Chapter 36
CHAPTER
THIRTY-SIX
GUNNER
“Here? Now? ” Rebel asks, a question mark in her eyes.
I nod.
“That’s so awkward. I can’t.”
“Alright then.” I shrug.
“Wait.” She clears her throat and worries her bottom lip for a moment.
I force my gaze to her eyes.
That mouth is dangerous territory.
But to be fair, every part of this woman is dangerous territory.
Didn’t realize I was a feet person until about, five seconds ago, but the moment I saw Rebel’s pink nail polish…
I knew I didn’t need to be keeping my eyes there either.
“Okay, fine,” she sighs heavily. “But only because you begged.”
I watch her step back a few paces and hold the laptop up with one arm.
“Oh, keep in mind that I haven’t given a presentation since high school.”
I nod.
She starts her speech, and I lock in like it’s the finals of the ’87 Canada Cup.
Rebel is as fascinating as a televised hockey game. And I’m not just saying that because of my feelings for her.
As an athlete, the gap between professionals is hard to see because everyone at the top is separated by a tenth of a degree. But the gap between professionals and amateurs is pretty wide.
And Rebel Hart is no amateur. It’s clear that she’s been training for this moment.
As she presents, she doesn’t stammer over her words or second-guess her points. She speaks clearly, boldly and passionately. Her love for the community she wants to serve screams from every pore and stirs the soul.
She was born to be the face of a movement.
As she brings the presentation to a close, I start clapping.
She blushes fiercely.
“That was incredible,” I say.
Rebel battles a smile. “I’m sure I have a lot of room for improvement.”
I shake my head, blown away. The first time I ever swung a hockey stick, I hit myself in the face. This is definitely not the equivalent of a ‘first time’.
“What was the account number again?” I open my phone. “I want to donate.”
A genuine smile eases across Rebel’s face. She laughs and shakes her head. “Your family is the backbone of the Lady Luck Society. You’re already donating tons of money. And time. And effort.”
It doesn’t matter. After that speech, I need to donate more.
Rebel stretches her arms over her head. Something about her seems looser, freer now. “Wow. Doing the presentation actually made me feel a lot better.”
Good. That was the point.
Her eyes slide to me and, when I stare back at her, she blushes even harder.
“Um…” She hesitantly darts past me and locks her laptop back in the bag. “So, what now?”
I lean against the truck and shrug. I didn’t exactly run out of The Pink Garage with a plan.
“Are the shoes comfortable?” I ask.
Rebel glances down and wiggles her toes. “Yeah. They’re great.”
I slip a hand into my pocket, wondering if now is the time to give her the gift but, unfortunately, Rebel scurries past me in the direction of the tree house.
“No way!” she squeals, staring in delight at the renovations.
And I can’t help it.
I smile.
Watching those baby blues sparkle harder than the sunshine makes me feel like I’m walking on clouds. Her exuberance is contagious, and I’m glad to see the excitement return to her eyes. The fake smiles and forced cheerfulness she had in the garage drove me up a wall.
Rebel swings around. “The last time I was here, this thing was two seconds away from falling apart. What changed?”
“Nothing much.”
“Come on, Gunner. This place was a dump.”
“The foundation was always strong,” I tell her. “What you see now was always there.”
Rebel glances up at me, a flush rising in her face.
My heart jolts at the sight. I wanted to kiss her so badly at the truck.
I want to kiss her now.
But I made the decision to keep my distance until I figure out the truth behind our family history.
And I’m sticking to it.
No matter how tempting she is.
Keep your hands to yourself, Kinsey.
“Were you the one who worked on it?”
I nod.
“When?”
“After our last home game.”
She gasps. “You didn’t go home that night because you were repairing this place?”
I nod again.
“Are you crazy?” She throws her hands wide. “Why would you do that? What if you’d gotten hurt out here in the middle of the night? And why on earth did you come to the community clean-up after working so hard on the treehouse? No wonder you conked out at the hospital. You were running on fumes. What were you thinking? ”
I smile harder.
Rebel plants her hands on her hips. “I’m not laughing with you, Gunner Kinsey. Don’t think you’re invincible because you have all those muscles. That was really dangerous.”
She’s worrying about me.
It’s adorable.
Pleased, I jut my chin at the ladder. “Need a hoist up?”
“Absolutely not.” She looks offended. “Climbing trees is like riding a bike.” She taps her head. “You never really forget.”
I smirk and watch her approach the ladder confidently. She plants her foot on the bottom rung and pulls herself up.
I admit. It’s impressive.
The higher she climbs, however, the more her skirt bunches up, showing off more and more of her shapely calves.
I’m terminally attracted to Rebel Hart and flashing all that skin doesn’t help me in my goal of keeping my hands off her. Desire rears its ugly head, demanding I drink her in. But I beat it back and force myself to be a gentleman.
I avert my gaze until she makes it to the top.
“Haha!” Rebel rejoices, pointing down at me. “Told you.”
I blow out a long breath and join her on the porch.
“Wow.” Rebel’s eyelashes flutter and she leans against the railing, soaking in the view. “I’d forgotten how peaceful it was out here.”
I stand beside her, looking at the canopy of trees and the scattered leaves across the forest floor. The sky is a deep shade of blue that’s almost as pretty as her eyes. A gentle breeze cools us down.
My pulse settles the longer we stand in silence.
Until Rebel whispers, “About what happened in the garage…”
I turn my head to her.
Rebel draws her lower lip between her teeth and the need to capture that plump lip with my own teeth awakens within me.
“…I assume April told you about what happened this morning?” she finishes.
I stare at her, waiting.
“I was upset about a few things, but that’s no excuse for kissing you without… um… you know. So yeah… I’m sorry if you were upset by it.”
I frown. Upset?
I’m upset that we had an audience.
I’m upset I couldn’t tilt her head back and swallow her whole.
I’m upset the only reason she kissed me was because she’d had a bad day and needed another guy to take a hint.
Forcing myself to stay away from her is shredding me into ribbons, but I’ll never be angry at an opportunity to taste Rebel Hart’s lips.
“So yeah.” She squares her shoulders. “Glad we cleared that up.”
I watch her spin in her fuzzy slippers and hurry inside the treehouse.
I follow her in.
“You should have done this at the garage,” I mutter, annoyed that I can’t kiss her. Or tell her about my family. Or admit that I like her.
She goes still.
The frustration eases into my voice. “Be angry when you feel wronged and clear things up when you calm down.”
Rebel looks at me with surprised eyes. “What are you talking about?”
“You don’t owe the world a smile you don’t feel.”
Her eyebrows cinch tight and I can tell she’s feeling exposed. And annoyed about it.
“That’s rich coming from you,” Rebel accuses.
I fold my arms over my chest.
“You’re a Kinsey. You have the luxury of scowling at everyone and still being waited on hand and foot. These ‘insincere smiles’ you hate so much? I’m proud of them. I earned them by constantly taking the high road, by making everyone in the room comfortable despite being the most uncomfortable one there.”
I blink in surprise, having never thought of it that way.
“And why are you so obsessed with my smiles anyway? What’s it to you?” Her chest rises and falls as she stares me down.
I like you. “It’s just… an observation.”
“An observation?” She repeats the words slowly, like she’s giving me time to take it back.
I want you to be happy.
“Uh-huh?” She leans back.
I wish I could protect you from anything that tries to hurt you.
I stuff my hands into my pockets. “Sometimes, it could come across as being fake.”
She blanches. “Fake?”
My eyes widen. I can tell immediately that I said the wrong thing.
“Give me a break, Gunner. You have no right to judge me.” Her eyebrows are two angry slashes above her seething blue eyes. “What’s ‘fake’,” she advances in a cloud of pink fury, “is you making a big show of helping me at the community clean up, bringing a food truck, painting the school and then turning around and acting like I don’t exist for days .”
She sticks a finger in my chest. “‘Fake’ is you not calling me once when you were away and then showing up today and buying me slippers and taking me to the treehouse and wanting to hear my presentation and acting like you care about my feelings.”
My gaze locks on the leaves in the canopy above.
“I can tell when a guy likes me on sight. But with you… I can’t make up from down. You’re impossible to figure out.” Her voice crackles with frustration. “It’s driving me up a wall.”
Does she think she’s the only one who’s going insane? I’m barely holding myself together as is.
Rebel’s voice whips across the treetops. “Would it kill you to be clear for once ? Which one of those actions was real and which was fake?”
I make the mistake of looking at her again. Her eyes are firm on me, leveling a challenge that I can’t ignore.
Don’t do it, Kinsey.
I take a step forward.
The laser beams spitting from her gaze shifts on a dime, sputtering out. A crease forms between her eyebrows.
You promised you wouldn’t touch her.
I move into Rebel’s space as a thousand hockey pucks skate around in my veins. They thud against the strings of my heart, sending nerves and anticipation firing through me.
Her mouth slackens.
My gaze fastens there.
Pink, scrumptious, glorious lips.
Don’t . Do. It.
I do it.
I kiss her.
My arms band around Rebel, dragging her flush against my chest. My lips seal hers and she moans softly as I do what I’ve been wanting to for ages—I nip her bottom lip between my teeth. She startles and I press harder against her mouth, taking another nip and then soothing the sting with my tongue.
She tastes so good.
It was stupid of me to think I could keep myself from touching her.
What an idiot.
I’m powerless against this infuriating woman.
Utterly and totally helpless.
She is everything I have ever wanted. Everything I told myself I couldn’t, no that I didn’t deserve to have.
But now that I’ve reached this point, there’s no going back.
I’ve crossed the line of no return.
She’s mine.
“Mm.” I whisper, savoring the taste of her as I tear myself away.
Rebel pants against my mouth. Her fingers are clamped around my biceps as if she’s holding onto me for dear life.
I lean back to meet her gaze. Her blue eyes are darker than normal, the electricity between us turning them a rich shade of ocean blue. Her bun comes undone, causing golden waves to spill around her shoulders.
My eyes remain steady on her. “Rebel.”
Her eyelashes flutter.
I can feel her mind racing with a flood of panicked thoughts.
I call her name again and this time, I anchor her body to mine, forcing her to look at me. I want to make sure she hears what I say next.
“Rebel.”
Her eyes meet mine and her shoulders go taut, like every muscle just tightened at once.
I say nothing and just look at her.
Can she see it? My feelings for her? The decades of yearning?
“Rebel,” I call one more time.
“What?”
“That was real.”