Jordan’s lips part and she takes a step forward, closing the distance between us. There’s cockiness in her stance, and so much heat in her eyes it burns me to ash. “You plan on manhandling me?”

My breath comes a little faster and heat tightens my groin. “I do.”

Jordan leans closer and my mouth goes dry. “Good.”

Our date is a blur. We talk and laugh, and we share a beer in celebration of Jordan’s win—an advancement into the semifinals next week. Pride swells in my chest over her talent. Jordan’s played a huge part in putting the Colton Bulls soccer team on the map this year. Her passion is appealing and so goddamn sexy. She glows with it. When our waiter comes to take our food order, I can’t drag my eyes from where she sits across from me. I simply tell him we’ll take a large pepperoni pizza “to go.” I want her to myself.

We reach my car and I open the back door and toss the large box on the seat. It’s already forgotten when I slam the door closed and turn, finding Jordan right behind me on the sidewalk.

She’s waiting for me to pounce. It’s my usual modus operandi with her. I can’t help it. Jordan brings out the caveman inside me, but this time it’s different. This time it feels so much more. Simply grabbing and taking feels wrong.

I reach out, my palm gently cupping Jordan’s face. My fingers skim down her cheek, the whisper of a touch on her soft skin. She shivers visibly and let’s out a shaky breath. I can’t describe the craving in my chest right now. It’s so far beyond anything I’ve ever felt before that it’s an effort to go slow.

“You’re extraordinary, Jordan Matilda Elliott,” I say quietly.

Jordan chuckles lightly. “I try.”

I know by her flippant tone that I’ve flustered her. Lighthearted humor is how she creates her little barriers when I’ve overwhelmed her. I like it. And I like that I see it for what it is, because it tells me I need to push a little harder rather than back away.

“You don’t even need to try.” My hand slides around the back of her neck and tugs gently, bringing her face to mine. “You just are,” I say against her lips.

My mouth brushes hers. She brings her hands between us, lightly fisting my shirt when I go to draw away. I’m pulled back and her lashes sweep upwards, her eyes wide and searching mine.

Then Jordan does something that almost brings me to my knees. She wraps her arms around me and hugs me. I’ve grown up in a family where love and warmth is non-existent. Where emotional abuse and harsh words are an acceptable form of affection. How did Jordan know how much I needed this when even I didn’t know?

Her lips brush my ear. “You are too, Brody.”

My body begins to quake. I snake my arms around her lower back and hold on.

“Are you okay?” she asks.

I bury my face in her neck and breathe deep, closing my eyes because I’m so in love with this girl I can’t even see straight. “If I wasn’t, I am now.”

Eventually, I let her go so we can leave. When we’re inside the car driving to her apartment, I take her hand in mine. Linking our fingers, I rest them on my thigh and ask about her life in Australia.

She turns her head to stare out the window. It’s a touchy subject. She misses home and Nicky, but I want to know everything. “Did you ride a kangaroo to school?”

She groans and rolls her eyes.

“I assume that’s a no?”

“Despite what people might think, kangaroos don’t roam the streets willy nilly.”

I laugh. “Of course they do. I saw it on the internet, so it must be true. And did you just say willy nilly? What does that even mean?”

Jordan glances over at me, her lips twitching. “It means you won’t see them bounding across suburban streets when you’re out for a walk.”

“Say no more. You’re ruining the fantasy,” I tell her, bringing her hand with me when I change gears. “So your brother. You said he’s in construction, right?”

Jordan stiffens. I feel it when her hand tightens in mine. “He is.”

“How did he get into that?”

“Family friend,” she says.

It’s obvious she doesn’t want to talk about it, but I do. “Is that what he’s always wanted to do?”

“No.” She pulls her hand from mine, withdrawing like a damn turtle back in its shell. “It’s not what he ever wanted to do.”

Pulling into the parking lot, I apply the handbrake and switch off the ignition. It leaves nothing but heavy silence between us and a light ticking sound of the warm engine cooling down.

“He was a better soccer player than I was.”

I twist in my seat to look at her. “Was?”

She swallows visibly, her eyes falling to where her hands fidget in her lap. “If my career was going to the stratosphere, his was going to the stars.” A tear rolls down her cheek and plops on to her jeans. Another one follows. She dashes it away with her palm before it falls.

I feel it. Her distress. It squeezes my chest, and now I’m angry with myself for pushing too hard. How are you supposed to get the balance right?

Yanking out the keys, I get out of the car. Walking around the back, I reach the passenger door and open it. “Jordan.”

Her lips are a tight white line that trembles. She shakes her head and I know speaking right now is too much.

“Baby,” I whisper. Taking both her hands I pull her from the car and fold her in my arms. I can only hope it offers her the same comfort it does for me, because I don’t know what else to do. I don’t know how long we stay like that, with Jordan crushed to my chest. A minute. An eternity. All I know is that I’ll never tire of holding her this way.

“He was driving the car,” she eventually says, her voice muffled because her face is buried in my neck.

The car? For a moment I don’t get it, and then the light goes on.

“We were only sixteen, not long having had our learners permits. Nicky loved driving. He pestered our parents all the time to go. It was night when it happened, and the streets quieter then. Mom decided to go with them last minute. She needed something from the store. I can’t even remember what, but I remember her picking up her purse, joking that dad would get the wrong thing like he always does.” Jordan takes a deep, shaky breath but keeps her head buried. “Another car barreled straight through an intersection and slammed into the passenger side. My parents were killed instantly. Nicky’s left leg was broken in three different places. Otherwise he was okay, physically. But he was trapped in the car. Nicky couldn’t move.” The absolute horror of what her brother went through sickens me. Jordan burrows in further and my arms around her tighten. “He was stuck in that damn car and couldn’t do anything.”

Apologies feel useless right now, but it’s all I have to offer. “I’m so sorry.”

Jordan pushes from my embrace. Her head is downcast as she wipes her face. “It was five years ago.” She shrugs and finally looks at me. “You think it would hurt less by now, but Nicky … His leg healed, but not his heart. We never had much, not even insurance, so he gave up soccer. School too. He took the construction job so he could take care of the both of us.”

Respect for her brother hits me hard. The inner strength it would take to give up your dream and hand it over to someone else. That’s not huge. It’s enormous. And now Jordan’s doing everything she can to be worth the sacrifice. My lips graze her forehead.

Jordan lets out a shaky breath and lifts her chin. “Will you come up?”

A faint smile reaches my lips. “Don’t expect me to say no.”

When we reach her room, I have a plan. Slow and tender. But Jordan blows it out of the water. She shuts the bedroom door behind us and peels away her sweater. She comes at me, unfastening the back hook of her bra and flinging it away. At the same time, she splays a hand against my chest and shoves. It’s not enough to push me down, but I get the hint and sink to the edge of the bed.