cheerily and taps the car before heading to the remote gate panel to open it for us.
“I’m not that keen on surprises, Sonny,” I say nervously, and my mind goes wild with what we could be doing at Tower Park late at night.
Santino pats my leg. “It’s really not that big of a deal, I promise you. Sedgwick is a good friend of Tanner’s and was more than happy to do this.”
His hand lingers on my leg for a moment, his fingers brushing the bare skin peeking out through one of the holes in my jeans. My entire body erupts in goosebumps, and arousal pulses between my legs. I swallow nervously as I stare at his large, masculine hand alongside my pale skin.
He notices my eyes watching his touch, and he quickly pulls his hand away, placing it back on the wheel. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” I rush out. Jesus, it was more than fine, and I need to get control of myself right now.
He turns to me with a hopeful look on his face like my reply was an opening. “It is fine?”
“I mean, it’s not fine!” I blurt out, my head snapping forward and my face flaming with humiliation. “But it’s fine. I mean…don’t let it happen again.” The last bit comes out a bit too harsh, and I cringe.
He huffs out a laugh and pulls through the gates to park right by a small side door with a dim yellow light overhead. We hop out of the car, and I frown at him. “We’re at Tower Park right now, right?”
“We are.” He winks.
“Why?” I ask as he pulls out a key to unlock the door.
“You said you never got to see Tower Park before so I thought I’d give you a little tour.” My lips part in shock, but my attention is diverted as he opens the door to a long, dimly lit hallway. “You’re far too young and beautiful to live with regrets. Follow me.”
He glances at my hand like he wants to hold it, so I quickly stuff it into my pocket to take that option away. I barely made it through his touch in the car, so there’s no way I’ll survive an intimate hand hold.
We make our way down the dingy concrete hallway, and Santino has to duck past low-hanging light fixtures, pointing them out to me as well.
“Was this hallway built for trolls?” My voice echoes loudly in the space.
He huffs. “No, just goblins and hobbits. Trolls have the north entrance.” He laughs at his own joke, and I roll my eyes, fighting back my own smile.
“Just around here,” Santino says, stepping back and lightly placing his hand on the small of my back to guide me around the corner, making my body hum to his touch once more. “This is the home team entrance.”
My eyes squint against the onslaught of stadium lights pouring in through the long, white tunnel. The electric green pitch shimmers off in the distance. “Oh, my God.”
I walk quickly and hear Santino behind me as we emerge out of the tunnel and onto the beautiful grounds of Tower Park Football Stadium. I shield my eyes, allowing them to adjust to the light as I stand at the edge and stare out at the lush green grass.
“Can I walk out there?” I ask, turning back to find Santino watching me with great interest.
“Of course,” he replies with a laugh. “I didn’t bring you down here just to look at it.”
I stick my tongue out childishly and make my way towards the middle of the pitch where there’s a sack of footballs in the centre circle. The grass is spongey beneath my flat boots and I do a turn to take in the bright, stadium lights illuminating the grass and the stands. One whole side of the stadium spells out TOWER PARK on old wooden, white painted chairs. The other side looks like it has several suites and offices glassed off at the top. It feels big and important. Magical and overpowering.
The last time I was on a pitch like this was in Glasgow with my brother and grandfather. My grandfather was very ill back in Dundonald, and Mac took a transfer to play for Rangers as a sort of dying wish to him. After the game, we were able to come down onto the pitch, and I’ll never ever forget the look on my granddad’s face.
Pride.
Pure, unencumbered, bubbling over with red-rimmed eyes pride.
I remember watching them embrace and feeling pangs