Page 77 of Offside Rules

She shrieks, then slaps a hand over her mouth while I glance toward the door.

"Ellie. Everyone's going to hear you."

"I’m sorry." She drops her hand, grinning. "No, I’m not. When? Yesterday?"

"Before you got there."

She gasps and sits up in her seat a little straighter. "I knew something happened! He came out pulling his shirt on, and you wouldn’t look at any of us." She leans forward over her desk. "Please tell me it was good."

It would be much easier to explain what happened afterward if I could tell her it wasn’t. That we tried it, there was nothing there, and now I could go back to using his kitchen without thinking about what else I’d like to do with him.

Unfortunately, I can still remember his mouth on mine while I’m sitting in my best friend’s office the next morning.

"It was good."

"How good?"

"Too good for a man I’m not supposed to be kissing."

"Now I feel like I need to apologize for knocking. I can’t believe we ruined the moment."

"You should not apologize. I had three hundred cupcakes to finish."

"I doubt Wolf feels that way. How did this even happen? You’ve been so resistant to him for these last few weeks and then you just up and kissed him?"

I rub my forehead, but I’m smiling. "We were messing around with the frosting. I slipped, and he caught me before I hit the floor. He hurt his shoulder and then tried to act like it was nothing, but I saw his face." I look down at my hands, remembering how still he held himself while he waited for the pain to ease. "Then I kissed him, and then we kept kissing until you got there."

She lets out a little sigh. "Baylor, that’s—"

"I told him it couldn’t happen again."

Her smile fades, and she sits back in her chair.

"Wait, what? This man has been amazing the last few weeks, enough that you finally let him close enough, and then you initiated the kiss."

"My family doesn’t like him. As soon as my kitchen is finished, we won’t have a reason to spend so much time together. What’s the point if I’m just going to feel like a bad sister and daughter? "

"Did you mean that?"

I look up. "You know how my family feels about him. It’s not like there would be a future even if my family didn’t dislike him so much. He’s a free agent next year, and he might have a career-ending surgery. He might not come back to Seattle."

"That wasn’t what I asked. Do you really think that there is no point with him, even if it’s just casual for the next few weeks? If he’s leaving anyway at the end of the season, and your family would stop you from pursuing anything long-term, why not just have a little fun? Who’s going to find out?"

"I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, Ellie. Beau calls to tell me about therapy and how many minutes he got, and then I’m upstairs laughing with Wolf. Now I’ve kissed him too. Could you imagine Christmas dinner with Wolf Ziegler sitting across from my brother?"

"Your mom would have to hide the carving knife."

I laugh, then cover my face. "You’re not helping."

"I know. Sorry." She waits until I look at her again. "But you’re talking about Christmas when you haven’t even figured out whether you want to kiss him a second time."

"I do. That’s the problem."

She nods instead of looking pleased with herself, which I appreciate.

"I apologized. I felt like I’d led him on. I was the one who kissed him, and then I stood there telling him we couldn’t do it again."

"Was he upset?"