Page 109 of Fearlessly Us

I glance over at the door to the family room as if I can will Drew to walk through it. He had the best game of his career tonight, and according to Tyler and Cam, who slid in here half an hour ago, was roped into doing media afterwards, but I’m dying to get my arms around him. To feel his hand in mine. I laugh a little at the drama playing itself out in my head because this is as unlike me as I’ve ever been.

I’m still getting to know this version of me, but I think I’m really going to like her.

“You have a boyfriend,” Sarah says with a grin, wrapping her arm around me and giving me a squeeze, like her excitement is just a little too much for her body to contain.

“A fuckhot boyfriend.” Emmy slides her arm through mine. “I mean, did you see the way he blew her a kiss every time he scored? It was the hottest, cutest fucking thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“I’m going to ignore the fuckhot part as it pertains to my brother because that is so freaking gross,” Avery says with a grimace. “But I can’t deny the wall jump and the touchdown celebrations were so cute. Like something out of a rom-com. Who knew the seventeen-year-old guy who gave me baths and braided my hair when I was five because neither of our parents gave a shit about taking care of a child would grow up into such a romantic?”

Sarah’s eyes fill with sympathy as she wraps an arm around Avery’s shoulders, and I give my sweetest friend a grateful smile. “I think a seventeen-year-old guy who cares so well for his little sister is exactly the kind of guy who grows up to jump stadium walls just so he can kiss his girl.”

Sophie tosses a handful of jelly beans in her mouth and beams at me. “We can be WAGs together. I love that so much for us.”

I give her a bland stare. “What about me makes you think I would ever be a WAG? That doesn’t sound like something I would do. I don’t even like football.” Also, I’m pretty sure Drew is about to play the last stretch of games of his NFL career, so I won’t have time to be a WAG even if I wanted to, but I keep that to myself. That’s Drew’s to tell, when he’s ready.

“Uh, the fact that the team’s star wide receiver spent the entire game looking at you like you hung the moon,” Maddy says as she walks up to our little group, still dressed in the Renegades T-shirt and hat she wore on the field. “Doesn’t take someone with a PhD in psychology to see that man is head over heels for you, and I don’t have to be your best friend to know you feel exactly the same way about him.” She studies me for a beat, lips curving up in a smile. “But I am your best friend, and I do have a PhD in psychology, so I can tell you you’re wearing happiness like an impeccably tailored suit. It looks good on you, Cait.”

I grin, feeling that happiness bubbling up inside me. “It feels good,” I say, thinking it also feels good to be talking to my friends like this. Giving them pieces of me pre-Drew Caitlin would have kept to herself. “And I think that little wall jump really was the best moment of my entire life.”

Maya sighs, hand on her hip. “It was so romantic,” she says, voice a little wistful, and I know under the mildly cynical and very black-clad exterior she’s been sporting lately, Maya has the gooiest, most romantic of hearts and she deserves someone who will treat it gently and give her all the love she could ever want or need.

“My, if you’re looking for romance, you can always dial my number.” Oliver sidles up to us and tosses an arm around Maya’s shoulders. “I would romance the fuck out of you.” The look he gives her is a few notches up from friend joking with another friend, and when I hear Maddy’s contemplative hum next to me, I know she’s seeing what I’m seeing.

Maya rolls her eyes, shoving his arm away. “Don’t hold your breath, Little Wright. You’re way too young to handle me.”

Something about the look that flashes through Oliver’s eyes make me think he’s about to argue that, in fact, he would handle her just fine, but he seems to think better of it, shrugging as he forces his face back into something nonchalantly casual as he walks away, calling, “Your loss” over his shoulder.

We’re all quiet for a beat, and it’s Sophie who breaks the silence. “Uh, what was that?”

“What?” Maya asks, all innocence.

Emmy elbows Maya in the side. “Oliver looking at you like he was undressing you with his eyes.”

“Or like maybe he already knows what you look like naked.” Sarah stares at Maya like she’s trying to see directly into her head.

Maya scoffs. “As if I would ever let Oliver see me naked. I’ve known him my entire life. He’s basically my irritating little brother who shows up where and when he’s not wanted and drives me crazy half the time. Like he does to Maddy.”

She looks to Maddy for confirmation, but Maddy just smiles, a wicked little look in her eyes. “I mean, he’s my annoying little brother for sure, but no part of him is related to you.”

“Also, I’ve known Tyler my whole life,” Sophie pipes in. “And I don’t have any trouble at all letting him see me naked.”

“Sal, anytime I get to see you naked is a fucking pleasure. I live to see you naked. You naked is my favorite thing on earth.” Tyler wraps his arms around Sophie from behind, pressing a kiss to her neck. “Why are we talking about my fiancée naked anyway?”

Sophie turns her head and kisses his jaw. “Because two minutes ago Oliver basically undressed Maya with a single look and we all saw it, clear as day.”

Tyler glances at Maya, tilting his head to the side in thought. “I can see it. You and Oliver would be a fun pair.”

“You would,” Cam agrees, sliding an arm around Maddy’s waist and tugging her against him. “You would eat him alive and it would be really entertaining for the rest of us.”

The noise Maya makes is somewhere between a groan and a scream. “Fucking gross, you guys. So completely gross.”

“Any idea where Drew is?” I ask, changing the subject since Maya looks like she’s vacillating between sinking straight through the floor and bursting into flames. “Is media supposed to take this long?”

Tyler grins at me. “Eager to get to your man?”

I roll my eyes. “Fuck off. I have plans for tonight, and I’d like to get those plans into motion as soon as possible. We’re in a time crunch.”

Oliver walks back up, sliding in right next to Maya, his shoulder pressing up against hers, and I smile a little when she takes a deliberate step away from him. This is going to be so much fun to watch. “What’s the deal?” he asks, making a show of glancing at his watch. “Don’t we have to get on the road?”