Page 138 of Make the Play

I stand there for a long, painful moment, my heart pounding like this isn’t the man I’ve known for years, the man who’s kissed me breathless, held me steady, made me feel more seen than anyone ever has.

I raise my hand. Exhale. Pause. Then softly knock once.

A beat of silence follows, then I hear a sleepy groan, the quiet shift of sheets, and the creak of a mattress. The door clicks as it swings open.

Chase blinks in the low light, shirtless and hair rumpled, eyes still hazy with sleep. He frowns as his eyes squint at me.

“You okay?”

I should answer, should say something, but even as I open my mouth the words stay trapped behind my teeth. Instead, I just look at him.

And maybe that’s enough, because I watch the change happen in his expression. A slow, dawning awareness crosseshis features, and his hand drops from the doorframe, posture straightening. But he doesn’t reach for me, he just waits.

So I do the only thing I can, the only thing that makes sense. I reach up and trail my fingers gently down his cheek. A quiet, tender caress.

His eyes flutter closed for a breath, then open again.

“Zoe…”

My name on his lips sounds like a plea and a promise and a warning rolled into one. I can’t talk, so I keep tracing my fingers down the sharp line of his jaw, the stubble catching slightly under my fingertips. His eyes bore into mine, but he doesn't move.

So I do it for him.

I rise onto my toes and kiss him. Slow at first, just a press of lips. An offering.

But when he exhales against my mouth, everything unravels. His hand comes up to cradle the side of my face, the other sliding to my hip as if he can’t bear to only touch me in one place. The kiss deepens instantly, and I let it. I let myself fall.

One small, broken noise escapes me, and Chase groans, swallowing the sound of it. I don’t even register that he’s backed me against the doorframe until I feel it at my spine, his weight pressing into me, the sheer size of him caging me in as his lips drag over mine.

A shudder rolls through me. “Fuck.”

Chase exhales a laugh, but there’s no amusement in it, just hunger. His forehead presses against mine, breathing ragged. “You don’t know what you just did.”

I fist my hands in his hair, pulling his mouth back onto mine, reclaiming the space between us. “Make me regret it, then.”

I don’t know who moves first. Maybe it’s him, maybe me. Maybe we both just snap.

One second, I’m pinned against the wall drowning in his kiss, and the next, I’m stumbling backward into his bedroom, hands tangled in his hair, dragging him with me. Chase’s grip tightens at my waist, his lips never leaving mine as he kicks the door shut behind us.

Boom.

He’s already lifting me, catching me when I jump, hands gripping my thighs as I wrap them around him.

When I hit the mattress, his body heavy over mine, all I can do is exhale and cling to his shoulders, staring up at him as he hovers above me, his blue eyes so much darker than usual.

My breath comes fast as we both look at each other. Neither of us move, we just look.

“Say it,” he murmurs.

I exhale a breath.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

His lips curve. “Yes, you do.”

My fingers slide into his hair as I swallow. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“Why?”

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