Page 29 of Resisting the Running Back

When I emerge from the bathroom, I hear voices down the hallway.

“How could you do that to me, Tyler? I thought I meant something to you!”

“You ended things out of nowhere, so I just put the final nail in the coffin,” he hisses back at her.

“What’s going on here?” I demand as I walk in and throw a protective arm around Sophie.

Tyler rolls his eyes. “Jesus Christ. Of course you called in your best friend.” He saysyour best friendwith a healthy dose of mocking sarcasm, and I want to punch the dude in the face. “You two were probably fucking the whole time we were together.”

Oh, how I wish that were true.

I want to finish that thought with my fist in his guts, but instead, I do what will hurt him far more. A punch would wear off after a couple of days. A week, maybe. But this? This he gets to play on repeat for as long as he fucking lives.

I turn toward Sophie, and I slip a hand around her neck. I pull her closer to me, guiding her into me with that hand. I tilt my head down and drop my lips to hers, and she leans into me, sliding her arms around my waist as I open my mouth to hers. It’s a natural response, and I know she thinks I’m doing it for show, for his benefit—but it’s everything I’ve wanted since I was fourteen.

I kiss her like he’s not standing there watching us.

I kiss her like my life depends on it.

I kiss her like I’m finally free to do it, in a way that shows her just how deeply I love her.

Her tongue meets mine, and she kisses me back with the same sort of warmth, the same sort of adoration and love. And maybe itisfor his benefit, too, but the way she’s leaning into me, the way she moans softly, the way she grips onto my bicep as if she needs to hold onto me just to steady herself…it’s all enough to make me think there’s far more between us than just friendship.

She pulls back first.

Of course.

I would’ve kissed her all fucking night like that.

She turns toward her ex. “He asked me to marry him, and I said yes.”

Fuck, I wish we had that ring, that we didn’t have to wait for it to be sized, that she could shove it in his face right now.

But we don’t.

So I lean down and press my lips to her temple as if to punctuate her words.

“I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with her.”

It’s a pretty goddamn easy act since every word I just said happens to be true.

I just wish her words were true, too.

CHAPTER 13: Sophie Summers

It Was Just For Show

Holy shit.

Holy shit.

That kiss…whoa.

Wow.

I’m without words, and words are my trade.

It was the stuff of romance novels, that’s for sure. The way his palm came up to wrap around my neck, the way he pulled me into him, the way he kissed me like he needed my lips for his very survival.

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