“But Iamstill hurt you lied.”
“I know. I know.” He shook his head, mad at himself. “I’m so sorry I lied about her.”
“But it’s not justher,Dakota.It’s all the other girls, too.”
“What other girls?” he asked, putting on a convincing performance. “There were noother girls, Ottavia.”
“Really?” I stared into his eyes, probing for the truth. “Because my dad showed me video after video.”
“Videos of what?”
“You, talking and flirting with tons of girls, all summer long.”
“Babe, I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about.” His skeptical eyes narrowed. “I haven’t been interested in anyone but you since we met. Even during those two weeks when we weren’t talking to each other, all I could think about was you.”
I sighed. “And Iwantto believe you so badly … but I saw the footage. So are you telling me it’s a coincidence that you’re talking with girls everywhere you go?”
Dakota’s head jerked as if he’d just had a sudden revelation.
“A honeypot!” he said, laughing. “My God! Isthatwhat that was?”
“Honeypot? What are you talking about?” I asked.
He neared and put his hands on my shoulders, a spark of excitement in his eye. “Okay, remember how I kept telling you all summer long that these girls kept hitting on me everywhere I went?! The gas station, the grocery store, even our scrimmages—literally every fucking place I went in Vegas?”
I nodded. “Yeah, of course … I saw it myself.”
He stirred up the air with his hands, as if to say,WELL!?!??!
“And your dad got all those encounters on film? How convenient, eh?!”
“What are you saying?” I asked.
“I think your dad probably paid those girls to seduce me, trying to get me to slip up. And he filmed it all, too, so the moment Ididslip up, he’d be able to blackmail me with proof that I cheated on you—” He paused. “And it’dalsobe proof that I wasn’t taking my summer training seriously, so the team could get rid of me?” He shook his head. “Whatever. The point is, Ididn’tcheat on you. Ever. So all he’s got is a video of girls talking to me. I didn’t doanythingwrong.”
I grimaced. I wouldn’t put it past Dad—but still, how could I trust Dakota was being honest with me now?
“It really did seem like you were flirting with them, though,” I murmured.
He adamantly shook his head. “I wasn’t flirting. I wasn’t trying to pick them up. Every single one of those girls approached me first. And they were all very forward. I was just trying to be polite and tell them I wasn’t interested without making a scene. That’sallit was, Ottavia, I promise.”
I stared deep into his eyes, searching his soul for any hint of deception, but all I could find was sincerity and vulnerability staring back at me.
“Do you swear you weren’t trying to pick any of those girls up?” I asked, wanting to be reassured.
“I swear, babe,” he said, his voice lowering to a tender tone. “I swear on my career, on my life, on everything I’ve got.” He brushed his hand against my cheek. “You areallI want.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes,” he said. “I want to be with you, Ottavia.”
My heart begin to swell with a renewed sense of trust, and I was filled with an overwhelming desire to be with him, no matter what. The hurt was still there, but the connection we shared was so, so much stronger.
“I want to be with you too,” I confessed, my voice trembling.
Without hesitation, he wrapped his thick arms around me and clutched me tight. I felt his warmth, his relief, hislovepouring out of him in that embrace—and I could tell he would never, ever let me go. I squeezed him back.
“I’msosorry I lied,” he whispered.
