Page 129 of Melted by a Man

No.

There was obviously more to the dance because the chorus still needed to play two more times, but I didn’t give a damn.

I grabbed Jacqueline’s arm, startling her out of her routine as I tugged her back to me.

And I kissed her.

Right then and there, in front of all of our friends and my teammates.

For everyone to see.

I kissed her because as far as everyone on this pitch was concerned, from this point on, Jacqueline Williams wasmine.

This dance of hers only proved it.

And she kissed me back, falling into my arms.

She looped her arms around my neck, pressing the entirety of her body against me as I secured one arm around her waist to hold her there.

And we kissed and kissed until I decided I couldn’t keep tasting her tongue with mine with so many people still watching. Reluctantly, I pulled back.

Jacqueline was panting in my arms still. She reached up to remove her heart-shaped sunglasses and set them on top of her head before letting me see into her wide, nervous gaze.

And then she huffed her embarrassed laugh.

Which made a grin bloom across my face seconds before I realized everyone around us was cheering and clapping and whistling even louder.

Suddenly, Signe wrapped her arms around us and squealed something about “I love love!” before Zaid tugged her off. Everyone was smiling as they broke apart the semi-circle to chat with each other, getting ready to leave.

Marco nodded at me with a brotherly look of warning on his expression before he started strolling toward the exit of the park.

The entire time, I kept Jacqueline in my arms.

And she stayed snug against my chest, her breathy laughter tickling my neck in a way that really made me wish we weren’t in a public space right now.

“Damn, he couldn’t even wait for the song to end.” Taylor grinned as they gathered their bag to leave. They stepped backward as they waved goodbye, accidentally bumping into Nicole. She had been quiet, near the back of the crowd the entire time, and as Taylor reached a hand behind them to prevent Nicole from falling over, they raised their brows.

“Oh, my bad—”

“I’m sorry—”

But neither of them finished their sentences when they made eye contact. I leaned down to rest my face in Jacqueline’s fruity-scented hair as I watched Taylor’s cheeks turn pink.

Eventually, Nicole smiled at them and turned away, and after a moment, Taylor shouldered their strap and decided to stick around as well.

My attention was pulled away from my teammate at the sound of Zaid’s voice, “So are you two going to stop pretending you aren’t dating yet, or…?”

Mary cackled at his question.

“Yeah, we’re done pretending,” Jacqueline replied. She looked up at me, “If that’s what you want?”

“Fuckyes.”

Jacqueline’s brows raised at that, “Wow.”

“Sorry,” then I shook my head, “I’m not sorry. We’re off the clock. Fuck, I love you so fucking much.” I wrapped her up tighter in my arms, letting her feet dangle against my legs as I pinned her arms to her sides, her laughter in my ear as I murmured, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she whispered as I loosened my hold on her, “You deserved something big when I finally said those words to you. But...I don’t know, was it too much?”

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