I opened the door. West smiled the moment our eyes met. Then the smile faltered as he looked down at my jersey. “You’re wearing Brady’s jersey,” he said as his eyes found mine again.

I smiled and nodded. I wanted him to be happy I was showing my support for the team, and for him.

Brady let out a snicker, and I turned to see him covering his mouth as he turned to walk up the stairs. Why was he laughing? Had I done something wrong?

West’s arm went around my waist, and he took my book bag with his other hand as he glared after Brady.

“Let’s go,” he said, sounding less than pleased.

“Did I do something wrong?” I asked, feeling sick to my stomach. West’s happy smile was gone.

He didn’t reply as he opened his truck door and put my bag in. Then he grabbed me by the waist and lifted me as if I were a child and couldn’t get in by myself.

Once I was in the seat, I was at eye level with him. He leaned in and kissed me. It wasn’t the sweet, tender kind of kiss I was used to, but it was just as good. I felt like he was marking me and trying to drink me in all at the same time. He had me clinging to him and melting against him by the time he pulled away.

“You can’t wear Brady’s jersey,” he said simply, then closed the door and headed for the driver’s side.

If I couldn’t wear Brady’s jersey, then why was he taking me to school in it?

“I need to change, then,” I said as he opened his door and climbed inside.

He nodded in agreement. “Buckle up,” he instructed me.

I did as I was told, and he pulled out onto the street and headed for school. I waited for him to explain about the jersey, but he never said anything. At all.

The five-minute drive to Lawton High was short, and I wanted to know why I couldn’t wear Brady’s jersey. I started to open my mouth, when West drove past the parking lot and toward the field house.

Was he going to make me take it off and leave it in there? Because Aunt Coralee was right; I couldn’t wear this tank top to school. I’d be sent home fast.

“What are we doing?” I asked as his door swung open and he got out. He closed it and headed to my side without answering me.

When he opened my door, he grabbed me and kissed me again before picking me up and putting me down on the ground. “We’re going to fix your jersey,” he said simply. Then took my hand, and we walked inside the field house.

It was deserted this morning, thank goodness. I didn’t want to see naked guys. That would be very embarrassing. West took me past a row of lockers, then stopped once he got to the large ones on the end. I saw his last name written above a locker right before he opened it up.

“Take that off,” he said as he reached into the locker to pull out a neatly folded jersey on the top shelf.

He was giving me his jersey. My heart rate picked up as I quickly took off Brady’s jersey. West turned to look at me and stopped. Instead of handing me the shirt, he stepped toward me and bent his head to kiss my exposed collarbone before burying his head in my neck and inhaling deeply.

I shivered but remained very still. I was afraid if I moved, it would break the spell. I didn’t want him to stop. I loved having him close to me like this.

His hand slid around my waist, and he held me against him as his tongue began to take little licks of my neck, followed by kisses. I dropped Brady’s jersey and grabbed West’s arms to keep my knees from buckling.

“Taste so good, smell so good,” he whispered as his mouth moved lower, and he brushed his lips across the tops of my breasts several times. I watched him in fascination.

He lifted his eyes to look at me as he pulled my tank top down a little to continue his trail of kisses. “I need to stop. But I need you to tell me to stop.” His voice was deep.

I didn’t want him to stop. Getting to class had taken a backseat to this.

“If I tug this down any farther, I’m gonna want more. More than you need to give me in a dirty locker room. I swore to myself the next time I touched you like this, I’d have you somewhere special.”

He had robbed me of words. I just stood there holding on to his arms as he cupped one of my breasts through my shirt and kissed the top of the other. Then he growled and closed his eyes tightly before dropping his hands and moving away. I felt cold with him gone. I wanted him back.

“Lift your arms,” he said as he picked back up the jersey he’d gotten from his locker.

I did as I was told, and he slipped it over my head. Once he was happy that I had it on properly, he stepped back and looked at me. “Just my jersey, Maggie. No one else’s. Ever. I don’t want anyone’s jersey touching you but mine. Keep this one. Wear it any damn time you want, but don’t ever put Brady’s on again.”

Oh.

Okay.

Oh my.

I nodded and resisted the urge to wrap my arms around the shirt I was now wearing, and cuddle with it. It smelled like West. I was never going to want to wash it.

He grinned. “My girl. My fucking jersey.”

Would I Be Her Choice?

CHAPTER 38

WEST

Tonight Maggie sat with my mom at the game. Every chance I got, I looked up at them. Maggie would wave most of the time, but then sometimes I’d catch her talking to my mother. My chest would feel so full, I wondered if it could burst.

After each touchdown I’d glance up to see Maggie standing and cheering with a huge grin on her face, my fucking jersey covering her body. God, I loved that. Everyone saw she was mine.

When I’d seen her in Brady’s jersey this morning, I’d wanted to take it off her and burn it. The amused smirk on Brady’s face hadn’t helped. He’d known when she’d asked him for it how I’d react. Asswipe had done it on purpose and gotten a kick out of it.

When he’d walked down the hall and seen her in my jersey, he’d burst out laughing. No one but the three of us knew what he found so funny.

Maggie had even grinned and ducked her head as her cheeks flushed. She had been trying to please me. She just had no idea that a girl wearing a guy’s jersey meant she was his.

Family or not, she wasn’t wearing Brady’s fucking jersey. Or anyone else’s for that matter. Just mine.

We won by a touchdown. Gunner caught a beautiful pass and ran it in to win us the game in the final three minutes. It had been a high-scoring game for both teams. I was worried at one point that we’d need to go into overtime, but Gunner fixed that.

When I walked out of the locker room, Maggie was standing there waiting on me. Her smile when our eyes locked eased the sadness I’d felt when I walked out and my dad wasn’t there.

“You were amazing. . . . I think. I don’t know much about it. But you look really good in those pants,” she said in a whisper when I got close enough to hold her.

Chuckling, I kissed her forehead, then her nose, and finally her mouth.

“Seeing you up there in my jersey, looking like an angel, helped. I’m gonna need that every game now.”

She smiled. “I think I can make that happen.”

Tonight I was taking her to the field party. Although she’d been to many, tonight she’d actually attend one. She would be with me. Not hiding in the dark corners waiting for Brady.

The idea of his leaving her out there still pissed me off. I didn’t like thinking about how alone she’d been. How no one had been there for her.

“Good game, babe.” I looked up from my own private little world with Maggie to see Raleigh standing there.

“Thanks, but I’m not your babe,” I replied, trying to get her to leave.

Raleigh laughed and bit her bottom lip like she thought that was sexy. “Maybe not right now, but you’re gonna get bored with the mute girl and want some action eventually. I’ll be waiting. I was always there for you when you needed me. I want that back, West. I miss us,” she said in a low voice that sounded pleading.

I hated it when people took potshots at Maggie. I’d planned to be nice to Raleigh while firmly sending her on her way. But she’d gone and said shit to piss me off.

“I can talk. I just choose who I talk to. So stop trying to upset me. It’s not working.”

I stood there staring at Maggie as she spoke so clearly and matter-of-factly to Raleigh.

“So you do talk. Huh. Does Brady know this?” Raleigh asked, and I took a step toward her, putting myself between her and Maggie. But Maggie’s hand touched my arm as she held on to it and moved to stand beside me.

“Yes, he does. Now you can leave,” Maggie said, not backing down.

I stared down at her. Was there nothing about her that wasn’t perfect? She even dealt with my ex-girlfriend without being dramatic.

“God, you can’t even stop looking at her,” Raleigh said in a disgusted tone.

She was right. I couldn’t.

I didn’t look up, but I knew Raleigh had left once Maggie’s shoulders relaxed and she turned to meet my gaze.

“I’ve decided that I need to enter the world again. Engage. Speak. But until I tell my aunt and uncle, I’m not going to talk to anyone else. Except you, of course.”

Except me. I kissed her hard on the lips and tried like hell not to let the fear of losing her take control of me. I wanted her to talk. I wanted her to live her life to the fullest. I just didn’t know if I trusted that I’d be enough for her then. Right now I was her world because she spoke only to me. And my mom.