not too long ago, but I want to make sure it will hold.”
The swing’s wooden seat was strung up on each side with some weathered rope that I assumed was once white. I followed the rope upward until I saw where it met the tree branch and looped around. “Who made this?”
“My dad. He used to bring me with him when he would gather up fallen tree limbs for firewood. He made me that swing as a reward after I’d looked for as many pieces of wood that I could find.” Tatum’s expression looked wistful. “After I’d put all the wood in a pile, he’d push me on this swing for hours. It was probably only twenty minutes, but it felt like hours. I loved this swing.”
“I would have too. What a great memory.” I reached out for his shoulder and gently squeezed. He turned and pulled me against him, his arms strong and tight around my body. I could feel every movement his chest made as it moved in and out against me. The weight of his chin rested on top of my head, and I knew he was battling through some emotions, so I stayed quiet. We stayed like that for a few breaths before he let me go.
“He would’ve loved you. He woulda told me I was out of my league, but he woulda loved you,” he said, his lips forming a half smile.
I smacked his arm. “Stop it.”
“It’s true,” he said as he tugged on the ropes and inspected the wood. He hopped onto the seat and bounced a little before deeming it safe for me to ride. “All ready, milady.”
I curtsied. “Why, thank you, good knight.”
Tatum’s hands gripped my waist as he lifted me like I weighed nothing and placed me square on the wood plank. I shuffled and scooted my butt back a little farther, then shouted, “Ready!”
“Ready for what? Don’t you know how to swing?” he asked, standing in front of me.
I cocked my head to the side and extended my legs, trying to reach for his goodies. “I know how to swing, all right, and you’d better watch out. I’ve got one heck of a leg stretch,” I teased.
“Don’t you kick me, woman.” He moved behind me, completely out of view. Firm hands pressed against my back before they shoved at me. I squealed as the swing flew forward and I was soaring into the trees.
“Tatum, it’s so pretty! It looks like I’m flying through branches and with the trees!” I cried out in delight as he pushed me higher and higher, each forward movement sending me more and more into a state of bliss. My hair flew all around me, covering my face before blowing away again. I felt like I was soaring, and I wanted to thank the heavens for giving me the wings to fly.
Glancing back at him, I asked, “So, what did you want to do after school? I mean, did you want to play professional football for a living?”
“Not really. Playing football helped pay my tuition, and without that scholarship, my parents would have gone into serious debt to get me into school. Football was a means to an end, from my perspective.”
“But did you enjoy playing, at least?”
He laughed. “Oh, hell yeah! I loved it. I just didn’t want to do it forever.”
“Well, if you didn’t want to play football, then what did you want to do?” As the swing fell to where Tatum’s hands would normally reach for me, I braced for the contact, but it didn’t come. I turned to look at him and made the swing go crooked as it moved forward again, wobbling from side to side.
“I’ll tell you after you tell me more stuff about you,” he said.
“What do you want to know?” I offered, wondering what he would ask and if there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t honestly tell him.
He pulled the swing to a stop and leaned toward me like he was going to confess a secret before asking, “Why were you really driving across the country? Was it all because of Douchepants?” Reaching for my hand, he grabbed it, planted a kiss on the top, then pulled me back and sent me swinging again toward the trees.
“No,” I shouted immediately before pondering on where to start exactly. “I just needed to get away. I’d been telling my team that I wanted to go to college for a few years now, but they kept putting me off. It was always