“Lucky you, to find a new one.”
“Lucky me.”
He stood only inches away now. His sexy cologne was tickling my nose and lighting up every nerve in my body. The logical part of my brain told me to run away. That allowing myself to be this close to Gabriel was only going to be torture for me. But the rest of my body didn’t listen, and I remained glued to the floor.
“There was something else mysterious that happened today,” he continued, his eyes glinting with humor. He fiddled with the button on his suit jacket and then leaned closer. “Turns out, someone made a sizeable donation toward the pee-wee hockey team today. Enough to cover our costs for several more seasons.”
I
tried to keep my face straight as he stared me down. The sizable donation had been $4,830, to be exact. The entire check left over after buying his collector’s edition Assassin’s Creed at the local game shop. It was an easy gift to make. The tournament had never been about the money for me. The win was enough. Gabriel was worth all of it and more. So were the kids he coached every weekend. They deserved that check.
“I guess Christmas came early this year,” I said, shooting him an innocent smile.
He smirked, clearly not buying my act, but he wasn’t going to get anything out of me. I was a rock. Solid and unmovable.
That was, until he softly tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear and leaned in to whisper in my ear. “Thank you for the gifts, Beth.”
Somehow, I managed to stay up straight on my quivering knees. There was no way I could fall into his arms right then, no matter how much I wanted to. Just because he’d thanked me for my gifts, didn’t mean things between us had gone back to normal.
Right?
“So...did you come with anyone tonight?” I asked, leaning casually against the table.
He chuckled and dropped his hand from my hair. “No. You?”
“No.” I shook my head and tried not to look at him like he was a snack. A mighty fine snack. A snack that was looking ridiculously good in that suit. “Just my friends. I actually had a date, but then I did something stupid and ruined it.”
He pressed his lips together and the humor was gone from his face. I kind of wished I’d just kept my mouth shut, but this was all part of the apology process—owning up to my mistakes.
“Actually, I have a confession to make,” he said, shifting his feet. His gaze shot to the dance floor and then back to me. Gone was the cool and confident guy. Regret washed over his face instead. “If anyone was stupid, it was me.”
I laughed hollowly, unable to believe that Gabriel had done anything that remotely compared to what I’d gotten myself into. He was too pure for that.
“Like what?” I asked accusingly.
He grimaced and then looked away. “I lied to you. All week.”
A cold, hard stone dropped into my stomach. I wasn’t sure what he was talking about, but it sounded serious. “What? What does that mean?”
“I knew.” He rubbed a hand over his face and peeked at me through his fingers. “I knew that CurrerBFighting was you. Way before Michael dropped that bomb in class.”
My jaw dropped to my chest. My reply was a sputtering mass of nonsense. “W-w-what? How did...what? You...how?”
“I found the memory chip you lost after our first study date.” He grinned sheepishly. “When I got home, I popped it into my computer to watch some of the hockey footage. Coach Hart always says that if you want to push yourself to be better, you’ve got to tackle your weaknesses head on. And with our big match coming up, I figured it could help. That’s when I overheard you and Lexi talking about it in the background. About how you were catfishing me. And how you thought a guy like me would never go for a girl like you.”
Blood poured into my cheeks and down my neck. I gripped the edge of the table, unsure whether I was simply mortified or having a panic attack. So that’s where the memory chip had gone? Gabriel had known. He’d known nearly the whole time. I always thought I’d been fooling him, but it turned out he’d been in on it the entire time.
“You...didn’t tell me.” My chest was heaving.
He squinted with embarrassment. “Yeah, but in my defense, I liked you way before I listened to that video. But thanks to that, I figured out you didn’t completely hate me. Not like you hated Michael. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I was a chicken.”
Indignation went through me. I’d lied to him. Used him. Pumped him for information. It was wrong. But here he was, acting like he was the one who’d done the wrong. It just didn’t make sense. “But that didn’t make you angry? That I was lying to you?”
He shrugged and shoved his hands back into his pockets. “Nah. I knew what that tournament meant to you. I just wanted to make sure I did whatever I could to help you. You deserved to win. And you did. First woman ever at Rock Valley High to claim the title. It’s totally awesome.”
I stared at him in awe. Gabriel knew. He knew and he didn’t say anything because he knew how bad I wanted this win. How could I have ever been so foolish as to think I hated him? That he hated me? He was amazing. I couldn’t have found someone better to fall for.
A sensation went through me as I stared wordlessly at him. It was so strong, it nearly knocked me off my feet. It started in my abdomen, then spread throughout my entire body. It was a warmth that was unlike anything I’d ever experienced and it propelled me forward. I leaned forward, grabbed his face, and planted my lips on his. He tensed at first, but it didn’t take long for his hands to find my back. He pulled me closer to him, deepening the kiss. My heart beat out a rhythm that would’ve been more appropriate for a night club. And when he finally pulled away, I was quite out of breath.