Page 83 of The Path to Loving Him
“Oh.” I lean back in my chair, letting the squeak of the hinges filter through the room. “So when did you become the authority over my body?”
“I’m not the authority, but I know what you’re doing with him.”
“Uh-huh, and what is that exactly?”
“You’re trying to irritate me by talking to him.”
“You’re very full of yourself. That was not my intention at all. I was actually trying to make a new friend since, you know, the one person I do know at the school has been ignoring me.”
“Please, Gabby, you were flirting.”
“I wasn’t, but even if I was, what does it matter to you? We’re not dating. You have no claim to me.”
His jaw tightens as he leans forward and says, “You’re right, I have no claim over you.” My breath catches in my chest as he reaches out and tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear. “You’renot mine. What we had was fleeting.” His finger drags along my cheek, and my eyes close for a moment, causing me to hate myself.
Because I shouldn’t have this kind of reaction. I shouldn’t want him to lower his hand, to drag his fingers along my collarbone, across my chest, over my breasts, and then farther down . . .
I push my chair away, making eye contact with him. “Don’t,” I say.
The corner of his lips turns up as he stands from the desk. “You’re right, I don’t need to worry about Christian when you clearly still want me.”
My nostrils flare from the audacity.
“Once again, so full of yourself.”
“It’s not being full of myself if it’s facts,” he says. He nods at me. “Tell me right now, if I were to put you on this desk and bury my head between your legs, would you stop me?”
I bite on the inside of my cheek, preventing me from asking him to follow through with such a claim.
But my silence proves him right.
“That’s what I thought.”
Huffing, I say, “Is this why you wanted to talk to me? Because you’re jealous of Christian?”
“Not jealous,” he says.
“You’re such a liar. The moment you saw us talking, you needed to be involved.”
“Maybe I just wanted to have lunch with my assistant coach.”
“We both know that’s a lie.” I sit taller and pull up a piece of paper. “Now, why don’t we try to figure out this co-coaching thing because right now, I have no idea what’s going on. You gave me a list of things to do, yet I don’t know anything about the facilities.”
“You haven’t done anything on the list?”
“Uh, no. How could I when you haven’t shown me around?” I look him in the eyes. “I know you might not be happy about all this, but we need to be on the same page, Ryland. I know you care about this team, so let me be a part of it.”
“You are a part of it.”
“Am I? Or are you trying to make my life difficult so I’m no longer a part of it?”
“You’re the one making life difficult.” He gestures to the office. “Taking my office like this.”
“Because you were being a jerk! Treat people the way you want to be treated, Ryland.”
He drags his hand over his face. “This is a fucking nightmare.” He blows out a heavy breath. “And this is never going to work. You and me coaching together. Never.”
“Well, I’m not leaving,” I say, keeping my stance on the matter. “I need this job.”
