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“We fly to Dallas tomorrow, and to tell you the truth, I haven’t begun to pack. Are you headed home also?”
He nodded. “Wish I had a plane coming for me,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m driving home. I’ll head out tomorrow.” He took my hand. “Tonight was great. I’d like to do it again.”
I thought about Henry Thaxton. We were broken up—no reason I couldn’t give Zack my number and see what happened.
“Give me your phone,” I said. I tapped in my name and phone number and then shot a text to myself so I’d have his number. “There. You have my number. Since I rarely answer phone calls from unknown numbers, I sent myself a text so I’d have your number. That work?”
He smiled, and my heart quivered.
“That’s works great. Do you need a ride home?”
“I have my car. You can walk me to it if you want.”
“I definitely want.”
Claudia hadn’t moved. Brooke was doing her usual interrogation of the guy sitting with Claudia. That always made me laugh. When it became clear Claudia was not coming home with us right then, I said, “Don’t stay out too late. We have an early flight in the morning.
“Thanks, Mom,” Claudia said with heavy sarcasm. “Don’t forget to give me my allowance for the week.”
I just laughed.
As we walked down from the top level to the ground, Zack’s hand warmed the small of my back. Warmed…What an understatement. The heat from his large hand burned through my shirt and heated my core, making me want to press back against his palm.
Then, to amp my temperature up a few hundred more degrees, he laced his fingers through mine as we passed through the main floor and outside to the parking lot. I don’t have petite hands, but Zack had a massive paw. His fingers wrapped around mine in a possessive touch. Flash fires rushed through my body. Lust bloomed in my chest so thick I could hardly breathe.
This response was not something I’d ever experienced. Sure, I’d been aroused by men. I wasn’t an innocent virgin. I’d been everywhere on the field—so to speak—except homerun. So no one had actually put his penis inside me, but that was just a technicality, right? I’d never met a man I wanted to get that intimate, until tonight and Zack Noles. My overwhelming need to touch, and be touched, shook me to my core.
“This is me,” I said, stepping up to a newer Mustang.
“Are you okay to drive?” His brows furrowed. “I can drive you home.”
“I appreciate your concern, but I’m okay. Plus, I don’t have that far to go.” I placed my hand flat on his chest. “Thank you for, well, keeping me company.”
He leaned in. “I hate the timing. I’d love to see you more. Take you out, but…” He dragged his finger down my cheek. “With the bowl game coming up and you leaving campus for Christmas…” He shrugged.
“I understand,” I said, and I did. Texas was headed to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. It was a huge game, and Zack wanted to go to the NFL Draft this spring. This game was critical, not only for Texas’s final ranking but also as a showcase for Zack’s talents. Opportunities like the NFL didn’t come along for every college athlete. Most would never see a dime from the pro ranks.
His finger trailed along my jaw. “I’ll see you in the spring, right?”
“Sure. I’ll be here.” I forced a smile. “Last semester before being booted into adulthood.”
He smiled, and my heart flopped over and died. He was too handsome and too sexy. His beautiful gray eyes twinkled when he looked at me. What he did to me with only a finger told me he could be dangerous to my very carefully planned future. But then the worst thing happened. He kissed me, and my world spun off its axis and I wasn’t sure I’d ever be the same.
“Have a good game on New Year’s Day,” I said as I forced myself off his lips.
“Are you coming?” His voice held such hope, but I shook my head.
“I won’t be there, but I’ll be watching.” I couldn’t stop myself from leaning in and kissing him again. “Go kick some ass.” I slid into the driver’s seat and then looked up at this gorgeous man and said, “Merry Christmas.”
He didn’t call during the Christmas break. I didn’t really expect him to, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t a tad disappointed. I accepted that I was just a girl he’d met at the Orange Cactus before Christmas break. He had more important people to impress than me.
Three
New Year’s Day arrived, and with it, the Sugar Bowl game. My sisters and I traditionally held a party for our friends on that day, and this year was no different. We made sure to provide the traditional Southern dishes of black-eyed peas, turnip greens, ham, and cornbread to give them all the inside track on health and wealth for the new year. But there were also dips and chips, brisket sandwiches, barbeque beans, potato salad, and desserts galore. Mom and Dad typically went to their own parties leaving the house to us and our guests...and also a team of catering staff. It seemed to work well for all.
Multiple televisions throughout the house played the different bowl games. Friends came and brought other friends. The party filled the downstairs and flowed out onto the patio and pool deck. The pool wasn’t open, of course. It could have been since the pool is heated, but the sisters and I decided last year’s toss in the deep end wasn’t going to be an option this year.
I went to the kitchen to refill my iced tea and found my sister Claudia with a huge grin on her face. She was putting water into a vase of flowers.
