Page 99 of Hot Ice, Tennessee

Jesse paused for a moment, then nodded. “I see.”

“Kane was distracted, but… I don’t think he’s going to just forget about that one. Didn’t want you to be blindsided.”

He hummed. “Nothing good happens when I’m blindsided.”

A few minutes later we had toweled off, put on soft pairs of shorts, and tucked into bed. When I shut off the lights, I turned over to immediately feel Jesse’s arms coming out, pulling me close to him in bed.

My heart beat a little quicker inside me.

This was what I’d been avoiding when I left his frat house that night. What I’d been so goddamn afraid of.

“Jesse,” I whispered against my pillow as he draped his arms around me, like a tight hug from behind.

“Mason.”

I swallowed. “It wasn’t always just about Kane.”

He was silent for a moment.

I swore my heart was beating so hard he must have felt it, having me so close up against his body.

“No?”

“No.”

He pressed a kiss against the back of my head, nuzzling into my hair. “Then why’d you run, babe?”

I practically groaned hearing the sweet sound of the pet name, the one I’d never felt like I quite deserved.

“I was afraid to fall for you,” I whispered. “I’ve been afraid of falling for you since we met, Jesse.”

My throat felt tight.

“I didn’t even know what it felt like to really fall for someone until now,” Jesse said after a moment.

“I really like being with you.”

I didn’t know what the hell else to say when my body felt like it was flooded with butterflies.

“Well,” he said, gently pressing a kiss to the side of my neck. “I think I’m off the market again. Because I really just want to date you.”

I exhaled, turning over to catch him in a kiss again. If I didn’t, I was pretty sure I would dissolve right into the atmosphere. It had never made sense to me before—why I’d been searching and searching, for so long, not knowing what I was looking for.

Thiswas what I was looking for.

I couldn’t have found it unless I took a leap. Unless I broke out of the chaos my life had been for the past year and finally let someoneseeme.

Let someone know me.

And that tug?

That tug had been leading me there, all along.

All I had to do was stop doubting it.

18

JESSE

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