Page 105 of Unrivaled Love
I sputter out a laugh and Bryson raises an eyebrow so I read the text out loud after giving it a heart reaction.
“God, I love that girl.” Bryson says. “If you ever need a solid but innocent insult she’s the gal.”
“I can see that.” I reply as my mind drifts to how good it feels to have a girlfriend like this. When I told her the Tickle Tackle Tale at the BBQ she didn’t once ask questions, only suggested Pee Pee deserved to never find a cool side of the pillow again.
"So practice this morning, then what?" Bryson asks.
"Time with the trainer to recover after lunch and then there's an hour of film review. Since we're coming back from the break there will be another team meeting and then I'm done for the day. Tomorrow there's conditioning in place of the long meetings which will be a delight. I'm afraid of how it’ll go after two weeks off."
"You still have stronger abs than I do, you'll be fine."
I smile and finish my breakfast. "What are you going to do today?" I ask him as I rinse my plate.
"Larry's got a game at 10:00 a.m. so I'm going to head over to the rink and cheer him and his buddies on."
"That's fun!"
"It'll be weird to be in a rink and not lace up but I'm excited to see what the old man can do." I stand next to him and rake my fingers through his hair. He slides his legs apart making space for me and the stupid apron covers the goods.
"I bet it'll be a blast. Then what?"
"Then I'll come home and make lunch and prep dinner for my superstar girlfriend. It’s day one of being the world’s best HAB."
“HAB?” I ask unsure what he’s talking about.
“Husbands and Boyfriends. Like the Wives and Girlfriends, or, WAGs.”
“I see.”
“I’m going to use my time to show you how I will take care of you. I’m going to make meals for you to keep in your freezer. I’m going to set up deliveries for some of your basics. Phase one was making sure yourapartment was up to my standards. Phase two is all about supporting your in-season day-to-day.”
We’ve dipped our toes into the subject of our long-distance relationship but I’m realizing Bryson has been thinking through things with greater detail than I have. I was just planning to text him a lot once he leaves.
He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me into his body. He's basically making eye contact with my nipples through my sports bra, and a part of me wishes I could skip practice and crawl back into bed with him.
I've never wanted to skip practice before.
"You gotta go babe."
"Yeah," I sigh, "I can't wait to see you later."
"Same." He stands up, kisses me, then spins me towards the door. When he slaps my ass I yelp. He laughs and says, "Go get 'em, Killer."
***
You can do this.
You can walk into the locker room and say you're sorry.
You can admit things got out of hand.
You can forget she was a conniving little bitch who went behind your back to snag a sponsorship.
My head falls back against the headrest and I close my eyes.
This is going to be impossible.
A knock on the window startles me. "I like the new ride!" Brie yells through the glass. I kill the engine which stops the zen jazz track meant to help me chill the fuck out. Whether or not it is working is still to be determined.
