Page 78 of The Puckable Playbook

“Oh, that’s good to know?” he teases. “Okay.”

I rub my thumb over the side of his finger. “Well, I can’t take your advice right away. That’ll make me look silly.”

“Maybe I should take my own, then.” He glances in the rearview mirror and pulls over to the side of the road. The car vibrates over the ridges in the pavement lining the white lines until we come to a stop.

A car speeds past us, but it’s the time of night where the stars and the moon and the outline of the trees are all I can see as Zaiah twists in his seat. He squeezes the hand interlaced with his own on his thigh. “Lenore Robertson, I like you. Your awkwardness, your unbelievable brain, the way you can be adictionary one second and then yell, ‘Looks like you need to borrow my glasses!’ at a ref the next.”

My face flames. Pretty sure I yelled that at his game. “You heard that?”

He runs his thumb across my skin. “I always hear you.”

His words settle around me like an embrace, wrapping me up tight. “Well, to be fair, he missed a lot of calls.”

Zaiah shrugs. “He’s a college ref.”

He stares into my eyes, and nerves skate over my skin. “Well, back to what you were saying,” I say, dragging in a long breath. “I think you were telling me something important.”

He reaches out to swipe a loose hair around my ear, then threads his fingers through my hair to cup my neck. “You’re special, Lenore, and I’m going to make sure you know it for as long as you allow me to. What else is a boyfriend for?”

I inhale a deep breath. “Boyfriend?”

He nods, leaning in for a kiss. My lack of hesitation surprises me when I move in, bridging the gap between us. He digs his nails into my scalp, and I let out a moan as he traces my bottom lip before kissing me with an intensity that has my mind spinning.

I’m kissing Zaiah James. It’s really happening.

I smile against his lips, and he returns the favor before we start again, my mouth seeking his first, relishing the way we meld together.

When we break apart, my breath comes out in short pants, and I’m clutching the collar of his shirt in my fist. I smooth it down. “I like you, too.”

The corner of his lips teases upward. “I know.”

I can’t keep a smile off my face. “So it’s official?”

“It’s been official. You’re a little slow on the uptake.”

“Oh, really?”

He squeezes my hand on his thigh again before sitting back, checking his side mirror, and pulling back out onto the road.

“So, how long have I had a boyfriend without knowing?”

“I’m torn between two instances. The moment you touched yourself in front of me…”

My face burns hot.

“Or when I walked in on you and Clark kissing that day after practice and realized I wanted to tear him away from you.”

“That…then?” I mutter incoherently.

I retrace his every word and sigh. My brain doesn’t kick in nearly as much, and when it tries, I bat the ugly thoughts away with a spikey mace.

Not in this world. In this world, the geek gets the guy.

I’m on a high until he parks outside Knightley, then up the stairs as he holds my hand, and finally when the suite door closes behind us.

“I don’t think you’ve stopped smiling,” Zaiah remarks.

“Sorry, that’s probably dorky.”

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