But I’d needed to capture the way she looked at me. I hadn’t been able to keep my fingers still after we’d finished our food.

She scrunched her nose at me. The indents from the glasses she’d set on my desk still showed on either side of the bridge of her nose.

I leaned forward, nudging her back onto the bed. The belt of my jeans jangled and her gaze shot to my crotch. Why didn’t she just strip off her top and straddle my lap?

I bit back a groan. She tempted me in ways that made me question what the hell I was doing. Why hadn’t I made a move? Climbing through her window or through the back door, watching a movie, and falling asleep with a girl in my arms wasn’t exactly what I was known for, but it felt right.

Her hints hadn’t exactly been subtle, but it wasn’t the first time I’d played the oblivious jock.

“Is it going to be me with a giant head on a skateboard holding a lollipop?” She settled back into position on my bed. This was the first time I’d ever shown someone one of my quick sketches, but for her, I’d do it. For her, I’d do anything.

Laughing, I looked down at the pencil lines and curves that couldn’t capture a tenth of her beauty. This girl did something crazy to me. She made me think crazy things about what I truly wanted in life, who I wanted to be, and who I wanted to be with.

I wouldn’t be doing anyone any favors, though, if I ended up as a gas station attendant and kept her from doing what she loved.

Coach hadn’t said anything, and I’d never heard of anyone signing a commitment letter this late in their career.

Apparently the word was out about me, because the calls stopped even after a check-in with the coach about whether I’d been signed. The team still interested had to be desperate—well, so was I. But Bay helped take those jagged edges away.

Her voice was perfection. It pulled something out of you, something hidden so deep down it scared you. When she played for me, the feelings were so raw and pure that it was the razor’s edge between pleasure and pain. As much as I wanted to keep that all for myself, other people needed to hear her words, if she’d only let them.

Turning her in my arms, I took a sip of her lips. Like every other time before, one taste wasn’t enough. ‘Hungry’ was the only word that came to mind whenever our touches moved beyond brushes.

Her lips were sinfully delicious, just like the meal she’d made me and the songs she sung me. Bay had ruined me for anyone who came after her, and I didn’t want there to be anyone else. It was like she’d been sent as a gift to me after so many years in the dark. A light, glowing and warm to guide me out of the trenches of my life.