Page 123 of Home Town Advantage
“I saw it in a fortune cookie once.”
She smiles.
My face turns more serious. “I meant every word.”
She nods. “I know you did.”
I continue, “I’ve been thinking about our treehouse talk of having a shared trauma. We both allow all the happy moments in our lives to have a tinge of sadness because we feel guilty that we get to be happy while he doesn’t.”
She tearfully nods. “It’s true.”
“We need to stop that. He wouldn’t want that for either of us. We deserve to be happy, and I want us to be happy together.”
Her blue eyes meet mine. “I want that too.” She bites her lower lip nervously. “I have a proposal for you.”
I smirk. “A top-secret proposal?”
Mischief finds her eyes. “Sort of. I’m concerned about the public attention our relationship would draw.”
I feel myself deflating. Not this again. “Who cares?”
“I do,” she says, “but not for the reasons you think. I want you to focus on your season. I don’t want our relationship to be the reason you and your team are distracted. Most of our friends know. I don’t care about them knowing, but I want to keep it out of the public eye until you win the Super Bowl. After that, we can freely be together however you want.”
The corner of my mouth raises in amusement. “What if I don’t win?”
She shrugs. “Then find yourself a new girl. I’m only in this for the glory.”
I pinch her nipple again, and she shrieks.
I sigh. “I’m sick of being a secret. I’m sick of all the secrets.” Even though I still have one. “I don’t want any more lies in my life. I want the world to know you’re mine. You were always mine, and you’ll always be mine.”
She turns to face me. “I’ve put my trust in you. Now I need you to put your trust in me. You lied to me because you knew it was best for me and my career, and you were right. This is whatIknow is best foryou. It’s my time to protect you. I need you to trust that I’m looking out for you just like you did for me. We’re not telling the world quite yet. Can you trust me to look out for you like you do for everyone else in your life?”
I wordlessly nod even though I hate that she won’t love me publicly. I’m completely under her spell. She could probably ask me anything, and I’d say yes.
In a jovial tone, I ask, “What if I ask you to marry me the second my season is over?”
Her face turns serious as she whispers, “I’ll say yes.”
“You will?”
She nods as the corners of her mouth turn up. “But only if you win the Super Bowl, so you better get to work.”
SULLEY
I wake to a warm, long, wet, smelly tongue licking across my face. What the hell?
I blink my eyes open and see Daylen’s giant dog, BJ, standing over me as she bends and licks my face again.
Then I hear Daylen’s loud voice from downstairs, “Did you get naked when you stepped in the door, McCaffrey? If you keep masturbating, you’ll go blind.” There’s a loud crashing noise, and then he yells, “Oh no, I can’t see anything.” And then he starts laughing hysterically at his own joke.
I hear his heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. It sounds like an elephant trampling through the house.
Even though I’m shielded by blankets, I’m very obviously naked. I’d like to run to the bathroom, out of sight, but I have over a hundred pounds of slobbering dog on top of me, pinning me to the bed.
Daylen’s voice is getting closer. “I hope you didn’t spend all night jerking off to her pic…oh, hello, Sullivan O’Shea.” A huge smile finds his goofy face. “How lovely to see you here…naked…in Vance’s bed. Does he cuddle with you? Because he won’t cuddle with me when we share a room on road trips. He knows how much I like to be the little spoon.”
I giggle, and Vance shoves the dog. “I can’t believe you brought this menace to my house.”
