Page 68 of Out of Bounds

By the time Lulu had come downstairs, her eyes swollen and puffy from crying, asking about lunch, they’d easily had the same discussion seven times. And BobbiJo probably would have kept it going had it not been for the interruption.

Walking into her place, she realized she never texted Gunnar about dinner. She’d been so excited about him asking about sushi Sunday this morning on the plane—but that felt like about three lifetimes ago now. She shut the door behind her, looking up to find Gunnar sitting on her couch, wearing a tight black T-shirt and a pair of jeans, his bare feet tucked under the coffee table as he tapped away at his phone. She had no idea what it was about a barefoot man in jeans, but it did her in every time. And this barefoot man in jeans? Well, shit, there really was no hope.

“Hey,” he said, popping up off the couch and reaching for her.

Felicity opened her mouth to respond but couldn’t find the words as his strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her into his hard chest. His warmth immediately enveloped her, and she could feel her body melt into him. Tears formed in her eyes almost immediately as she relaxed, all of the emotions from the day that she’d been pushing down finally rising to the surface. She let out a sob, wrapping her arms around his waist, wanting to be even closer to him. He was her comfort, her refuge, and she needed him more than she was ever going to be able to put into words.

“Shhhh, it’s okay, baby,” he whispered, kissing her hair and tightening his embrace.

“He’s…he’s gone…” she choked, her tears still flowing faster than she could keep up. She had no idea where they were all coming from—just that they wouldn’t stop.

“Come, let’s get you into something comfy,” he said, loosening his grip just enough to lead her over to the couch. Resting on the arm was her favorite pair of sweats and an old, faded Liverpool T-shirt. Felicity picked up the shirt, eyeing it curiously. She knew she was overtired and overemotional, but she wasn't so out of it that she didn’t know that this wasn’t hers. “That’s mine,” Gunnar answered as if reading her thoughts. “It’s one of my favorites, so I just thought that maybe…you don’t have to wear it, but I thought it might be comforting…”

She cut him off with a kiss, her insides melting at his gesture. He’d known she was going to be a wreck, and he’d brought her something to try and help. But not just any old something—a piece of him. How could she have ever thought that he was anything but amazing? That just a few weeks ago she was doing everything in her power to push him away, when now, all she wanted to do was let him hold her forever? Pulling back from the kiss, she raised her arms in front of him, Gunnar taking the hint and helping her out of the shirt she was wearing. She undid her bra and let it fall to the ground, before pulling the shirt he’d brought her over her head. She quickly followed suit with her pants and shoes, until she was finally fully dressed in the comfiness that Gunnar had laid out for her.

“What’s…?” she started to ask before trailing off, feeling another wave of tears hit her as she noticed the very full coffee table.

Sushi.

“I wasn’t sure how hungry you would be, so I just got a little of everything.” A soft sob escaped her, overwhelmed by everything this man had done for her. All without needing to be asked. He scooped her up and rounded the couch, lowering himself onto it, placing her in his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face into his shoulder as she cried. “Oh baby. It’s okay, just let it out.”

“He’s gone,” she repeated. Those had been the words Dalton had used earlier today—the words that kept echoing over and over in her head. Big D was gone. Just like her mother was gone. It was just her and Dalton, left all alone.

“I know.”

“Just like that, gone.” She sat up, wiping her cheeks, knowing full well that she wasn’t going to get everything, but at least this way she didn’t look like she’d been drowning. “We were supposed to be having lunch tomorrow. He’d asked me Friday morning, right before we left. He wanted to hear more about the pub program. Told me he’d heard ‘good things’ from some of the guys on the board and he wanted to hear my take on it.”

Another sob wracked her body as she thought about the last conversation she would ever have with her father. That had she known it was going to be the last, she wouldn’t have rushed away from him. She wouldn’t have been annoyed that he was holding her up from getting to some meeting. That she would have taken a moment to just be with him and hug him.

“I thought this was going to be my chance to show him what I’m capable of. That I had it in me to not only be president of the Rising, but to take on bigger roles at Southland,” she explained, sniffing loudly. He grabbed a napkin from the table and handed it to her, allowing her to wipe away some of the snot from her face. “I was so excited to tell him about the pub stuff, and how we’d worked out the tiers, and all about the auction—that the players were excited about it and how they were finding creative ways to take part that might help raise more money. About how Sax and I met with the local branch of the Special Olympics to start talking about us forming a Unified team that is connected with the club.”

“I didn’t realize you’d done that.”

“Yeah,” she said, sniffling again. “We met with them last week. There are a couple of cities in the league that have teams like that, and I would love for us to have one. Sax’s little guy, Tanner—actually, he’s not that little anymore, he’s fourteen—is a huge fan of the game, and he would just die if he were able to play. He has a neurodevelopmental disorder. So he’s partially deaf and mostly non-verbal, which makes it hard for him to really connect with kids his age. He goes to a school that specializes in working with kids who have special needs, but he could use another outlet. I thought that was something we as a professional team could do while helping to bring awareness. I was going to start working on the proposal for the board this week, after I told Big D all about it. But now I’ll never get the chance. I’ll never get to find out if I would ever be good enough for him.”

“Effie, you are phenomenal at your job. Just ask any one of my players who saw you in action yesterday morning on the bus. I think a few of them might be a little afraid of you at this point—but in a good way. And look at all the stuff you have planned already. The Rising are lucky to have you on their side, and I can’t imagine a better person to have at the helm of the team.” He ran his thumb along her cheek, catching a tear with the rough fingertip, before brushing some of her hair out of her face and tucking it behind her ear. Butterflies flittered in her stomach as he did this, causing her to take a deep breath in. Everything about him made her feel better. “You’re also a pretty amazing person. You do a damn good job at keeping everyone at arm’s length, but behind those sky-high walls of yours is a tender and generous heart. And the combination of your brains and that heart? That makes you unstoppable.”

“But he’s never going to see that.”

“I know, baby, I know. I’m sorry. I wish I could take away your pain.”

Felicity sighed, looking Gunnar in the eyes. His warm brown eyes were filled with everything she needed right now—empathy, understanding, love.

Love.

The word had seemed way too big this morning, but sitting here now, it was the only thing she could think of. The smile that was tugging at his lips set the butterflies inside her loose again. What had she done to deserve this man? To deserve this love and understanding during all this? He’d gone to all this trouble—bringing her things home, getting her dinner, pulling out a change of clothes—all so she could just sit here and cry. There was no judgment from him, no attempts to point out things she could have done differently, and no spouting off any trite sayings. Just room for her to be. To say or do whatever she needed to.

“You should eat something,” he said, breaking through the oddly comfortable silence. “Then maybe take a bath to help you relax. After that, we can curl up in bed and watch Beauty and the Beast.”

“I love that movie. How’d you—”

“I know you, Effie. Every last part of you.”

* * *

Gunnar heard the tub begin to drain as he put the last of the leftovers into Felicity’s fridge. She’d insisted she wasn’t that hungry at first, but after all but inhaling half the spicy tuna roll, most of the Dragon roll, and leaving him only a single piece of crab tempura, she finally admitted that maybe she was hungrier than she’d thought. He couldn’t help but laugh, her embarrassed admission making her too cute for words in the moment.

“Here you go, beautiful,” he said, stepping into the bathroom and handing her a towel. He’d lit a bunch of candles to help her relax when he’d drawn the bath for her, hoping it would help her unwind a little. Standing just outside the tub, the soft light from the candles flickering off the water droplets that were dancing down her naked body, Felicity looked like an angel. A very tired, worn-out angel, but an angel nonetheless. “Let’s get you into bed, huh? Then we can watch the movie.”