In the last few weeks, I’d thought about Nadia’s point a lot—I thought about Nadia a lot. I couldn’t get her out of my mind, even while I played. Football had always overshadowed the other aspects of my life, but I’d never thought about anyone like this before.

She followed me into the room, and I checked her reaction. All she did was look around curiously. Since it was just the two of us, I grabbed one of the tablets and sat on the closest couch.

Nadia gestured at the massive seating arrangement. “Do you usually do this alone?”

I patted the cushion next to me. “Usually, I’d eat with the guys you just met, and we’d come over here together. Sometimes, Coach has something in particular he wants us to watch, sometimes we’re on our own, but we try to put some time in every day.”

She sank down at my side. “Does it help having the other players here?”

I shrugged and shifted closer so she could see the screen as I booted up the program. “Sometimes. Sometimes they become a distraction.”

“Soren seemed to think you used this space for more than film.” She watched me carefully, so I tempered my frustrated reaction to Soren’s damn mouth.

I set the tablet down and faced her. “Soren likes to make trouble for other people. It’s his superpower. I’ve never brought another girl in here, and I didn’t bring you here for any reason other than to show you what goes into a championship football team.”

She grinned and tucked her hair behind her ear, making the stars glimmer in the low light. “You sure it didn’t have anything to do with getting me alone?”

I laughed. “Hell yes, it did, but this isn’t exactly my usual first date plan.”

Nadia tilted her head. “Is this a date?”

My gut clenched. “Do you want it to be?”

“Would it freak you out if I said yes?”

I leaned into her and threaded my hand through her hair, rubbing my thumb along the line of her jaw. “No, Em. It wouldn’t freak me out. I’ve wanted to be right here from the first moment I saw you in those hideous sweats.”

“How important is it that you watch this video right now?” she murmured.

My pulse picked up at the gleam in her eyes. “I can watch it later if I need to.”

She hummed her approval and closed the distance between us. The kiss was sweet, soft, and it rocked me to my core. Something shifted and clicked into place, like she’d always belonged right here with me.