Crossing lines (Noah and Aiden) novel Chapter 269

Chapter 269

Noah

There wasn’t a single shred of doubt left within me.

Not one.

All my life, I had been chasing after something elusive—chasing greatness, chasing success, chasing a future so bright it belonged in the headlines. And now, I had finally tasted it. The thunderous roar of the stadium crowd. The flashing cameras. The applause. The kind of admiration that once felt as vital as the air I breathed.

I had just claimed victory in the most important game of my life. Scouts were waiting eagerly to speak with me, schools were celebrating my name, and before me stretched a path paved in gold, leading straight to a promising future.

Yet, none of those triumphs could compare to the feeling of being wrapped in his arms.

Nestled against Aiden’s chest, my skin still tingling from his touch and the warmth of being truly seen, I realized something profound—I had never truly known what happiness was. Not the kind that fills your soul. I’d known adrenaline, ambition, excitement, and pressure. The relentless hunger for more.

But this—his arms holding me, his breath steady against the back of my neck, our heartbeats syncing—this was the first time in my life something had felt like home.

For the very first time, I could see a life ahead.

Not a performance.

Not a career plan.

Not a legacy someone else expected me to build.

A life.

Waking up beside him. Sharing breakfast. Bickering over silly things like laundry or grocery lists. Coming home after work—even if that work wasn’t football—and knowing I belonged there, with him.

I’d wash dishes in the back of a diner if it meant I could come home to him.

I’d haul bricks on a construction site. Drive delivery trucks. Stock shelves overnight.

We could live in a cramped apartment in a city where no one knew our names and start over as strangers.

I didn’t care.

All I wanted was him.

I wanted us.

But wanting something didn’t make the world shift aside.

That truth settled over me slowly as we lay there, catching our breath. The rush began to fade, just enough for reason to creep back—not to spoil the moment, but to sharpen it.

To make it real.

Because love wasn’t only a feeling.

It was a choice.

And now, we had to decide.

Aiden shifted beside me, his fingers threading gently through my hair, a tenderness that made my chest clench with emotion. When our eyes met, I saw the same dawning realization mirrored in him.

This wasn’t just desire.

This was the place where our future began. Where we found the courage to fight for one.

I sat up, pulling the sheet around my waist, my heart still pounding—but now for a different reason. When Aiden said we needed to talk, I could tell he was feeling it too—quiet, watching me like he already understood.

His eyes softened, as if he’d been waiting for me to speak but didn’t want to push.

“We can’t just dive into this blindly again,” he said. “Not after all we’ve lost. I don’t want to make decisions for you anymore. I want us to make them together. No more secrets. No more guessing. No more hurting each other by trying to protect each other.”

I nodded, though a part of me longed to curl back into his chest and pretend the outside world didn’t exist.

“So, what do we do?” I asked, my voice smaller than I liked.

He reached out, pulling me closer by the nape of my neck, his touch steadying me. “First, we get you out from under William. Because you deserve to choose your own future. Your team. Your contract. Your life. Not one he picks for you.”

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