Page 85 of Lavender and Linebackers

“No, it hasn’t. It’s been eleven years. But if you’re not ready, I understand. I’m just happy to finally get to be with you.”

Am I worried that she and I are not endgame? No. Alice was always the one sure thing in my life. We may have taken a brief pause, but we’re here now, and she’ll come around. She’s always been a little more hesitant to jump into the deep end than me, but eventually, she’ll realize I’m there waiting for her, and she’ll jump too.

“It’s not that I’m not necessarily ready.” Her voice is wary.

“No, I get it. As I said, I want to do this right. With you. What we need to figure out is how to break this to the Tarpons. I don’t want to do anything that would affect your position on the team, but at the same time, I don’t want to hide you. I want to tell the world that I’m yours.”

“You’re mine, huh?” She grins.

“You know I am.” I dig my fingers into her rib cage, and she squeals with laughter.

From my nightstand, my phone dings. I have different sounds set for different text chains, and this one has come from Marcus, my defensive coordinator. I reach for it to see what he says.

“I swear, your phone goes off more than any phone ever.”

“My teammates like to gossip like a bunch of thirteen-year-old girls. It’s nonstop, but this one is from my coach.” We read it together.

Coach Williams: Relief cleanup. If available, meet at HQ in 1 hr. Bring tools for debris.

Sometime during the night, the storm ended up making landfall south of us. We were fortunate that the eye didn’t cross over Tampa and the worst of the winds didn’t impact us. According to the news, it did, however, bring some storm surge, and, like every time, there are plenty of trees down.

I drop the phone and groan. I don’t want to leave her. We just got to this place, and I want to stay here in bed with her all day.

“You have to go, don’t you?” She runs her fingers through my hair.

I let out a deep sigh. “Yes. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. You’ll be out there making a difference, while I’ll be here sleeping.”

My heart leaps. “You’ll stay and wait for me?”

“Someone did say they were pretty good on the grill. I have to believe you’ve got some meat around here somewhere.”

“Oh, I have meat.” I take her hand and slide it down my body. No longer just a chubby, her fingers lovingly wrap around me.

“Such a guy,” she says as she strokes me, making me harder.

“Your guy,” I tell her, rolling her under me and capturing her mouth.

I’ve stopped counting how many times we were together last night. While I feel out of control and insatiable, I’m pretty sure she feels the same way too. It’s like we can’t get enough of each other. I don’t want to either.

Knowing the clock is ticking, it doesn’t take us long. Whereas I feel rejuvenated and hop out of bed, she looks content and sleepy as she snuggles down.

“Come on, I want to make you a cup of coffee.”

“Hmm, coffee sounds like what I need.” She sits up and pushes her hair off her face. Damn, she looks so good sitting right there.

“I got this coffee for you in Seattle. Camden says it’s the best.” I grab a pair of boxer briefs from the drawer and pull them on. Turning around, I find her sitting up with the sheet pulled to her chest, and she’s staring at me. “What?”

“You bought me coffee in Seattle? That was like a month ago.”

“I know.”

I know she’s also thinking that we hadn’t reconciled then, but she was still enough on my mind that I thought to get her a gift. And she was.

“I love you,” she says softly. My heart flips. I will never get tired of hearing that.

“I love you, too.” I walk over, bend down, and kiss her. “Get dressed, or don’t.” I smirk. “But come have a cup with me before I leave.”