AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Where are we going, again?”
“Almost to our stop.”
She shook her head and smiled again, not able to handle the surprise I had cooked up. Although it wasn't much of a surprise, and the closer we got, the more worried I was about my plans. How would she view it? What would it tell her about me?
The train began to slow close to Centennial Park–close to home. I wasn't taking her to my penthouse, even though it was tempting. Rhys had once again flown to Miami for a doctor’s appointment and the place was empty. I could spend hours, maybe even a whole night like when we were in New York, worshiping every inch of her. It would beat the hell out of the short, quickies we’d been forced to sneak in. I just couldn't take that step knowing what was waiting for us on the other side of the weekend.
I grabbed Charleigh’s hand once again, praying it was late enough and dark enough to not be recognized by anyone as we passed through the center of the park. I didn't get recognized much, since the focus was always on the players, but sometimes people saw me and it clicked right away.
Looking up toward the building I lived in, that sat next to the park, I told myself one more time that taking her up there was a bad idea. It was just coincidence that I lived near where I wanted to take her, not a sign that I needed to divert from my plan.
“Okay. I am confused.” Charleigh leaned into my arm, holding me close as we continued to walk. “Most everything down here closes early. So, are we picnicking in the park?”
I pointed ahead to a small row of businesses. “We’re going right over there.”
She stayed silent but her eyes started darting around. There was no way for her to tell which direction we were going, everything was closed, like she said, but she continued to look around curious as ever.
When we got close enough, it was easier to tell where we were headed and which direction I was taking her. She stopped, right before we crossed the street from the park to the buildings and looked up.
“You are not serious right now,” she mumbled, before slowly turning her eyes toward me. The smile on my face was too big to hide the fact that I was dead serious. That if she assumed we were headed into the business in front of us then she was completely correct.
“Eye Solutions?” She threw her hands in the air and started turning in small circles, but I could hear the humor in her tone. “You really do want to fight with me, don't you?”
“I told you I would take you for glasses. I am just living up to that promise.”
She stopped her circles in front of me, face to face with her back to the buildings. “And what? Is there a doctor there waiting to test my eyes?”
“Maybe,” I shrugged as I pushed my hands into the pockets of my jeans.
We stared at one another, each with a smirk on our faces, occasionally shaking our heads at one another in a stupor. I had a plan, a good plan, but unless I gave us something to fight about, it didn't feel like us. So, I brought her to a friend of mine’s place. The same guy that gave me my glasses–that I never wore unless I was reading a novel. He trusted me with the key to his place under the explanation that I wanted to use his rooftop access for a date.
That wasn't a lie. The roof was where we were headed, but to get there, we had to go through the office, and I fully intended to test her on the eye chart and fit her for some specks.
“Come on, let's find you some eyes, Ref.” I turned her around and we crossed the road hand in hand. She waited while I unlocked the door and once inside, I flipped on a small light. Just enough so we could see, but not so much that everyone passing by would think the office was open. I locked the door behind us to ensure no one would come in, just in case.
I wrapped my hand around her waist and guided her to the eye chart, turning her as she stood on the line of tape on the floor for distance measurements. She was laughing at every turn, knowing I was teasing her and getting a kick out of the effort I was going to.
“Okay, Ref. Tell me what that first line is.” I pointed to the biggest line of shapes and covered one of her eyes myself as I stood behind her.
“Elephant. Car. Football–”
“Beep,” I cut her off. “That is not just a football, it's a first down, Ref.”
Her laugh turned into a giggle, and I was starting to believe that the eye doctor had been my best idea ever. If I thought I loved her fight, it was nothing compared to the way her body shook and bounced in my arms as she laughed at how ridiculous I was.
“Let me try again, Coach.”
With one hand on her waist, I reached around and covered one of her eyes again. “Go.”
“An elephant the size of your ego. A car that I will run you over with. A ball shaped like the ones your wide receivers can’t catch. And a pair of lips, that you can kiss my ass with.”
“You think you're cute, don't you?”
“You started it,” she chuckled as I turned her around to face her in my arms.
“You still got one wrong, though. My ego can get pretty large, but when you can make the sexiest referee in the league come in under five minutes, it goes without saying that it's going to inflate a man’s ego.”
“I will give you that, so what about the car?”
