Page 54 of Flag On The Play
Delaney squeezes my hand. “So what are you going to do?”
I stare at the wine in my glass, the soft hum of music in the background, the girls who’ve always had my back.
“I’m going to keep trying,” I say quietly. “But on my terms. Slow. Honest. And real.”
Because for the first time in a long time, I don’t want to run.
I want to stay.
And maybe, I want to fall.
CHAPTER 16
FINLAY
“Reed, nice play,” Theo says, slapping me on the back as we head toward the locker room.
I give him a nod and a half-smile, already shifting into the next gear. Not game prep. Not media. Not post-practice recovery.
We leave for Seattle tomorrow to face the Westerners. Coach has been on us all week about staying focused, staying hungry. And I’ve done that. I pushed harder, ran faster, studied longer.
But tonight, I’m putting it all aside. For her.
It’s been a week since she walked out of my penthouse, hair messy from my hands, lips swollen from our kisses, body wrapped in my shirt that she never took off.
I haven’t been able to shake the image since.
Nova, tangled in my bed, looking at me like she was trying to figure out how the hell she got there and why it felt so right.
That night wasn’t just sex.
It was something else. Something that’s been haunting me in the best kind of way.
Which is why I texted her two days ago with a simple text.
Me: Dinner Friday? My treat. Wear something that’ll make it hard for me to concentrate.
She sent back a middle finger emoji and a heart. And for her? That’s practically poetry.
Now I’m standing outside her place in a button-down shirt that took way too long to pick out, clutching a tiny velvet box in my coat pocket. Not a ring, Jesus. A charm bracelet I saw in a shop window, and couldn’t stop picturing it on her wrist.
She opens the door before I knock, like she knew I was coming.
And when I see her, the breath knocks right out of me.
She wore red.
A silky little dress that hugs her curves and falls just shy of dangerous. Her hair is loose and wild, lips painted in a shade that makes my knuckles itch to smudge it.
“Hey,” she says with a soft smile, pulling her coat around her like it could hide all that temptation.
“Hey,” I murmur, stepping closer. “You look…”
Hot? Beautiful? Like, I might black out?
“Worth skipping film review for.”
She rolls her eyes and lets me guide her to the car.
