Page 44 of Before You
We went to a different bar than the rest of the team, picking one that allows eighteen-year-olds in so Charlie and Bria could get in without having to use their fake IDs. Normally, I’d avoid this bar like the plague, but if this is the price of spending time with Marley, this place will be my new favorite spot.
I wish I had Marley all to myself the entire night, but I’m happy to be with her in general, even if it means having to share her. Setting another water in front of her, I can’t complain because I finally have Marley to myself, taking the seat across from her at the high-top table our group claimed.
Bria is reluctantly dancing with Asher, but if I saw what I think I did, Bria’s fighting a smile, and Charlie has disappeared with a friend from class.
My mood vastly improved after learning Marley was coming along tonight. Thankfully, the pills kicked in by the time our first round of drinks arrived, and everything wrong with me has disappeared without a trace.
“Thanks,” Marley says, wrapping her hands around the base of the glass.
“Of course,” I reply, smiling easily before taking a sip of my beer. The way I felt coming off the field tonight is nothing compared to this.
Marley taps her fingertips anxiously against the glass. “Does it bother you I don’t drink?” she asks, looking at my bottle.Why do I get the feeling this is something Trent made her feel like shit about?If I didn’t think it would open a can of worms I’d prefer stayed shut, I’d ask why the hell she stayed with him, but I think I’d rather not know. All that matters is she’s here.
“Should it?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.
I remember the conversation when it came up after I offered to borrow a bottle of wine from my parents’ wine cellar in France, and she explained a little about her mom’s sobriety. The last thing I want to do is make Marley feel like shit about something she’s trying to be proactive about.
A slow smile forms on her plump lips, which I’m trying not to stare at as Marley’s eyes twinkle in the low lighting. “Nope,” she answers, and a flush crawls up her neck. “You played amazing today.”
“You went?”
Marley shrugs, feigning nonchalance as I grin. “I’ve heard a lot of hype about you, so I wanted to check it out for myself. All of it was deserved and true from what I could follow during the game.”
“I wish I’d known you were there,” I admit, chuckling under my breath.
“So you could do what? Make a dramatic grand gesture where you magically point to me in the crowd after running in another touchdown?” Marley asks, and there’s got to be something wrong with me because this conversation shouldn’t be turning me on as much as it is.I want her in the worst way.
“I guess we’ll never know.”
She leans forward, resting her chin on her hands, radiating pure fucking sunshine. “What would you have done?”
I wink playfully at her, feeling more like myself than I have in a long damn time, and this time, it has nothing to do with the pills numbing my pain.
“Sorry, sweetheart. If you want to find out, you’ll have to come to the next one,” I tease, loving how this time Marley doesn’t shy away from me.
Marley laughs, shaking her head at me.I love her laugh.I take a sip of my beer, enjoying the moment with her. “If I have time in my schedule, maybe I’ll go,” she says.
“Well, you know where I’ll be,” I say, tempted to ask what it means that she’s here with me, but ultimately deciding against it. I glance over at Asher shimmying toward Bria, shaking my head. “I will be shocked if she’s interested in him after tonight.”
“She’s stubborn, but I think Bria likes how goofy he is.”
“That’s one way to describe him,” I say, taking another drink as my phone vibrates in my pocket. My heart stutters. Despite knowing it’s way too soon for Bailey to be reaching out, I check it immediately, but it’s only a text from a guy I played with in high school, asking if I’m watching Hunter’s game. I should be, but I think he’ll understand when I tell him about Marley showing up.
“Everything okay?” Marley asks, and I set my phone down on the table, redirecting my attention to Marley.
“Yeah, all good,” I say, but I feel exposed as she watches me closely.
“Are you sure? It’s okay if it’s not, JJ,” she says softly, and I hate the look of pity on her face. I don’t want to talk about this, but especially not tonight when things are finally feeling normal. I shouldn’t have shown up at her door as upset as I was the night Bailey called, and I know it’s only fair for Marley to be worried, but I want to just be a guy in a bar flirting with a pretty girl right now.
“Marley,don’t.”
She shifts her gaze away, choosing to look at the water in front of her as she taps her fingers on the glass. “Okay.”
The single word hits me harder than a tackle on the field.Fuck. I stand up from my chair, taking the seat next to Marley instead.“Mi dispiace.”12
“Non mi devi delle scuse o delle spiegazioni,”13 she says, slow to look at me again.
“Lo voglio,”14 I insist, reaching forward to brush a lock of hair behind her ear.
