AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You do?” Emma asked as I pulled her face down to mine for a long, slow kiss.
“Someday. We’ll go slow for now. You have to finish school. You just feel so good and I picture a future with you, Emma. You’ve already been such a huge part of my past.” I thought back over the years.
“It’s insane,” Emma said with a smile.
CHAPTER 21
EMMA
I spent the next few days floating on a cloud. I saw Jackson when possible between school and work and kept it simple as best as I could in my head. I was falling more in love with him with every kiss.
I had decided yesterday to tell my parents that I had moved out. My mom had been worried at first that Jackson and I had had a fight, but I assured her that everything was good and that living with Bella, a fellow student, was great for me and for my grades. I had waited to tell them when I knew that Greg was likely not visiting my parents and not have to deal with his questions. I had warned Jackson beforehand what I was planning to do, and he seemed relieved that the deception was over for that part of our relationship.
Later that day at the stadium, I jogged down to the locker room to give Jackson a quick kiss. I saw Nick coming through the doors and paused at the serious expression on his face.
“Hi, is he back there?”
“He is, but he’s talking to Coach.” Nick gave me a look.
“What about? The party?” I asked as a few of the guys walked out and looked at me with smirks. “He didn’t do anything wrong.”
Nick pulled me away, looking back at the door.
“Is Joe in there?” I asked, and Nick nodded. “He’s in the wrong. Jackson was protecting me.”
“You’re the only person who knows that, Emma, apart from Joe. Nobody saw him, and they only saw Jackson start the fight. I know he’s not the type to just start a fight and you know what happened, but Joe’s the quarterback. He’s a franchise player. Jackson is second string and easy to trade.” Nick kept glancing at the door as he spoke, lines of worry creasing his forehead. “Jackson fucked up.”
“He was protecting me. Joe was dragging me to that bench after pinning me all over the kitchen. Jackson did what he needed to stop it… I need to get in there,” I said as I tried to walk past him.
“Stop. Just let it be. Jackson can handle this.”
I heard Bella calling my name.
“Come on. We’re learning a new dance for the next game.” She looked from me to Nick’s tense expression and frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“Jackson is in trouble,” I said. I needed to get away from this or else I was going to barge into that locker room and make things worse. I’d look for him out on the field later and hope that everything went okay.
I couldn’t be the reason Jackson was traded to another team. He was doing well here and playing more each game now and loved Tennessee. He was close to his family, and I only moved here a short time ago. We did talk about the day that he might move to another city, but that was in the future and he still didn’t want to do it then. Jackson was happy here.
I went through the motions of learning the dance as Bella kept shooting me worried glances. I was a nervous wreck and jumped as I heard voices out on the field near to the room we practiced in. I called out that I needed to use the bathroom and hurried out to look at the field.
My heart soared when I saw Jackson there, standing on the side of the field as the other guys worked on a play. He wasn’t actually practicing but at least he didn’t leave the stadium.
I walked back into the room, grinning at Bella as she shook her head. We finished practice, and I walked over to look at the field, still seeing Jackson there. I could tell that he was tense, and Nick was talking closely to him. Bella walked over and leaned beside me as she watched them.
“He’s out there, right? He probably just got a warning. Fights between players like that are a big no-no. The fact that it was with the star player makes it even worse.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looked at me. “We’re going for dinner. Want to join us?”
“I guess. I’ll just call him later,” I looked again at Jackson before turning to leave, still thinking about it through the meal. Joe thought he was God’s gift to everything. He was a good player and valuable to the team, but Jackson had a lot to offer as well. He just needed more time on the field.
