With slow, measured steps, I walked toward her. But my heart was pounding in my chest as if I’d never left the field.
I jerked my chin toward the chain around her neck. “You wore it.”
“It’s mine now.” The smirk, that calm, coiled heat radiating from her, nearly brought me to my knees. She’d always been fire.
But now? Now she was a goddamn wildfire with purpose. One of a fucking kind, something unheard of.
“Damn right it is. And you’re mine.”
She didn’t disagree, only studied me, her deep blue eyes singeing me with their intensity. “They’re done. Executive board, treasurer, Douchebag David — fried.”
I loved that she’d adopted my little nickname for him. “No surprises there. You fucking did this. I’m so proud of you! I hope you know that.” I stepped closer. “You lit the match. Just needed someone to strike it.”
“You saying you’re my kindling?” Her eyes were sparkling, and she tilted her head.
“Nah. I’m the gasoline you drenched that shit in.”
That earned me a smile, a real one, full of something heavier than triumph.Relief. Closure. Freedom.
“There’s a scout coming to my next match. Pro league. No favors. No strings. Just … for me,” she said, her voice quiet and uncertain.
I smiled, slow and sure. “Good. You’re about to get signed, Darlin’.”
“And if I do?”
“Then I’ll be wherever you end up. Doesn’t matter if it’s across the country or across the globe.”
She raised a brow. “Even if I go international?”
I stepped closer, my voice dropping. “I’ll learn the anthem. Paint your number on my chest. Get kicked out for screaming too loud.”
That did it. A laugh burst out of her, bright and happy, like it didn’t hurt anymore.
“God, I love you, Hotshot.”
Fuck. My heart stopped beating, all the air left my lungs, and I floated right out of my motherfucking body.
My chest felt like it couldn’t hold everything in it, so I just cupped her face like she was the only thing tethering me to the ground.
“I know.”
She smacked my chest, eyes narrowed. “Dom!”
I laughed, low and rough. “Kidding. I love you more than anything. You’re it for me. My Goddess. You’re mine, and I’m yours — always.”
She pulled me in by the front of my hoodie and pressed a kiss to my mouth like she was sealing the deal.
When we broke apart, her voice was breathless. “Let’s get out of here.”
***
The second the door to her room shut behind us, I was on her, backing her against it, caging her in with my bulk. I was hungry.
Positively starving.
She slipped the chain from under her collar, glinting between us like a fuse.
With a growl, I attacked her lips — rough, greedy, claiming. I tore off her clothes as if they had personally insulted me. Which wasn’t too far from the truth, considering they were hiding my prize.
