The Perfect Score (Kissing the Enemy Book 3)

by Maggie Dallen

  Buried against him like that, I found the courage to say it. “I like you a lot and that scares me.”

  His hands stilled on my back. “It scares me too.”

  I pulled back and looked at him. “I scare you by how much I like you?”

  He smiled and it softened his features into something beautiful—well, handsome, I supposed. His gruff toughness turned tender and gentle. “No, I’m scared by how much I like you too.”

  “Ah.” That made more sense. It also warmed me all over. Or maybe that was the feel of his hands on my skin.

  “I get that you have a past,” I said slowly. “I get that you were hurt.”

  He didn’t nod but his gaze held mine.

  “But if we’re going to do this, you have to have faith in me.” I swallowed because it was so much easier said than done. “You’re going to have to trust me.”

  One of his big palms moved up and cupped my cheek with infinite tenderness. “Ditto.”

  I let out a huff of laughter. “Ditto?”

  He gave me a small smile too, seemingly to acknowledge how silly that word was. But I got his point.

  I nodded. “Yeah, I need to have some faith too.”

  “I would never hurt you.” The way he said it, so slowly and so seriously. It sounded like a vow. Something sacred. I clutched the words to my chest and held onto them for all they were worth. But words were just that…words. And in the end, I knew that it wasn’t about trusting him, it was about trusting myself.”

  “I was so sure with my ex.” I met Ox’s gaze even though it was awkward to be in his arms and talking about Alex. “I was so sure that what I felt for him was love, and that he felt the same way about me.”

  My voice sounded more pathetic than I’d intended and his arms tightened around me.

  I swallowed. “I don’t want to be wrong again. I don’t think I could take it if I were wrong again.”

  His answer was a kiss. Honestly, it was the best response he could have given, because that kiss told me everything I needed to know. There was no denying the connection here, no doubting the fact that when he held me close, my heart leapt toward him like it had found its missing piece.

  And his kiss told me better than all the words in any language that he loved me too.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Ox

  Clearly this was all too good to be true. My life had never been so awesome. I got the girl. For real. As miraculous as it might seem, the love of my life loved me back.

  I couldn’t quite shake the feeling that there had to be another shoe that was about to drop. But if something had to drop, please dear God let it be a piano and let it drop on my head. Anything to put me out of my misery at this Halloween costume party.

  Kidding, kidding. I mean, yeah, parties were not my thing. But Maddie asked me to come and it probably went without saying that her wish was my command.

  Fun fact: love made me cheesy. Luckily for me, Maddie seemed to like it. She said it added to my teddy bear vibe, whatever the hell that meant.

  “You look amazing,” Callie squealed as she caught sight of me hiding out by the back door, ready to make an escape. Kate hovered nearby with Levi and I was pretty sure she and I had the same idea. Neither of us were big party people.

  I caught sight of Maddie making her way through the crowd to the staircase. She’d spent the better part of the afternoon dragging me around to different stores to put together my costume. Now here I was all dressed up, while she herself was still wearing normal people clothes.

  She’d left me here to go change into her costume, which was apparently waiting up in Kate’s room.

  “You make the best Frankenstein I’ve ever seen,” Callie said, her eyes wide with appreciation.

  “Maddie,” I said by way of explanation.

  She nodded. “She did good.”

  Callie pressed her lips together and I could all but see her debating what she wanted to say next. “You guys good?”

  I gave a short nod. Were we good? Maddie and I were better than good. I mean, I would’ve preferred to have spent our first night together as boyfriend and girlfriend somewhere slightly less crowded, but other than that…

  “Wow,” Callie said, her face lighting up with a grin. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile before.” She nudged my elbow. “It looks good on you, big guy.”

  I gave a snort of amusement because she knew how much I hated that annoying nickname that only Levi ever seriously used. But she was right. I hadn’t smiled much—or at all, really—until Maddie came around. I could get used to it.

  “I’m glad she found you.” Callie’s sudden and unexpected comment had me tearing my eyes away from the staircase and looking back down at Maddie’s best friend.

  She looked hesitant which only added to my interest. I mean, I knew I was the luckiest guy on the planet to win Maddie. I still wasn’t quite sure how to rationalize winning over an amazing girl like her, but after an hour of talking—and kissing—and making this thing official, I was ready to accept that maybe the universe was smiling at me for once.

  Callie shifted and bit her lip. “You know, Maddie does a great job at keeping a smile on her face, but she’s not as untouchable as she’d like everyone to believe.”

  I stared at Callie, because it wasn’t my place to talk about the other sides of Maddie—the sides she doesn’t let many see, which makes them all the more special. I just nodded and she seemed to accept that.

  “Don’t get me wrong,” she said. “Maddie is strong, but—”

  “No buts,” I said, surprising her and myself with my sudden outburst. I meant it. No buts. Yes, Maddie might have her own issue—who doesn’t? But the fact that she’d started opening up to her friends? The fact that she put it all on the line for me? I met Callie’s gaze. “She’s the strongest person I know.”

  Her gaze was serious for a minute as she met mine. Whatever she saw there apparently won her over because she flashed me a huge grin and wrapped her arms around me, pinning my arms to my side. “I knew you got her. I just knew it.”

  I stared down at the top of her blonde head with a frown of confusion, but I didn’t mind the hug. It occurred to me that I’d better get used to this sort of impulsive infringing on personal space. These were Maddie’s friends, after all.

  Maybe they were even my friends, too.

  I didn’t even notice that Noah had joined us until Callie took a step back to be closer to him like they had their very own gravitational orbit.

  Noah wrapped his arms around her as he gave me a nod. “Looking good, Frankie.”

  I nodded in return. These two had come dressed as Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe and their couple adorableness was only rivaled by Kate and Levi, who were dressed as a witch and a broom.

  Kate was the broom.

  “Where’d Maddie go?” Kate asked, moving over to join us. The room had crowded up quickly with classmates and teammates from the flag football league.

  Levi, as expected, was right behind his girlfriend. “Hey, big guy. Heard you and Maddiekins made it official.”

  I glared at him and he gave me an irritatingly cocky smirk.

  Oddly enough, I was glad this group had gathered around me. I mean, I wasn’t much on talking, but no one in this group seemed to expect me to. They were Maddie’s friends—and maybe mine too, but I was still coming to grips with that fact. Nevertheless, they were Maddie’s friends and Maddie had good taste in people.

  And she chose me.

  The thought was still too hard to swallow. I wondered at what point I’d actually be able to accept my good fortune. As it was I was teetering between gratitude for this new miracle in my life and being certain that I would lose it all once Maddie opened her eyes and realized she’d chosen an ineloquent, non-charming, awkward ape to be her boyfriend.

  Trust, that’s what it all came down to, right? Maddie was learning how to trust a guy with her heart all over again, and I wouldn’t let her down. If she could trust me with her
heart than I could do the same.

  I know, right? As Maddie aptly pointed out back in the car in between kisses—beneath the muscles and the frowns lay the heart of a romantic.

  Of course, if anyone but Maddie said something like that—say, Levi—I’d have to beat the crap out of him.

  All thoughts of keeping Levi in his place vanished as movement on the staircase caught my eye. The group of friends around me turned in synch and we all watched Maddie as she traipsed down the steps.

  I didn’t know what she’d planned to dress up as, but I had not expected this.

  “Dude,” Levi said, laughter in his voice. “Now that’s a statement.”

  We all stared as she reached the bottom of the steps and caught sight of us.

  I’d asked her at the first store we went to—what are you dressing up as? She’d waved me off, too intent on finding green face paint. “I’ll find something,” she’d said.

  Later I’d said something again, wondering if perhaps we ought to take a break from worrying about my costume and focus on hers. She’d patted my arm sweetly and informed me that she’d come up with something that would work for us as a couple.

  I guess I’d vaguely assumed she was going as the Bride of Frankenstein?

  Her casual acknowledgement of our new couple status had made me forget about anything else. I’d been too busy kissing her senseless in front of a checkout counter after that to ask her any more questions.

  But now…

  My mouth went dry as I took in the sight of her standing there, her eyes fixed on mine, her smile uncharacteristically shy but still filled with that fierce love that seemed to overflow from her whenever she was around her family, her friends…me.

  I moved toward her, dimly aware that the thick crowd of classmates was parting for me, but not quickly enough. When I got to her I stopped.

  “What do you think?” she asked, arms stretching out making my football jersey hang off of her small frame like a cape.

  A smile tugged at my lips and spread across my face. She’d worn my jersey. My number was on her chest, my name written across her back.

  She beamed up at me and the black makeup she’d smudged beneath her eyes crinkled up as well. Tiny as she was, she was drowning in this uniform. She looked ridiculous. She looked adorable.

  “You look beautiful.” My voice was gruff and choked but that was the God’s honest truth. I’d never seen her looking more beautiful than she did in this moment, because I got it.

  I knew what she was trying to tell me.

  She was declaring me hers for all the world to see. She was staking her claim and declaring herself my girl in the process.

  Her smile flickered a bit as emotions filled her eyes and made them shiny with unshed tears. For a girl who never cried, she’d been awfully teary lately. My heart couldn’t take much more or it might crumble.

  I pulled her into my arms. “Don’t cry.”

  She let out a snort of disgust. “I never cry.”

  We both smiled at that. “Then don’t start now.”

  She pressed her lips together to hold back a laugh. Glancing down at her outfit, she peeked back up at me. “In case you were wondering, this was what I was talking to your teammates about.”

  I groaned softly as her words hit home. “So you and Trent…”

  “Were discussing how he could steal this for me out of your locker,” she finished, her smile smug and cute as hell.

  “I’m an idiot,” I said simply.

  She shrugged and then sighed. “And apparently when it comes to you, I’m a little…crazy.”

  I frowned. “How so?”

  One side of her mouth tilted up. “I wanted to wear your jersey for you, but also…” She bit her lip and I groaned again, but this time because I couldn’t tear my eyes from that lower lip.

  She cleared her throat and straightened. “Also, because I wanted to make sure everyone knows that you’re mine.”

  I didn’t know which was more endearing—the fact that she thought anyone else was going to steal me away or that possessive glint in her eyes that made her look freakin’ fierce.

  My chest hurt so badly I couldn’t talk. I couldn’t tell her how much it meant to me that not only had she chosen me, she wasn’t even the least bit embarrassed by it.

  She was proud to have me at her side.

  Me. The guy people had nicknamed Ox because I was big and dumb. Well, not really, but that was the general impression I gave, apparently.

  I couldn’t tell her any of that, not right now, but I could show her. I pulled her into my arms and kissed her. It was an epic kiss. She twined her arms around my neck and I lifted her up so the height difference wasn’t an issue. In return she lifted her legs and wrapped them around my waist.

  I was distantly aware of the hoots and laughter of our peers but we both ignored them. When she pulled back her dazed but laughing eyes met mine. “Wow,” she breathed. “That was some kiss.”

  I kissed the tip of her nose. “You’re not the only one who wants to make sure there’s no doubt in anyone’s minds.”

  She arched one brow. “No doubt about what, exactly?”

  I grinned and tipped my head so my forehead rested against hers. “That you’re mine.”

  Her answering smile lit up the room and eased about ten years’ worth of resentment and hurt.

  She dropped a quick kiss on my nose just like I’d done to her. “Damn straight.”

  Epilogue

  Maddie

  Fairfield University’s football team was filled with big guys, but none bigger than mine. I spotted him easily in the crowd after the game. In fact, he was the only guy I saw.

  Funny, who would have thought that a girl as boy-crazy as me could become so incredibly focused on one guy.

  But oh, what a guy.

  He caught sight of me veering toward him in the crowd and his gaze warmed me from head to toe. I sped up and soon I was running into his waiting arms, leaping up at the last minute to tackle him with a hug.

  He caught me, like he always did, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. Really, this was the only way we could talk face to face without one of us straining a neck muscle.

  “You did great out there, baby,” I said, planting kisses all over his cheeks and jaw.

  He made a sort of grunting noise that I deciphered easily—it was a mix of amusement at my enthusiasm, resignation at me calling him by a cheesy term of endearment in front of his teammates, all tinged with more than a little desire thanks to the kisses.

  I was technically majoring in education at Fairfield University, but I’d like to think I had a doctorate in translating Ox’s grunts and glares.

  His arms tightened around my back, scrunching up the silky material of the jersey I wore to every game. It was his, of course. Wearing it on game day had become one of our things. A silent way of saying I love you as I cheered him on from the stands.

  Ox had his own ways of telling me he loved me and almost all of them were silent.

  Silent but effective.

  The guy was pretty much always doing things to make me happy—but I was sworn to secrecy on all that. He hated that all of our friends knew what a romantic he was. Particularly Levi, but that’s because Levi never stopped mocking him for it. Noah was cooler about it but that didn’t stop him from laughing at Levi’s teasing.

  Those three had a weird relationship—but whatever, it worked for them—and I was just glad that Ox had a solid group of friends. No one deserved it more.

  With a firm grip holding me tightly to his chest, Ox headed away from the crowds. We’d most likely meet up with the rest of the team later for pizza at Cazmo’s but first Ox and I needed some alone time.

  “You won,” I informed him.

  “I know,” he said. “I was there.” He met my gaze with a small smile that warmed my heart. He’d gotten really good at smiling these past two years—especially when he was alone with me.

  “We should celebrate.”

>   He arched his brows. “That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

  “But first,” I started.

  He stopped, his expression wary. Smart guy.

  I pressed lightly against his chest and he loosened his grip so I could slip down his body and walk at his side, my fingers twining through his.

  “But first what?” he asked.

  “First we need to pick up Levi and Kate from the train station,” I said. “They’re coming home early for the holidays.”

  He nodded. He loved those guys.

  “And then…” I started.

  He arched his brows again.

  I cleared my throat. He’d go along with it, he always did. Sometimes he just needed a little cajoling. “Noah and Callie wanted to get together too,” I said slowly.

  He narrowed his eyes as he peered down at me. “Uh huh.”

  “So I was thinking, we should probably throw a party.”

  He growled low in his throat but I caught the twitching of his lips, the way laughter and happiness filled his eyes despite his protests.

  He was all bark and no bite, this guy of mine.

  “Why do I have a feeling I’m going to be recruited for party planning?” He stopped and I turned to face him, batting my eyelashes in a ridiculous manner.

  “Do you mind?”

  He let out a huff of laughter. “Would it matter if I did?”

  I pretended to think it over. “Not really.”

  He grinned as he leaned down and planted a kiss on my lips. “Would it make you happy?”

  I nodded vigorously and he sighed as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “Then sign me up.”

  I wrapped my arms around his waist from the side and squeezed. “I love you, you know that, right?”

  He laughed softly. “You’d better,” he teased. But then he leaned over and kissed the top of my head. “I love you too, sweetheart.”

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