Quarterback Keeper (Fall Lake Ballers #1)

Chapter Eight

CHAPTER EIGHT

GIA

M y spoon clinked against the saucer as the diner’s bell chimed. The air felt electrically charged, as if a storm was rolling in. I didn’t even have to look up. I knew it was him. Awareness tingled on the back of my neck. My senses heightened but not like they had with the panic attack. I didn’t know why, but I felt him when he was near. Before Kylian, I’d never experienced anything like it. With him, it just was.

He folded his large body into the seat across from me. Val zeroed in on him, but he declined to order anything. Then she was gone, and it was just us. He was heated. His shoulders were tense, and the muscle along his jaw jumped. I set down the spoon and lifted my eyes to meet his. I wouldn’t speak first. It didn’t matter. I didn’t have long to wait before he spoke.

“I’ve been looking for you for hours.” He waited for a beat.

I didn’t respond.

“Come back with me. I want to talk about everything. Explain.”

I shook my head no.

“We have a contract,” he growled in a low voice, so only I could hear him. “You signed it. Are you backing out?”

I sighed, not wanting to play games. “Please. I would have to be a fool to give up on free rent. And I don’t want to play a part in messing with your mom’s hope and well-being. I know how much you love her, especially if you’re willing to come to a crazy agreement with a virtual stranger.” He wouldn’t hurt his mom, and if I backed out, I would be a part in doing just that. “I’m fine with your parents knowing, but we didn’t agree to anything public. I don’t owe you anything.” I whispered it, but the impact could have been a bomb going off with how his expression changed from open to shuttered.

“I disagree. That should stay on the table as an option.”

Fuck that. I slammed my hand down flat against the table, making the silverware jump and rattle. “Too bad. No public announcement about our engagement.” I worried that he might go ahead and let reporters know to further his endgame, and it was a reminder that another man was trying to run my life.

The only reason I hadn’t told him to go straight to hell and caught the next bus out of Chicago was because I’d met his mom. She was so welcoming and kind, and on top of that, the way he acted toward her had gotten to me. One of the carefully erected walls I kept around my heart for survival had a hairline fracture in it because of that.

His situation tugged at my heart, making him more human than Dayton had ever pretended to be. But I was no fool. Publicly announcing our engagement would risk bringing my worst mistake to my doorstep. I needed something more if I was going to stay with Kylian and aid the jock-ass in his scheme.

I slid out of the booth. “Fine. Let’s go talk.”