Page 43 of False Start
“Where else would I be?”
He glanced away, but in that moment, a conversation from months ago came back to me. The scene was exactly what he had described last time, only we weren’t the people who he had described.
“I’m not her.”
“I know.”
But still, he wouldn’t meet my eye.
It was time for me to be brave and throw my cards on the table.
“I fucked up. Going home for Thanksgiving was a terrible idea in a whole line of terrible ideas I had over the course of that visit. You tried to be the voice of reason, and instead of listening to you, I treated you like the enemy. It wasn’t right, and I regretted it straight away, but I’m stupidly stubborn so it took some time, and friends I don’t deserve, to help me see it.”
The ghost of a smile flickered over Weston’s beautifully serious face, but it was gone a moment later as he turned his head to look at me straight on.
“I’m not going to be able to play football again.”
My heart broke for him. After all the work he’d put in to get back on the field for this season, the end of his career had to be a bitter pill to swallow.
“I’m so sorry.”
He studied me closely, his eyes flicking over my face like he was searching for a specific reaction. I wasn’t sure what he hoped to find.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do next.”
“Maybe both of us can get a job at Dairy Queen,” I suggested, then snorted at the horrified look he gave me.
“Why would you be working there?”
I explained the case against Denny Hayes, and his eyes darkened with anger, despite me glossing over my own experience.
“I knew I didn’t like that guy.”
“No one does. And now we’re going to make sure he can’t hurt anyone else.”
He was quiet for a few more minutes, chewing over the new information, then he turned his hand over on the bed. I gripped it and smiled as he brought my fist to his mouth for a kiss.
“Whatever happens next, I’d like you to be with me to see it,” he said against my knuckles.
“Yes,” I whispered.
“You are the best lie I ever told, but I’m going to tell you something and I need you to hear it. This thing we share was never fake. You were mine from the moment I first saw you.”
Tears blurred my eyes as I leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss against his lips.
“I want to be yours.”
The beeping of his monitor sped up as he tried to heave himself upright, letting out an annoyed grunt as his shoulder hampered his movement.
“All I want is to touch you right now, but I might have to put a pin in my plans until I have two working arms. Unless you want to lock that door and give me a show.” He bounced his eyebrows, and I laughed at his antics.
“I think your doctor is going to have to clear you for strenuous activity. But I promise, I’ll give you an IOU.”
He hummed as he cupped the back of my head, pulling my mouth to his. “I loved redeeming the last one.”
“I love you.”
Weboth froze at the admission. It was a truth I’d been holding for a while, but it felt too soon to say it. I had so much work left to do on myself to feel even halfway worthy of calling him my boyfriend.
