DALLAS IS WAITING at my apartment like she promised when I pull up later that night. She slips off the hood of her car, where she was lying staring up at the sky, and comes over to me.

She kisses me. Firm and sweet, and I notice she's wearing a Rusk Wildcats shirt. I grin.

"Never thought I'd see the day."

"Yeah, well, only for you. I might have something else you've been wanting to see, too."

That definitely piques my interest, and I raise my brows.

She laughs, and the sound is so light and perfect that I could listen to it all day long. "Not that. Well, at least not right now anyway."

Dear G.o.d.

She takes my hand, and leads me over to a basketball court that sits between my apartment building and the one next to it.

"Tonight, I got to see you play. So I figure it's only fair you get to see me dance."

She's uncharacteristically shy, and I'm beginning to realize just how much I like every version of her-from daredevil to demure.

"That sounds . . . perfect."

"Now, there's still a part or two that I'm not as solid on as I'd like to be, but I think you'll get the idea." She hands me her phone with a song pulled up. "Press play when I tell you?"

I nod.

She has on these weird black sneakers with no sole in the arch that I guess are some kind of dance shoe. She pulls off the red Rusk T-shirt, leaving her in a tight gray tank top and black stretchy pants. She walks to the center of the court and takes a deep breath. She nods her head at me, and I press play.

The music starts soft, and with her hand stretched straight up, she spins a few times, her movements smooth and graceful. She lands, feet apart, her head tipped back, and she is stunning. Then the music changes, picks up, and her body lurches backward like she's taken a punch to the stomach. She reaches out, running forward, and she leaps into the air. Somehow, she manages to look like she's straining to fly while some imaginary thing holds her back.

She lands, crumpling, and the emotion in her face and body is so strong, so raw that I have to resist the urge to go to her. But then she lifts herself up. The entire dance oscillates that way between soft and hard. Her body spins and moves beautifully, and then it turns to hard angles, bent limbs, desperate jumps. At one point she throws herself down on the ground, rolls a few times until she lands on her back, and then she arches up, supported by her shoulders and her toes, and I swear it looks like she's just had her soul ripped out. The music seems to bleed out of her, matching perfectly with her movements. On and on the song goes, and she beats herself down and down. But as the song comes to a close, she gets up one final time. Her legs shake, then straighten, and she lifts her head up to the sky, and even just standing there, her body tells a story.

The song ends, and I stand staring at her, absolutely dumbfounded.

"Well?"

I blink, light-headed, and I don't know if I remembered to breathe at all the entire time she was dancing.

"You are incredible."

She smiles and dips her head, and I know she's doing that thing she does where she's trying to look smaller, look less, so that people will pa.s.s on. But there's no f.u.c.king way I'm letting this go.

"I'm serious, Dallas. That was . . . You did that? You came up with it all?"

She nods. "The night that Dad and I had a fight, and I found out you were on the football team."

Now it's my turn to feel like something's been ripped out of me. There was so much pain in that piece. I hate that I had any hand in it.

"I'm sorry," I say.

"What?" She crosses to me. "What could you possibly have to be sorry about?"

"I made you feel that . . . that ache."

She smiles. "Only because I was stubborn enough to think I couldn't have you."

"You have me. Completely."

She lifts up on her toes and kisses me, and she's the sweetest d.a.m.n thing I've ever tasted.

She says, "You were so good tonight." I exhale, dropping my shoulders. "Stop that. You were. It's all anyone is talking about. You did everything you were supposed to do. Our defense just wasn't as strong as theirs."

She shivers, and I grab her Rusk T-shirt off the ground. "Let's get you inside."

I hand her T-shirt back to her, but she doesn't put it on. So I wrap my arm around her shoulder to keep her warm until we get to my place.

I lay my keys on the table just inside the door, and we both slip off our shoes. I stretch my neck back and forth, knowing I'm going to be sore tomorrow. I take a step toward the couch, but she grabs my hand.

"You're tired."

I nod. And step toward the couch again for just that reason, but she pulls me straight ahead instead, back toward the bedroom. My heart rolls over in my chest, and my blood pumps a little faster, and I am suddenly not as tired as I thought.

She's stayed the night twice since this started, but both times we fell asleep on the couch after a movie. We never talked about whether or not she was going to stay, it just happened.

The door to my bedroom is open just a crack and she pushes it a little farther with two fingers. It's dark, but she makes no move to turn on the light. The light from the hallway is enough to cast a glow on the bed, and she steps up beside it.

"I'm not ready to have s.e.x," she says quickly. "I mean . . . I want to, but I also don't, so for now, can we just sleep together in the normal sense?"

I work to keep my expression clear of any disappointment. I want her to be ready, but I also can't deny that seeing her beside my bed makes my whole body buzz with want.

"Of course. I'll take you in my bed however I can have you."

I can see the blush burn across her cheeks even in the dim light. She places a hand on my shoulder and says, "Sit down."

I do as she asks, and she steps between my open knees. She fingers the sleeve of my T-shirt and adds, "Take this off?"

I reach back and grab the fabric behind my neck, pulling it over my head. I feel the light touch of her fingers helping to pull it off the rest of the way. Instead of letting my hands drop, I rest them on her hips and pull her a little closer.

Her fingers are warm on my bare shoulders, and she sighs at the contact. She moves both hands to my right shoulder, and starts working the tight muscles. I groan and drop my head down, resting my forehead against her stomach. She kneads at my shoulder, skating down to my biceps on occasion, her fingers strong and sure. I close my eyes, and try to keep from getting too worked up. I try for about a minute before I give up and let my hands slide down from her hips to her thighs. Her breathing picks up as I run my palms up and down, curling my fingers around the backs of her legs.

I don't push any further than that, though, letting her stay in control. And she's completely in control when she pushes me back on my unmade bed and straddles my hips. She runs her hands up my abdomen, first soft and then harder, pushing on my muscles there like she did at my shoulder. I let her explore my chest while every ounce of blood in my body heads south. She leans down and presses a kiss on my sternum. She hovers there, her hot breath making all my muscles tense. She drags her mouth from the center of my chest to where my heart beats wildly beneath my skin. Her tongue peeks out tentatively as she does, and I fist my hands in my sheets to keep from grabbing her and flipping us over.

She looks up at me, her pupils deep and black. "Not s.e.x. But maybe we could . . . Maybe we could do other things?"

I growl and roll her beneath me, pressing my hips down into hers. She moans, and with her stretchy pants and my gym shorts, I can feel the heat of her through the thin material.

"Other things sound pretty d.a.m.n perfect."

Chapter 24.

Dallas Kissing Carson McClain has officially become my favorite hobby.

His lips are soft even though he kisses me hard. I curl my legs around him, and a masculine noise of approval sounds in his chest. I thread my fingers through his hair, and my blood is rushing so fast that my limbs feel both light and heavy at the same time.

His lips leave mine to slide over my jaw, and the rasp of his stubble sends shivers down my spine. His elbows rest on either side of me, and his hands slide under me to curl around my shoulders. The heat of his breath touches my neck before his lips do, and I grip his hair tight.

I lean my head to the side to give him more room, and his lips burn a line down to my collarbone. Then he dips lower, down to the top of my strappy camisole. His hands smooth from my shoulders down to my ribs as he skims his lips over the curve of my breast peeking just above the fabric. He places a kiss on my sternum, and I shift my hands from his hair to the bare skin of his shoulders.

"Carson," I breathe.

His eyes lift to mine, hooded, dark, and questioning. I don't know what I was planning to say or that I had anything to say at all. I just needed to say his name. I let my fingertips travel down his back as far as they can reach, playing over the taut muscles and warm skin.

He surges back up to take my mouth in a bruising kiss, shifting to lie beside me as he does. When his hand slides along the waistband of my yoga pants, I'm not sure whether I want to lock up or arch into his touch.

He pulls back to look at me, and though I'm mildly terrified, I don't close my eyes. His gaze roams my face as his fingers slide beneath the fabric into a territory we've not covered yet.

He's slow, waiting for me to say no, I think. But no matter how many pieces of me want to say no, there are far more begging me to say yes.

His fingers slide against me, teasing sensitive flesh. He pushes one long finger into me, grinding the heel of his hand down at the same time, and I dig my nails into his muscled shoulders. I tilt my hips up, moving on his finger, and he moans.

"G.o.d, Dallas, if you only knew how much I wanted you."

I slip a hand between us, finding the hard ridge of him through the fabric of his shorts, and he hisses out a breath.

"I've got some idea."

His mouth covers mine-wild and hot and greedy-and he bites down on my bottom lip at the same time that his finger curls inside of me. I arch up, lost in the sensation, and his mouth moves down to my chest. I feel another graze of his teeth and squeeze his length in response.

"Oh f.u.c.k, baby." His gruff words, spoken against the sensitive skin of my breast, make the heat between my legs turn molten.

This . . . this I can handle. His sure, sensuous touch. Tendrils of a new kind of trust.

I pull him up to me for another kiss, and together we spend time exploring, touching, and tasting before exhaustion takes us.

IN THE WEEK before the team's next game, the entire university transforms. There's red and black everywhere-banners and T-shirts and signs and sidewalk chalk. The energy is electric and powerful, and I can see the way it changes Carson. He's tired. He's been putting in crazy hours all week-on the field and with his tutors. I've spent almost every night at his apartment because otherwise, I'm not sure I'd get to see him. But even through the fatigue, he wears a constant smile, and I think that finally he's beginning to believe in himself.

It's our last game before homecoming, and then we've got three away games in a row. When the buzzer sounds and we've won by fourteen, the student section of the stadium pours down from the bleachers, and fills the field with red and black. Some overzealous fans make a dash for the goal posts, but the crew is already busy collapsing them before they can get there. Instead, everyone just stands there screaming and shouting like we've won a national championship.

It's not that. But it is an upset, and not by a small margin either. It's a solid win, and the fans aren't the only ones that are ecstatic. I stay in the stands because I still haven't told Dad about Carson, but I watch him on the field. He smiles widely, sharing crushing hugs with player after player before finally my dad stands in front of him.

It's not the team's first win, but it's Carson's, and that seems more important.

Dad slaps a hand on his padded shoulder, and they talk for a few moments before they hug like all the rest.

I decide that I'm telling Dad this week. I need to if I want to road-trip with Stella to the next away game.

I expect to meet Carson at his apartment again, but he texts asking if I'd be open to going to a party, and I say yes because he's earned the right to celebrate. I tell Stella and she's all over it, dragging us back to our dorm to get prettied up.

Even though it's chilly outside, I pull on a formfitting purple dress. It has long sleeves, and I decide on some black tights and my black leather jacket to go with it. I leave my hair down because I know Carson likes it like that, and I put on a little more makeup than normal.

Stella whistles. "d.a.m.n, girl." I take that as her approval. She drives to the party, and in the car on the way she says, "I'm going out on a limb and saying you're going home with Carson tonight."

I nod. We haven't talked about it, but all the energy of this week and the win has me anxious to touch him, to soak up the way he makes me feel.

"So are y'all just giving up the whole incognito thing?"

I shrug. "I don't know. I was going to talk to him about it tonight."

"What do you think your dad will say?"

"He'll be p.i.s.sed. You remember how long it took him to be okay with me dating Levi, and he loved him. I think, though, after the whole drug thing, that he's even more wary. But Carson is a good guy, and Dad likes him, and I think as long as I ease him into it that he'll be fine. Eventually."

"Good luck, sister."

The party is at a house where a few teammates all live together, and as soon as we enter, I can see Stella sizing up the room.

I laugh. "Good luck to you, too."

Hands on her hips, she scoffs. "Luck has nothing to do with it."

I follow her lead, and scan the room looking for Carson. I find him almost immediately. He's sitting on a huge sectional, surrounded by players and cheerleaders, but his eyes are on me. He's wearing a charcoal gray shirt that hugs his body and makes his eyes stand out. He's so incredibly s.e.xy, and the hungry look he fixes on me makes my legs feel like Jell-O.

My phone buzzes.

You have no idea how

badly I want to kiss you.

I smile.

About that. I was thinking that