Free Hope for Us (Hope Series Book #3) by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle Page A

needed to settle, her every move turned me on and in an obvious way. I was happy I had on jeans. 
    “Jackson.”
    “What?” Pay attention, Jackson.
    “What do you want to drink?” She asked.
    “Water is fine.”
    “I have beer.”
    “No alcohol the night before a game.”
    “Oh yeah. You're starting tomorrow. Aren’t you supposed to be in meetings or something?”
    “Coach said we’ve been working hard so he gave us some time off until curfew.”
    “What time’s curfew?”
    “Lights out at eleven.”
    “You have,” she looked at the clock in the wall, “five hours.”
    “Plenty of time,” I said.
    She bit her lip and turned her attention back to her food.
     
    She handed me two glasses of water. Our fingers touched and I almost dropped them. I stood for a minute looking at her and wondered what to do with them. She pointed to the table and I walked over as she followed with two plates of spaghetti. I set the glasses down and took a seat. She set the plates down. 
    She headed back to the kitchen, opened the oven and the smell of garlic filled the kitchen. She retrieved the bread, cut it and brought it to the table. She slid in the seat next to me and our legs touched. She placed her hand on my knee.
    “Sorry.”
    “No problem.”
    We ate and I tried to think of something to talk about. Anything to get my mind off watching her lips suck on noodles. Pure torture.
    “You ready?" she asked.
    "For what?" I grabbed a napkin and whipped my mouth. Was I drooling? I felt like a horny teenager.
    Football man. She's talking about football.
    “Yeah. I’ve been practicing with the first team all week.”
    “How’s it feel? Getting to know a new team and all.”
    “It’s strange. Fighting for a job. Humbling.” 
    “Well, you looked pretty good last week.”
    “That’s with the second team offense against the second team defense.”
    “I heard some piece on the news about how you and Towson are putting in a lot of extra work after practice.”
    “Yeah, he’s great. Freak of nature talented. It’s the other guys who are proving to be a little hard to convince.”
    “Well, they’ll come around. You just go out there and do what you know how to do.”
    “That’s what James said.”
    “He’s a smart kid. They are going to name you the starter for the season. You deserve it, besides Sampson has too many limits. He’s nowhere near as talented as you are?”
    “Wow. I need to come around you more often. I always loved your pep talks.”
    “Doesn’t it seem like a lifetime ago?”
    I reached out and touched her arm. She looked at me, and I stared into her eyes.
    I waited for her to pull away or look away or both. I figured she would start in on how I needed to slow down or how she wasn’t ready. One of a million excuses she had used in the past, one of a million tactics she had employed to avoid the topic of us.
    I held her gaze and she smiled. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Her face softened and she placed her hands on top of mine. Then she did something I would have never expected in a million years.
     

***
Carrington Olivia Butler
    When Jackson placed his hands on my arm, I gritted my teeth to keep from pulling away. We were moving too fast, but the look on his face made me pause. I didn’t know what came over me. I wanted to feel him next to me.
    I placed my hand over his, and he tensed. He must have thought the same thing. I ran my hands up his arm. I stood and placed my hands on his shoulders as I straddled his lap. He spoke, but I cut him off when my lips sought out his. I didn’t want to talk. Didn’t want to dissect. Didn’t want to figure out whether what I was doing was a good idea or not. I didn’t care where the need came from. All I knew was that I needed to feel his hands on me.
    I adjusted myself on his lap. He groaned when I pulled him closer but shifted away from me. His arms remained at his side, and he lips seemed stiff and tentative. I grabbed the back of his