in a T-shirt, but I’ve seen him shirtless enough times over the years to know how his chest and shoulders and arms look.

I noticed his beauty in the same way one notices the detail of a sculpture—detached and appreciative.

But now? The image of those shoulders rising above me, blocking my view of the ceiling flashes through my mind.

God. Suddenly I’m feeling really warm.

“Well,” Eli’s voice pulls me out of my horny thoughts. “I mean, it’s up to you then, isn’t it? You know what I want. The question is, what do you want, Dani? Do you want to date me? Or should we go our separate ways?”

Instead of answering, I step up to him and lay my hand on his chest. His eyes meet mine, confusion and hope warring in them, and when I slide my hand up to his neck and press onto my toes, he brings his head down, his lips meeting mine.

This time there’s no hesitation, no burst ofWTF??in my head. Because I know exactly what the fuck is happening here.

We’re doing this.

Starting now.

His hand comes up and cradles the back of my head, holding me in place for the onslaught of his lips and tongue. He nips my bottom lip, making me gasp, and his tongue slips into my mouth.

I meet him, my hand hanging onto the back of his neck, the other holding onto his forearm, my fingers curling around and digging into the soft fabric of his sleeve.

Then his arms wrap around me, and he crushes my body to his, his lips leaving mine and blazing a trail down the column of my neck. “Christ, Dani, I’ve wanted to taste you everywhere for so fucking long.”

All I can do is moan in response. His hands grip my ass, squeezing and tilting my pelvis up to meet his.

A loud knock on the door has us jumping apart, both of us breathing hard. I raise a hand to my lips. I can’t believe we just kissed.

Well … I mean, I can.

I guess I can’t believe that I could’ve had this all along and instead I was holding out for Luke. Luke, who only ever kissed me as a prelude to sex. I mean, when we first got together, he would kiss me all the time. But even that, I think, was really just a prelude to sex. It was just a really long prelude because it took me a while to be ready to take that step.

And even though this was the kind of kiss that definitely leads to sex, I don’t think Eli’s the type of guy to only kiss me to get something he wants.

No, Iknowhe’s not that kind of guy.

He’s the kind of guy who buys a gift card to a makeup store just because he thinks that’s what I might want. Who goes out of his way to take me to said makeup store, even though he knows nothing about makeup and has no desire to learn anything about it. He only did it to make me happy. And to show his support.

“Who is it?” Eli’s voice comes out gruff, distracting me from my thoughts. I’d forgotten there was even anybody at the door.

“It’s Autumn.” She taps at the door again. “Is it safe to come in? Can I open the door?”

Instead of answering, Eli crosses the room and yanks the door open. He leans into the opening, his hand still on the door knob, blocking my view of Autumn. “What do you want, Autumn?”

She clears her throat, which makes her sound almost nervous. Which is strange. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Autumn nervous. “Well, it’s just that there’s quite a crowd of people out here. And they’ve started a pool, placing bets on how long you two will be back here. I just thought you might want to know that. And I mean, if you’re cool with people betting on how long you last in bed, then by all means, continue. But if you’d rather shut it down, you might need to come out sooner rather than later. Jackson is doing his best, but he’s only one guy, and he’s not exactly the most forceful.” And then she mutters something that sounds almost like, “Except when he’s trying to torture me in bed.”

Eli rears back. “I did not need to know that last part, Autumn.”

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