Page 79 of Hot Summer Nights

“What’s going on?” Niall asks as they stop sparring and he takes a drink from his water bottle.

“We’re trying to figure out why coach’s girl is acting all sad lately.”

“Yeah, I was wondering about that,” Finn says and I drag my hand down my face.

These guys have been like my family ever since they started training with me. Maybe it’s just been a while since I had a family but I forgot how involved they can be.

“Did you break up with her or something?” Niall asks and I glare at him.

“Hell no. We’re not breaking up,” I snap at them.

“Does she know that?” Brooks asks and I grit my teeth.

She better.

I thought that things had been going great. We were comfortable with each other and had been getting along great. I try to think back over the last couple of days wondering what could have happened to cause such a shift in her. Was it something that I did?

I stare at the closed office door and my jaw flexes as I feel myself reach my limit.

“Go get her, coach!” Finn calls and I grind my teeth, mumbling under my breath as I cross across the gym and throw the office door open. I kick it closed behind me and I’m rounding the desk before my Princess can blink.

“I can’t take this anymore. You need to tell me what’s wrong. Now,” I demand, crossing my arms over my chest and staring into her eyes.

“Nothing’s wrong,” she says, looking away from me and back to the papers on the desk.

I grip the arms of the chair and spin her so that she’s facing me once again.

“Princess, I don’t know what I did but you need to tell me so that I can make it right.”

“You didn’t do anything, Kit.”

“Then tell me who did so that I can go kick their ass for upsetting my Princess.”

She smiles at me then, just a slight curving of her lips and I drop my hands from the chair, gripping her hips and pulling her closer to me.

“Come on, Princess. What’s going on?” I whisper against her lips.

She pulls back to look at me and I do my best to beg her with my eyes to let me in and tell me what’s upsetting her.

“My feelings for you… they’ve.. um, I…” She stutters.

Her feelings for me? Is she saying what I think she’s saying?

“I love you too, Princess,” I say, cradling her face in my hands.

Her eyes get misty and she blinks rapidly as she tries to hold back the tears. One still escapes though and I quickly use my thumb to wipe it away.

“Stella, you got to stop crying. You’re killing me here,” I plead with her.

“Do you think that this happened too fast?” She asks, her eyes still watery.

“Oh, Stella. No, I’ve been looking for you my entire life. I told you when we met that our souls were the same and I meant it.”

“What if you change your mind?” She whispers.

I want to tell her that I’m never going to change my mind but I have something that could show her.

“Come with me,” I say, scooping her up in my arms and carrying her out to the truck. I buckle her inside before I hop in next to her, firing up the truck and heading towards home.

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