Rush Read Online Free PDF Page A

me do this at least,” I say, as she sucks in a breath.
    “Cold,” she says, letting go of a small shiver. I turn my back to the wall and sit on the floor beside her, holding the bottle to her cheek. We hold each other’s gaze for a long moment before she blinks and raises her hands to cover mine on the bottle.
    “I got it,” she says. My grip loosens, and I reluctantly relinquish my nursemaid role, stretching my legs out and watching her.
    After a long minute, she casts a sideways glance. “Why are you staring at me?” she asks, and the only answer that comes to mind is why wouldn’t I?
    She’s more than just cute as hell—she’s beautiful in an effortless, natural way. Her face is innocent. She’s the kind of girl that you look at and think she’ll always carry that natural beauty. It’s just there. I can tell by the way she speaks and the way she watches me, she’s a smart girl…perceptive, quick, and brave. Tonight she was too brave.
    “You feel okay?” I ask.
    She rolls the bottle against the corner of her mouth. “I’d feel better if you stopped staring at me. I hate that,” she murmurs, looking away.
    A short laugh escapes. “You’re a college athlete and you hate being stared at?”
    “It’s not me people are staring at, it’s the game.”
    “Wrong,” I say.
    “What?” She casts me an incensed look.
    “They’re looking at you, Priscilla—the guys are anyway.” I close my eyes and lean my head against the hard concrete.
    “Whatever,” she says, but I can feel her watching me, and after a beat, I turn, arching a brow.
    “So who were they?” she asks.
    “Who were who?” I say, leaning my head back. The fabric of her dress rustles as she shifts, angling closer.
    “The guy that was kicking your ass,” she says in a “don’t bullshit me” tone, and when I don’t answer her right away, she adds, “and the one that backhanded me across the face.” Heat rolls up my chest as I stare at her jaw. God, if I ever get my hands on that guy, I’m going to choke him to within an inch of his life.
    “Don’t you think I deserve an answer?” she asks, prodding me back to reality.
    “Yes, you do. But I don’t have answers. I don’t know who they were. I went out to my truck to check my cell and cool off. The pirates came out of nowhere and jumped me.”
    It’s not a lie. I don’t know who those guys were. I have my suspicions about the whole thing—none of which I could tell her—but I didn’t know those pirates. I turn a shoulder to the wall and match the angle of her body. “I’m sorry that you got caught up in my mess, Peep. It never should have happened.” I raise the backs of my knuckles to her jaw and brush gently.
    Her gaze skims my features, and she speaks slowly, with a warmth in her eyes that spreads through me. “If you didn’t know them, and they came out of nowhere, why are you apologizing to me, Rush?”
    My stomach tightens. She’s looking at me as if she sees something deeper, and I feel it when I look at her, too. Beyond the frustration of our current circumstances, there’s something calm and warm and admirable about her.
    I’m certain she’s the kind of girl that could handle the truth, but even if I wanted to tell her what I suspect that bar fight was all about, I couldn’t. It would threaten her athletic status and expose her to the dirty underbelly of the athletic department. I don’t want to lie to her, either, so it’s probably not a good idea to strike up a friendship. I need to pick her up, dust her off, and send her in the right direction—away from me.
    We’re silent for a moment, watching each other. My mind stills as I think about what she did, rushing in to help me.
    “Why did you do it?” I ask.
    “Do what?”
    “Help me.”
    Her level look pierces me.
    “Because it was the right thing to do.” She speaks in a breathy whisper, and a heated sensation passes over me—she’s like a flash of energy, or the sun in my eyes, blinding