Page 35 of Waiting for Her

She bursts into tears, her body bending over in half.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” she whispers. “I’m so sorry, Grady. I’m so, so sorry,” she cries.

I hold it together for a few moments, staring at the woman who I still love so deep in every part of my soul.

The last twenty-four hours did not go at all as I had planned and it all comes out of me in one big rush.

Staring up at her green eyes, glossy from tears. Her cheeks splotchy.

She’s still so mother fucking beautiful.

"Bri…” like a pussy I begin to sob and lean toward her. She holds me in her arms as I cry my eyes out. “Who am I now?”

She sits back, holding my face in her hands. “You’re still Grady,” she says in a strong voice without missing a beat, instinctively knowing what’s rolling through my head.

“No. I’m not. I was the king on the field. The football superstar. Hometown hero. I’ll never play football again. Never feel the crunch of pads against my helmet. Never be the leader I once was. That's who I've always been, Bri. It'swhoI am."

Before I even finish what I’m saying, she’s shaking her head firmly. "No Grady, you are so much more. You've always been more. To me you've always been everything."

She holds me and cries right along with me until I fall asleep, the pain medications and exhaustion from the day taking over.

When I wake up, she’s gone, along with any trace of her presence.

Bri

Idrop intothe oversized chair of my temporary home just a few blocks from campus. My knees knock together as I relax into the cushion.

Before I left the field today, after the most unprofessional day of my career, Grady let me know he’d be calling me later tonight to discuss our next steps.

After rediscovering how amazing his kisses make me feel, I’m full speed ahead on the moving-forward train but I know we need to back up and start from the beginning.

I have two hours before we’re supposed to talk.

“Ugh!” I groan.

I walk to the bathroom and wash my face. I lean forward on the countertop, looking at the reflection in the mirror.

Do I look the same?

I don’t feel the same.

Or, if I do, it’s the same me I was a lifetime ago.

Being back in Grady’s arms, his taste on my lips, his scent surrounding me, I’m once again Bri.

After crying my eyes out, my face feels sticky and puffy, my lips still a little swollen, mascara smeared below my eyes.

I scrub my face and dry it before making my way into the small kitchen.

I pour a glass of iced tea and make some pasta for supper, curl my legs beneath me and settle in. I flip open my laptop and put the finishing touches on another story I’m working on at the moment. Simon made it clear that even though I would be doing Grady’s story over the next six weeks, I would still have to work on others as well.

Which isn’t a bad thing.

It gives me something to distract myself.

My phone ringing makes me jump so much I almost knock my laptop onto the floor.

I look down and see a much younger version of Grady smiling back up at me from the screen on my phone.

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