The Nerd Who Stole The Quarterback (Astra and Zayne) novel Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Chapter 48

ZANE

Astra went silent after that.

Completely silent.

The rest of the drive felt suffocating.

B

Rain tapped softly against the windshield while the city lights blurred past the windows, but all I could hear was my own breathing and the occasional shaky inhale from the girl sitting beside me.

Good.

Maybe now she understood I wasn’t fucking around.

The second I pulled into the driveway, Astra practically launched herself out of the car.

I stared after her in disbelief for half a second before slamming my own door shut.

“Oh, fuck no.”

She hurried toward the house, backpack bouncing against her shoulder while she dug through her pockets for her key.

Running again.

Always fucking running.

I caught up to her in three long strides just as she shoved the front door open.

“Astra.”

She ignored me and stepped inside fast.

The foyer was dark except for faint moonlight spilling through the tall windows.

The door barely shut before I grabbed the back of her neck.

She gasped sharply as I spun her around and pushed her against the wall.

The impact wasn’t hard enough to hurt.

But it still knocked the breath from her lungs.

“Zane!” she hissed.

One of my hands braced beside her head while the other stayed locked around her neck.

Not choking.

Just holding.

Keeping her there.

Keeping her still.

Her pulse fluttered wildly beneath my palm.

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Chapter 48

“You wanna explain why the fuck you keep running from me?” I asked quietly.

“I’m not running,” she shot back breathlessly.

My grip tightened slightly.

“Bullshit.”

Her eyes flashed angrily in the dark.

“I’m literally just trying to go to my room after a long day!”

“No.” I leaned closer. “You’ve been avoiding me for a week.”

“Maybe because you’re insane!”

A humorless laugh left me.

“There she is.”

“What does that even mean?!”

“It means I’m getting real tired of you pretending you don’t feel this.”

Heat rushed into her face instantly.

“Feel what?”

I stared at her, at her flushed cheeks, her swollen lips she kept biting, and the way her chest rose too fast every time 1 touched her.

Then my eyes locked onto hers again.

“You know what.”

Her breath caught.

“No, I don’t.”

“Liar.”

“I’m not lying!”

“You tremble every time I get near you.”

“Because you scare me!”

The words hit harder than they should’ve.

Something dark twisted in my chest.

But instead of backing away…

I leaned in closer.

“So scared you let me touch you anyway?”

Astra swallowed hard.

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11:53 Fri, Jul

Chapter 48

Moonlight spilled across her face, catching the panic in her wide pretty blue eyes.

“You don’t give me a choice.”

“You could tell me to stop.”

“I do!”

“Not seriously.”

Her mouth fell open.

I watched her struggle for words, watched frustration and embarrassment battle across her face.

Then suddenly…

“What do you even want from me?” she burst out.

The question echoed through the quiet foyer.

I went still.

Because the truth?

The truth was getting uglier every fucking day.

My eyes dropped briefly to her mouth again.

Astra noticed instantly.

Her breath hitched.

“See?” she whispered shakily. “You keep looking at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you wanna…”

She cut herself off fast and a smirk tugged slowly at my mouth.

“Wanna what, Trash-tra?”

Her cheeks burned violently.

“Nothing and stop calling me that.”

“Nah.” I leaned closer until my mouth hovered beside hers. “Finish your sentence.”

Her breathing turned uneven.

“You’re horrible,” she whispered.

“And you still can’t stop looking at me.”

“That’s because you’re standing two inches from my face!”

“Excuses.”

“I hate you.”

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Chapter 48

The words came out weak and nconvincing.

I felt it instantly.

So/did she.

My hand slid slowly from her neck to her jaw, thumb dragging across her lower lip.

Soft

Fuck.

My self-control snapped a little more.

“You keep saying that,” I murmured roughly. “But every time I touch you, you look at me like you want something more

Astra’s eyes widened.

“I do not.”

“Then why are you breathing like that?”

Her chest rose sharply again like proving my point.

I watched her lips part slightly.

Watched her eyes flick down to my mouth for half a second before she caught herself.

That tiny movement nearly destroyed whatever patience I had left.

“There you go again,” I said quietly.

“What?”

“Looking at my mouth.”

Heat exploded across her face.

“I wasn’t!”

I laughed softly this time.

“Fuck, you’re bad at lying.”

“Zane…”

My name sounded different coming from her mouth.

Small.

Breathless.

Like a warning she didn’t fully mean.

And that was it.

That was the thing that finally fucking broke me.

I tightened my grip on her neck and crashed my mouth against hers.

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Chapter 48

All teeth and heat and frustration.

Astra made a startled sound against my mouth, fingers instantly grabbing my hoodie as her back pressed harder into the wall.

I kissed her like I was angry about it.

Like I wanted to punish her for every second she spent avoiding me.