Page 63 of Ruled Out

As he grinds against me, I know he wants to go further, and I do, too, but I know he won’t, not with only minutes left together.

When he pulls back from the kiss, his long fingers continue to dance in my hair as I look up at him, completely at his mercy.

“You are one hundred percent mine, and I am completely yours. I’d say calling you my girlfriend would make it official,but, Sweetheart, I never stopped belonging to you. We have to be careful about how we play this. We need to tell your dad when the time is right and when you’re ready, Mia. But do not doubt for even a single fucking second that we are anything but each other’s.” He chuckles happily, the sound doing things to my heart. “I’m going to let you go for a few hours while I head to practice and you go do some studying and shit.”

“And shit.” I giggle into his chest.

Jessie rolls us back so we’re facing each other, and he squeezes me tighter against him. “Yeah, and shit. But once you’re done, I want you to text me so I can send a taxi to your dorm to come get you and bring you right back here. To my bed, where you belong.”

Every nerve in my body fizzes with anticipation and excitement. “I’d like that.”

A cheeky smile breaks out across his face. “I bet you do.”

I bite down on my bottom lip, needing to address something else he just mentioned. “When are we going to tell my dad?”

Underneath the duvet, Jessie wraps a leg over mine. “ASAP. There’s a risk we’re gonna get caught, and it only grows the longer we keep sneaking around. To you, I’m just Jessie, but to the public, I’m the starting forward for the Scorpions. I get photographed a lot, mainly when I least expect it. That would be the worst way for him to find out.”

“Are you scared?”

Jessie’s brows pinch together. “Of what?”

“Of him finding out, of what the Scorpions will say. You were supposed to be staying away from me, remember?”

He shakes his head. “Nervous of Graham’s reaction? Yes. Scared? No. Once your dad figures it out, he can’t control us, and, yeah, Coach Burrows will probably be pissed, but in reality, there’s fuck all they can do. If they trade me, they trade me. I’ve made my bed, and I’m lying in it with my girl, no matter what.”

“I think you underestimate my father and his hatred of you.”

Jessie kisses my forehead, resting his chin on top of my head. “And he underestimates how far I’m willing to go for his daughter.”

Silence stretches out, the faint noise of the world passing by beneath us. We both know this is risky, mainly for Jessie, but also for me.

I love my dad with everything I have, but he’s a stubborn man, and I can’t help the niggling worry that by choosing Jessie, I might be simultaneously setting fire to the relationship I’ve built with my father. I’ve already lost one parent, and even though he’s wrong about Jessie, there’s a good chance he’ll never forgive my betrayal. Walking away from the career he wanted me to have at the Destroyers hurt him badly, but going behind his back again might be something we never recover from.

JESSIE

I’ve done some difficult things in my twenty-six years, but leaving Mia in my bed this morning while I hauled my ass to practice was fucking tough.

The way she watched and laughed while I raced around my bedroom, getting dressed, has gotta be one of the highlights of my life.

Having Mia, the girl I can finally call mine, wake up next to me was everything, even if I did have to tear myself away and leave her with a key to my place forty minutes ago. She might think the key is a temporary thing so she could take a showerand get dressed without rushing. But I have zero intention of removing it from her key ring.

So, when I push through the locker room door on time and without a hangover, the golden-retriever smile I wear is, for once, not forced. The genuine bounce in my step is every bit exhilarating as it is a foreign feeling.

“Wow, I’m practically blinded by sunshine.” Jensen nudges into my shoulder when he comes to stand next to me at the benches.

I don’t say anything as I take a seat and begin lacing up my skates, the smile still plastered across my face.

He comes to sit next to me and dips his head down, speaking quietly. “You just left her in your bed, didn’t you?”

Finishing up one skate, I shift the other foot forward and begin lacing it. “Yep.”

He throws his head back and laughs way louder than he likely intended, and Zach’s head whips over to us.

“Share with the group,” he says, inspecting one of the blades on his skates.

I pull off my hoodie, feeling thankful I wore a Dri-FIT today since the bruises marring my torso will be hard enough to practice with, let alone explain to my teammates. Especially when I can’t chalk these up to a hit, like I have in the past.

I look at Jensen, who raises a brow at me in question.

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