My mouth has gone dry, and my heart pounds against my ribcage. I just got off in the shower not even ten minutes ago and haven’t fully come down from it, but Declan being this close and saying all these things to me with such raw honesty has my body thrumming like a live wire, throbbing for another release. The blood rushes in my ears, and the edges of my vision blur until all I can see is his beautiful brown eyes holding mine.

I thought taking care of myself in the shower would take the edge off for this session with him, and it did—until now.

I can’t believe I’m even thinking it, but maybe he’s right. This thing between us, whatever the hell it is now, feels so much deeper. The physical intensity has been there all along, but I’ve felt sparks of something more—something real—and it wasn’t until he laid everything out just now that I let myself believe I wasn’t imagining it.

It exhilarates and terrifies me at the same time. Getting all wrapped up in Declan is dangerous in so many ways. It’s like holding a grenade with the pin halfway out, and the voice screaming in the back of my head isn’t afraid to remind me of that, but I’m getting to the point where it’s harder and harder to listen—and next to impossible to care—because I’m ready to pull that damn pin.

The need, the desire I have for him is overriding everything else. And it’s not just sexual. Just like he said, I knew as soon as I met him at Opal and Oak months ago that there was something different about him—about us. It was easier to downplay then because I knew I would be leaving in the morning and would never see him again.

There was no potential for it to be anything other than one amazing night.

But he’s here now, and he’s not going anywhere anytime soon. And I don’t know what the hell to do or how to feel about that. With my body screaming, aching for him like this, my brain’s rational voice somehow cuts through all the noise to remind me that I’m playing with fire. Even if everything he just said is true, and I believe him, it doesn’t change the fact that we can’t do this. If word gets out, it’s all but guaranteed to end Declan’s career with the Aces, and maybe in the NHL as a whole, and I don’t even want to think about what kind of price my parents will make me pay.