saw her that first time in The Nest. With one smile and an eye roll, this little, not-even-five-foot-nothing pixie knocked me on my ass and tackled my heart without even trying.
#Epilogue
Collapsing face-first onto my bed, I feel it dip as Herkie jumps up beside me, his head resting on my lower back with a contented sigh.
Someone is happy to have his human home.
I’m so tired I want to sleep for a month, but know I need to get up and study. Missing a week of school thanks to traveling to Florida again, this time for Worlds, is no joke when you have to keep up with your course load.
Five minutes, I tell myself, not bothering to shift my face out from being smothered into the pillow. It would take too much effort.
“Damn, this dog is the worst cockblock.” Mase lies down on my free side, tugging me around to be the little spoon to his big.
“I’m too tired to function, let alone have sex with you,” I say, Herkie harrumphing when he loses his 'pillow'.
Mase’s deep, sexy chuckle vibrates against my back. “All I’m saying is maybe you should rename him Caveman. That dog is more possessive of you than me.”
“Impossible,” I deadpan.
“Smartass.” Mase grinds against my ass, the erection poking me proving I was right about his intentions. What I don’t do is deny his assertion. I am proud of that title.
Mase’s breath blows across the crown of my head with a sigh when Herkie starts to lick the hand spread over my stomach repeatedly. He may complain about my dog, but we all know the beast loves him too.
The next—let’s be honest, more than—five minutes are spent luxuriating in the strong arms holding me and inhaling the fresh smell of soap I love so much. Here with Mase, like this, is my happy place.
In the last two months, things still haven’t managed to fully settle, but we have been doing our best to manage what has become our new normal.
Discovering Adam and Bailey were bigger snakes than we could have ever suspected made all of us who live with them uncomfortable in our own homes.
Mase and Brantley are only on the barest of speaking terms. Things have grown so strained between them with Mase refusing to change his mind about entering this year’s NFL draft that Mase renounced him as his future agent. I at least hope that by removing the professional side of their relationship, their personal one can start to repair itself. I know better than most how important it is to value one’s family.
With a groan, I do my best to extract myself from Mase and push up until I’m sitting up on the bed. I dig the heels of my palms into my eyes before dragging my hands through the riot of curls I’m sure I’m currently sporting. Using the ever-present hair tie on my wrist, I quickly gather my mane into a messy bun, needing it out of my face since I have no patience to deal with it.
The all-star cheer season is technically officially over with the conclusion of Worlds, but it doesn’t mean my work at The Barracks is over—far from it. We need to handle all the updates, press releases, and planning for the end-of-year banquet to celebrate our graduating seniors and the ring ceremony for recent World Champions. Yeah, that’s right: both my teams—the Admirals and the Marshals—took home the gold yesterday, kicking ass and taking names.
This weekend, instead of practice, all the teams will gather at The Barracks, where we’ll make a big presentation of hanging the new banners and placing the new globes (what we call the Worlds trophies) in their place of honor.
After we finish wrapping up the last of the tasks from this season, we shift our focus to the upcoming one. We only have one month to get ready for tryouts. The number of new members (non NJA alums) who have signed up as well as video submissions we have received from those who can’t travel for the tryouts is staggering. Given NJA’s reputation in the all-star community, it’s not uncommon to have people from other states or countries try out for our teams, but Coach Kris thinks the added influx of interest can be credited to my finally allowing her to post real-time footage of mine and JT’s clinics.
All these things will be happening while I work to complete the final month of the spring semester. Oh happy happy, joy joy.