Page 69 of Halftime

“But what?”

I closed my eyes, not quite brave enough to see his face when I repeated this. “But if you’ve found someone else, that’s okay.”

There was a pause, and I finally had to look at him.

Seb shook his head. “It’s not okay. And I haven’t.”

I blinked at him. I wanted to ask about that girl, the blonde I saw him with, but I didn’t. He’d been standing by a girl. She’d touched him. He hadn’t touched her, and he said he hadn’t found someone. I was going to trust that.

“You haven’t?”

“It’s not that easy to get over you, Faith. Believe me, I’ve tried.”

He didn’t sound exactly happy about that, but I was kind of glad he hadn’t. I’d tried to get over him as well, but… “I know. I mean, I tried, too.”

Seb tugged me tightly against him, and it felt so damn good.

“You sure about this, Faith?”

“I’m not even sure what we’re talking about.” I had my head resting on his shoulder, and I was breathing in his familiar smell and finding it difficult to focus on words. Damn, I’d missed him.

“You. Me. Trust.”

Right. We had to work this out or no snuggling, no smelling, no kissing, no Seb. I straightened upright. “I’d like it if there was a you and me again. And if I don’t trust you, I’ll deal with it, I promise. I can go for a run, or—”

Seb put a finger on my lips. “No, if you have a problem, you talk to me. But you have to believe what I tell you.”

I nodded. “Okay.” I whispered the word against his finger, and he let it drop.

“What about that girl in there?”

Damn it, I’d promised myself I wouldn’t do this. But he said to talk to him. So I was.

Seb frowned and looked back. “There were a lot of girls in there.”

“A blonde. She had her hand on your arm by the beer pong table. I thought maybe—”

Seb shook his head, wariness in his gaze. “I’m not sure of her name. Never met her before, as far as I know.”

This was it. I could trust him, take that as given, or I could decide he was lying, or try to track the girl down. I needed the elastic on my wrist.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Okay, I believe you. But if she puts her hands on you again…” I could take her. Absolutely.

Seb took a step back. “What if she does? What if I come out after a game, and people want pictures with me, and they put their hands on me?”

I raised my chin, still meeting his gaze. “I’ll trust you. But if someone does it while I’m there, I might not be responsible for what I’ll do…”

Seb brushed my cheek with his fingers. “Faith, I love you. It’s only ever been you. If you have doubts, just tell me.”

I would. I could. I’d do this. I nodded. “And then what?”

A slow smile stretched across his face, and his eyes were heated. We’d somehow pulled close again, and I could see his expression clearly.

“Then I’ll have to take you to my room and do bad, bad things to you until you don’t doubt me anymore.”

I chewed on my lip while I considered that. “For a psych major, you don’t seem to understand motivation very well.”

“Now, if I find guys coming on to you—”