from Tristin’s somewhat plain room, Leo’s displayed a lot more of his personality. Several shelves with trophies and other sports memorabilia lined one wall, and framed jerseys lined another.
But the three prints above his bed were what made this room distinctly Leo. The first said, “save water, shower together,” the second, “F*ck,” and the third, “get naked.” They were totally inappropriate and so him.
He grinned when he saw what had caught my attention. “You like?”
A laugh burst out of me. “I shouldn’t, but I really do.”
“The designer Dad hired put up these weird, modern prints, so I found something better online.”
“Nice work.” I walked over to one of the signed jerseys, which was for a University of Washington player. It reminded me of something I’d been meaning to ask Leo. “Susan told me you were being courted by Division I schools during high school.”
“A couple.” I turned around to find that he’d sat on the edge of his bed. He patted the spot next to him. “Why don’t you join me?”
I lifted a brow. “Will you answer my questions?”
“If you insist.”
I sat on the bed cross-legged, facing him. “So, why did you stay in Moss Harbor? You could be playing for thousands of fans instead of hundreds.” Probably millions, if you counted TV viewership of the games.
He leaned back on his hands and looked up at the ceiling. “You want the answer I tell everyone or the real answer?”
“The real answer, obviously.”
“Okay. I stayed in Moss Harbor because I didn’t feel like I deserved anything better. Not while Tristin was rotting away in juvie and I had more freedom than I could handle.” He dropped his head and met my gaze, his expression grim. “Did you know I almost quit football at the beginning of my sophomore year?”
I shook my head.
“I was in a pretty dark place. Tristin had been locked up for almost six months, and he was refusing to see me. Dad and I got in a huge fight over what a failure of a son I was. And I was just done with all of it.”
“What made you change your mind?”
His mouth twitched. “Hayle, if you can believe it.”
Hayle. Guilt slammed into me as my mind shot to our earlier kiss. Should I tell Leo? Or was this one of those instances when he was better off not knowing?
Unaware of my inner turmoil, Leo continued. “He told me I was an idiot if I thought quitting was going to accomplish anything other than prove Dad was right about me. It wouldn’t reduce Tristin’s sentence or make his life better. I’d just be punishing myself, and that wouldn’t do any of us any good.”
“Sounds like pretty solid advice.”
“It was. That’s when I started going to the boxing gym more regularly and slowed down with the excessive drinking and hooking up. Boxing was a much healthier release.”
“Are you saying you haven’t hooked up in the last year?” I asked, doubt thick in my voice.
“Well, I wouldn’t go that far.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
He sat up and slipped a hand under one of mine, interlacing our fingers. “But there hasn’t been anyone since the day you walked back through the front door.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Really?” Even I couldn’t say the same.
“Yeah, really.” He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to my lips. “I haven’t wanted anyone but you.”
His words warmed me from the inside out. “Who knew you could be such a sweet talker?”
Leo chuckled. “Not me. My usual line is, ‘take off your clothes.’”
I started laughing so hard, I had to bury my head in his shoulder. “Seriously? That’s all you have to say?”
“Pretty much.”
“I sometimes worry about my gender.”
He tucked the hand that had been holding mine around the back of my neck and began massaging it. “Maybe you shouldn’t be so hard on your fellow women. I am rather irresistible.”
“Maybe.”
There was a husky quality to his voice when he asked, “Are you saying you don’t find me irresistible, Thea Gale?”
I lifted my head to peer into those aquamarine eyes once again. They shone with a mixture of amusement and challenge. Since I wasn’t one to back down from a challenge, I said, “Try me.”
He placed his other hand at my hip and dipped his thumb under my shirt to stroke my stomach. Lowering his head until his mouth hovered over mine, he commanded, “Take off your clothes.”
My breath quickened, and I could have sworn my body moved to obey. It was screaming, yes, please,