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“Where do you plan to go?”
I want to tell her to just go ahead and move her shit into my place right now.
But I don’t.
“I don’t know. Someday, in the not-so-distant future, I’d love to have a house. I’d like to have my own vegetable and herb garden. Do you think I act like an old lady?”
I blink at the quick switch in conversation. “No, I was just kidding. We should be adults.”
“No, like, do you think I always act like I’m in my seventies?”
“Trust me, babe, a seventy-year-old woman can’t do what you did in bed this morning.”
But she doesn’t smile. She looks worried.
“I’m being serious,” she says.
“So am I. Where is this coming from?”
“Yesterday, before you got home, Becs said that I have routines and stuff like a senior citizen, and I’m not even thirty yet.”
“Wait. How old are you?”
She narrows her eyes at me. “I’m only twenty-eight.”
“Uh-oh.”
“What?”
“You’re older than me.”
“Not by much. Wait, how old are you?”
“You never googled me? I’m offended.”
She rolls her eyes and just stares at me, waiting.
“I’m a quarter of a century.”
“You’re twenty-five? Jesus, I’m robbing the cradle, Ike.”
I laugh and pull her foot back into my lap when she pulled away. “I’m not a kid. What’s three stupid years?”
“I mean, it’s a lot.”
I’m quiet for a moment as we both stare out at the water, watching the fog roll over the shoreline.
“They’re paying a twenty-five-year-old guy close to half a billion dollars,” I say softly. “Not all at once, but still.”
“They wouldn’t pay you that if you weren’t worth it,” she reminds me and leans over to take my hand. “Obviously, you make that and more back for the team. You undervalue how popular you are, Ike. And the fact that you’re humble is something that I really love about you, but you have to know your worth. If they’re willing to pay that, it means that, when it comes to ticket sales, jersey and other merchandise sales, etcetera, you make them more than that.”
I swallow hard and look over at her. God, she’s fucking gorgeous, sitting out here on my porch with me. I’ve never thought about sitting out here before, but here we are, at eight in the morning, soaking up the fresh air.
“It’s staggering,” I admit. “And mind-blowing.”
“I know I said it before, but I’m going to say it again. I’m really, really proud of you. I love that you don’t feel entitled, that you’re modest about your popularity and that you’re just a nice guy.”
“I’m not nice,” I say, thinking about one of our earlier conversations, and grin. “Do you need me to remind you just how not nice I can be?”
She laughs now and pulls away to sit back in her chair. “You reminded me just fine this morning. So, what’s on tap for you today?”
“I’m headed to the training facility to work out with some of the guys and catch up on anything that I missed while I was gone. Then, I volunteer at the shelter.”
She frowns at me, and I realize that I haven’t told her about this yet.
“What shelter?”
“Every week, I spend a few hours at one of the animal shelters to help out.”
Sophie’s quiet for a second, and then she clears her throat. “Okay, let me get this straight. You help your mom, you’re ridiculously hot, but you don’t act like a jerk about it, and you help take care of animals in the little spare time you have.”
“So, you think I’m hot?”
She stands now and just climbs right into my lap, wraps her arms around my neck, and hugs me tightly.
“If I’d known I would get a hug out of it, I would have told you about the shelter sooner.”
“Ike, I’m going to say something to you that I’ve wanted to say for a little while, but I thought it might be too soon.”
I nudge her back so I can see her face and cup her cheek in my hand, rubbing my thumb over the apple of her cheek.
“What is it?”
“I’m sure that I’m falling in love with you. I’ve been all up in my feelings about it, but I’m not really one to keep my mouth shut about these things.”
“Thank God I’m not the only one feeling it.”
“You do?” Those baby blues widen as if she’s surprised, and I can’t resist kissing her lightly. “Oh, yeah. I’ve never met anyone like you, Soph. You’ve overcome so much, you’re an amazing business owner, and you’re absolutely gorgeous. I love every thought in your head and every curve of your spectacular body.”
“A lot of people would say that I shouldn’t be your type. Physically, that is.”
“Who are these people?” I ask, totally annoyed. “They’re not in our bed. They’re not in our relationship. Who gives one wild fuck what they think?”
“Not you, apparently.”
“No, not me. And I already took care of the one person who had an issue, so it doesn’t matter.”
