For The Win (Gamer Girls, #6) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,56

to help! Then again, if she felt pressured, then helping wasn't what he was doing. He was piling on, and his girl deserved better than that. He was supposed to protect her and keep her safe, not make her miserable.

So, he'd sent a text to apologize. When she hadn't answered, he'd sent another to see if everything was ok. Now, he was convinced that she was pissed at him, and he kinda deserved it. She'd been nervous when he'd asked about coming to visit. She'd tried to say it was a bad idea, but he'd pushed. The problem was that he just couldn't stop thinking about her, and he'd been so sure that if he could get her alone, then she'd finally give him a chance - and she had.

That one night had been amazing. Maybe it wasn't the best sex he'd ever had, but it was still amazing. The feel of her in his arms? The way she pressed up against him afterwards? Her big brown eyes as she watched him take her girl dick into his mouth? The way she could be so nervous and still so determined? Yeah, she was perfect.

He wanted to say he was in love, but he knew better. This was some pretty serious lust, though. Infatuation was a better word. Obsessive might be even more accurate. Rhaven checked all his boxes. She pushed the buttons that got him going. If he'd designed a woman for himself, it would be her. So how could he have screwed this up so badly in such a short time?

Because he'd forgotten the most important thing: she might be vulnerable, but she wasn't weak. The two things were not the same, even if most thought they were. The thing Braden was drawn to was when someone was willing to show their soft spots. That openness just seemed so honest to him, so beautiful in its own way.

Being strong often made people become jaded and cynical. Riley was the perfect example of that. It was easiest to wall off your heart and pretend like you were invincible, but that didn't make it true. People felt things, and it took a lot of guts to admit that. The guts part was what Braden was attracted to. That was his definition of vulnerability.

The problem was that he couldn't sleep without knowing what she was thinking. Had she just written him off? Because women like her could get a million men, and he was damned sure that he shouldn't be at the top of the list. Unfortunately, the only way to be sure was to hear it straight from her, so he rolled over and grabbed his phone, sending off one more message to her.

Braden: I'm sorry. I never meant for this to happen. I'll probably be on a plane when you get this, and you're probably sleeping. I hope things work out, though.

Then he moved to his contacts. He definitely wasn't going to be sleeping, but he knew one person who'd be awake at this hour. Right up at the top, he found it and pressed the button to call, then listened to it ring.

"Dez!" she answered, sounding out of breath.

"What are you doing?" he asked, trying to push out a laugh.

"Running for my phone." Then she paused. "Brae? You ok?"

"I think I fucked up with Rhaven," he admitted.

"Oh," she breathed. "Ok, tell me what's going on."

So he explained the whole thing. All of it. From how she'd been nervous about him seeing her in boy's clothes all the way through their night together, and ending with her chewing him out before he left. Dez hummed and murmured the whole way, proving she was following along, but she didn't try to interrupt. Not until he got to the end.

"And now she won't answer my texts," he finished.

"Of course not," she told him. "Brae, she's got enough on her plate. You can just fucking wait. You're cute, but cute only goes so far. If her family really is that sure there's something going on, who's to say they didn't ask right after you left? How do you know she didn't say something? Maybe she didn't reply to you because she's been explaining who she really is to them, and you're just the guy she fucked."

"Didn't fuck," he reminded her. "Made out with."

"Whatever!" She chuckled. "My point is that walking away is easier than making it work. For her, that is. Right now, she's used to being alone. She's used to expecting bad