Love Me Forever - Juliana Stone Page 0,44
them she teaches at her studio. It’s not a boy or girl thing, son. It’s a what-makes-you-happy thing.”
“I guess,” Benji replied slowly. “But I don’t want to dance.”
“That’s fine.”
“And I know you love football, and you’re like the bestest quarterback that ever lived, everyone says so, but I don’t want to play football either.”
“That’s fine too. And just so you know, I’m not the best quarterback that ever lived. That title would go to a guy named Nameth.”
“I think I want to play hockey,” Benji said. “Tawny is signing up too. But I’m afraid I won’t be able to see, like, the puck and stuff because of my glasses.”
“Plenty of kids play with glasses.”
“Do they?” A smile lit up Benji’s face. The kind of smile that made mush of Boone’s heart.
“Sure do. And you know what we’re going to do first thing tomorrow?”
Benji shook his head and waited.
“We’re going to get you signed up for hockey.” He jumped to his feet and headed back to the grill, happy at the thought of being a hockey dad. “Maybe I’ll coach.”
“You will?”
He nodded. “Yeah. We’re here to stay, bud. It’s time I found something to do besides cut the grass and work out and throw the ball around.” Hearing the words out loud made him wince a bit. He needed a goal. A purpose. But what? Football had been his life for so long, and he’d taken it all the way to the NFL. Right out the gate, he’d been big news and had made more money in his short career than a lot of guys did over a much longer span.
He’d left the game because he didn’t love it the way he should, and because his Dad…
“Aren’t you ever going to play football again?”
Shaking the ghosts of the past from his mind, he slowly shook his head. That thought had been at the back of his mind for a few weeks—ever since the last conversation he’d had with his agent.
“I don’t think so,” he replied. An image of Poppy drifted in front of his eyes, and his gut tightened when he thought of all the things they’d done in the dark. He glanced over Benji’s head, out at the lake, and then to the property he owned. The place he called home.
His life was here now.
It was damn time he started living it.
Chapter Fifteen
Saturday afternoon brought wind, rain, and more customers than Poppy expected. It seemed as if everyone in Crystal Lake had a party to attend and needed a hostess gift, or an anniversary dinner or birthday celebration on the books. It was good for business, but by three o’clock, she was nearly run off her feet.
She’d just spent fifteen minutes chatting with Audrey Baker because, for the life of her, the woman could not pick out a card to go with the gift she’d bought for her niece. First, she’d gone for naughty, then, after a lot of hemming and hawing, Audrey put it back and decided nice was better. In the end, she went with an artistic homemade card that was blank inside. Poppy just hoped the woman got her words right when she signed it or she’d be back.
When Audrey left, Poppy quickly locked the door and posted a BE BACK IN FIFTEEN sign, before heading to the small staff room in the back for a much-needed break. She grabbed a bottle of water from the small fridge, briefly eyed the salad and apple she’d brought this morning, then shut the door before falling onto the chair. Her stomach was nervous, and no way could she eat.
She took a good long drink and then, because she couldn’t help herself, scooped up her phone from the spot it’d been since she arrived this morning to find four customers waiting to get inside. When she spied a text message from Boone, her already nervous stomach took a nosedive and she broke out in a sweat, fingers not working properly as she tried to scroll to the message.
Can’t wait to see you. I’ll be at your place by six.
A small smile tugged at her mouth and then broke wide open as that nervous ball split in two and flooded her with heat, desire, and something else she was afraid to read too much into. It was a cross between anticipation and fear.
Poppy blew out a breath, fingers hovering over the keyboard. Should she reply? Send an emoji? A heart?
No. She shook her head. Jesus, a heart emoji was for kids.