Rumor Going 'Round (Lyrics and Love #3) - Lind, Samantha Page 0,15

Lindsay before I stand her up so I can get myself up and to the grill.

“No, either sounds perfect,” she says, turning to give me a sweet smile. I squeeze her hip with one hand and tuck a lock of hair behind her ear with the other before I break away from her and head for the grill.

“Food time!” I call out to everyone as I fire it up. It doesn’t take me long to have a line of people waiting as they all load up plates with food. Not that everyone hasn’t been snacking on the other food that everyone brought, but now that its halftime and the grill is going, people are hungry.

It takes me all of halftime and part of the third quarter to get everything grilled and my own plate assembled. I grab a couple beers from one of the coolers and make my way back inside. I find Lindsay back in the recliner we’d both occupied earlier, fully engrossed in the game. Bama has managed to tie things up, making this an exciting game, for sure.

I set the beers down on the end table next to the chair and stand not entirely behind the chair, but not exactly beside it, either, kind of between the two. I make sure I’m not blocking anyone else that’s behind the couches standing to watch the game. I scarf down my burger and fixings. Mom’s baked beans are just as amazing as they always are.

“You should have told me you were back. I would have let you have your seat back,” Lindsay says when she notices me standing back here.

“I’m good; I didn’t want to spill on you,” I tell her as I finish off my plate. “But, I did bring you a beer if you want it.” I offer her one of the bottles.

“Thanks,” she says, accepting the bottle after I pop the top off. I watch as she brings it to her mouth, her lips wrapping around the top of it as she tips it back. Fucking hell, when did watching a woman drink a beer cause me to turn into a fucking flagpole? I adjust myself as discreetly as possible as she swallows down the cold liquid.

“Would you like to sit down now?” she asks, patting the open cushion that she’s not covering.

“Only if you don’t go anywhere,” I tell her, going big or going home. I want this woman like I want my next breath. I think it's about time I stop beating around the bush, man up, and make a fucking move.

“Okay,” she agrees, and stands as I round the chair. I sit back down, and she follows me back until we’re in the same position we were for the first half of the game.

“Are you sticking around for the bonfire?” I ask once the game ends. Georgia pulled out the win with a touchdown as the clock expired in the fourth quarter.

“Do you want me to?” she asks, her head still resting on my shoulder, where it's been for the last few minutes.

“Wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want you to,” I tell her. “Whatever happened to Allison coming tonight? I haven’t seen her around.”

“She’s not much for football, but I think she was planning on stopping by for the bonfire. I’m supposed to text her when it gets going,” she says, sitting up so she can grab her cell off the end table. It was poking the two of us earlier because she had it tucked in her back pocket, she’d set it there, so it was out of the way. I watch as she unlocks the screen and pulls up her text messages. I look away, not wanting to invade her privacy as she taps away at the screen. “She’ll be here in ten,” she says, standing and sliding the phone into her back pocket.

“I’m sure Lee will be happy about that,” I muse.

“You think so?” she asks.

“If the little bit that I actually heard out of him about last weekend has anything to say about their time together, it was something he’s definitely looking to repeat.”

“I just hope he doesn’t break her heart,” she tells me honestly. “She’s not as flippant about things as she likes people to think.”

“Give him a chance. He just needs the right woman to lock him down.”

“And you?” she asks.

“I just need a chance,” I tell her. The idea saying all I need is her is on the tip of my tongue. But I can’t