“I’m sorry I hurt you,” I replied, and I hoped she saw the sincerity in my eyes when I tucked her hair behind her ear. “I can’t promise I won’t be a pain in your ass sometimes, but I promise to never hurt you again. Not like this.”
She nodded, leaning up to kiss my lips briefly before she arched one brow. “So… you’ll be my date to the wedding?”
I scoffed. “Like that’s even a question. You better wear comfortable shoes, because we’re going to be dancing all night.”
“I’m a horrible dancer,” she confessed.
I smirked, kissing her nose. “You can stand on my feet and I’ll do all the work.”
“I’m also sorry I didn’t do some grand gesture,” she added, waving her hand in the air. “I know you love romantic comedies, and I was trying to think of something super cute and clever to do but… well… when it came down to it, I wasn’t patient enough to put a plan together like that. All I knew was that I was sorry, and that I wanted you, and that I had to tell you that as soon as I could.”
“No grand gesture needed,” I said, framing her face. “All I need is you.”
I kissed her with my heart pounding hard in my chest, with every new pull of oxygen feeling like my first and my last all at once. I knew in my gut that this was one of those moments I’d never forget. This was the moment my entire life changed. This was the moment I found what I’d always been looking for.
Football, and love.
And now, finally, I had both.
“Now, take me back to your place,” Belle said, breaking our kiss well before I was ready. “We have some sex to do.”
I barked out a laugh at that. “Oh, do we now?”
“Mm-hmm,” she said on a nod, already on her way over to the passenger side of my car. “I’ve been reading up on sports psychology, and there’s a link between sex and sports performance. So, I figure, we’ve got a solid week of boning to do to get you ready for the next game.”
I laughed again, tossing my bag in the back seat before I climbed into the driver side, leaning over to kiss my passenger before I started the engine.
“You know that’s all a myth, right?” I asked with an arched brow. “There is no scientific evidence to prove that sex has any effect on sports performance — good or bad.”
“Well, I think we should experiment, then. In the name of science.”
I slid my hand over her knee to grip her thigh, putting the car in reverse. “I’ve never been so excited for a science project before.”
“I really am sorry I didn’t do a grand gesture,” she said when we pulled out of the parking lot. “Zach even tried to convince me to take his famous hot dog costume, but I refused.”
I frowned, trying to put the pieces together with the strange words that had just come out of her mouth. “Uh… famous what?”
She waved me off. “I’ll show you the video later. Just know I saved you from an eyesore you’d never be rid of.”
I chuckled, taking her word for it as I pulled her hand to my lips, kissing her knuckles as we drove through the streets en route to my condo.
We talked the whole way — her about her week, and me about mine, which really were quite similar when we broke them down to the molecular level. We had both been miserable, barely eating or sleeping, longing to talk to the other but feeling like we couldn’t.
By the time I got her home, all I could think about was holding her and never letting her go.
It was dark in my place, the moon covered by a shadow of clouds, but I didn’t have time to reach for a light switch before Belle had my hand in hers, tugging me back to my bedroom.
We shed articles of clothing along the way, her slipping her dress overhead and letting it puddle in the hallway floor, me yanking my t-shirt up the same way, her stepping out of her wedges, me nearly falling as I hopped out of my jogger pants. We made it to the bedroom with me in my briefs and her in a strapless bra and silky lace thong, and I stopped her when she reached for it, wanting to do the honors.