I jerk back. “Um, no. I haven’t. Why would I?”

“I just thought you might since you guys have a history.”

“Yeah.” I roll my eyes. “Ancient history. I am miles past moved on.”

“McClain, right? You must have a thing for QBs.”

“Excuse me?”

I grab my drink and turn to leave.

“Wait, I’m sorry. That came out wrong.”

I don’t even bother concealing my annoyance. “Yeah. Don’t worry about it.”

“Before you go . . . there’s something you should know.” I raise a brow, remembering why I don’t come to parties like this. “I like your dad a lot. He’s a good coach. I would have told him, but I don’t want to mess with the team dynamics when everything’s going so well.”

“Just spit it out,” I say.

“There’s a bet going around the locker room. Levi started it at the beginning of the year. Silas and a few other guys are in on it. Whoever hooks up with you first wins.”

“Hooks up with me?” Despite all the noise and laughter of the party, the world is oddly silent around me.

“It’s stupid. Levi . . . He was just saying how you . . . well, you weren’t that easy, and it became this thing to joke about who could nail you down. I just . . . I thought you should know. You being here at a football party and all.”

“Who can nail me down, huh?” I laugh and it tastes bitter on my tongue. “Thanks for the tip, Carter.”

I add a little more vodka to my drink before I turn and leave. This isn’t new territory for me. After Levi graduated, I was the frigid bitch who wouldn’t give any guy a chance, especially football players. And the scum at the bottom of the male barrel always seem to think a girl who says no is just a girl who’s a challenge.

I tip my cup up, and swallow steadily as I climb the stairs. I didn’t really mix in that last pour of vodka, and the first few swallows burn. But I keep going, and my cup is half-empty by the time I’m outside the door that Carson mentioned.

He’s pacing when I enter, just the lamp on beside the bed.

He looks gorgeous, and I wince.

I gulp down more of my drink and tell myself that there’s no way Carson is in on that bet. He’s been entirely too sweet and patient and caring.

“Hey.” He folds his arms around me and presses his face into the crook of my neck. “I missed you.”

Maybe he’s too sweet. Is that a thing? Are there actually guys like him that are really this great? Or do they all have some ulterior motive?

I tip my head back to sip more of my drink, and his mouth opens over my pulse. “You taste so f**king good. You drive me crazy.”

“Are we in Silas’s room?” I ask.

He nods before trailing his lips down to my collarbone.

“I know. Not exactly the most romantic place, but we’ll just stay standing and not touch any surface.”

Silas and a few other guys are in on it.

He can’t be. He just . . . He can’t be. He said he didn’t listen to the locker-room talk about me.

He lifts his head up and cups my chin. “Hey. Where are you?”

I finish off the last of my drink and say, “Sorry. I might have poured a little more vodka than I thought into that.”

He presses his forehead against mine and says, “You okay?”

“Yep. A little vodka never hurt anyone.”

He grins. “Famous last words.”

My heart twinges at that grin.

He has nothing to do with the bet. I repeat it in my head until I’m sure I believe it.

And yet . . . I’m so sick of being the frigid freak. So tired of being the kind of girl targeted for shit like this. Maybe it’s time for me to get over the thing with Levi. I’m certainly not the first girl to lose her virginity and regret it.

I just need to let it go.

I put my cup down on a dresser, and wrap my arms around Carson. I move my mouth to his, and he wastes no time dipping his tongue inside. His hands start at my hips, gripping me firmly. They slip up under my jacket, stopping around my rib cage as his lips tease mine.

“It was a stupid idea coming to this party,” he says. “All I want to do is be with you.”

I step back, smiling like I know what I’m doing.

“So be with me.”

“You wanna leave?”

I shake my head and peel off my jacket, tossing it on the floor. Silas’s bed is made, and I take a quick glance at the comforter. “As long as we don’t get under the covers we’re probably safe.”

“You love testing my control, don’t you, Daredevil?”

I think back to the night we met. There’s no way he knew who I was . . . right? But he heard me arguing with Silas. If he and Silas are friends, wouldn’t he have recognized his voice?

I shake my head and force myself back into the present.

“I love it when you call me Daredevil.”

That’s the girl I want to be—the girl who doesn’t give a damn about football or bets or sex. I want to be the girl who takes what she wants. And right now, bet or no bet, truth or lie . . . I want Carson.

And I want to stop being scared that everything will hurt me. I’m stronger than that.

I crawl up on the bed on my knees and crook my finger at him, and he practically jumps on the bed.

We both laugh, and I smooth my fingers through his hair. He does the same, combing softly through the strands and then settling his hands on my back.

He makes me happy. I’m comfortable around him. No one is that good of an actor. Even when I’d had sex with Levi, I could tell he wasn’t all the way in it. Everything was too mechanical. It hurt, but I went through the motions.

It wouldn’t be like that with Carson. It would be hot and sensual, and it would get me past this hang-up.

I tip my lips up, capturing his. But everything about the moment is a little too soft. I thrust my tongue against his, press my chest into him, and then lie back, pulling him on top of me. I need him to lose himself in me, so that I can lose myself, too.

Chapter 25

Carson

I know that this isn’t the best place for this. I’d rather be home in my bed, but I can’t bring myself to pull my lips away from hers long enough to actually put those thoughts into motion.

Her lips move fast and hard against mine, and I think maybe we’re both a little high off the night’s victory. I try to slow her down because if I don’t, it’s going to be mighty uncomfortable heading back downstairs. But she’s not having it.