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“Take all the time in the world,” he calls out. “You’re worth the wait.”
“Do you use that line on every girl?” “You know there aren’t any girls.”
If I fall asleep before him—which happens almost every night—I’ll wake up to a photo of a city skyline at night—Manhattan, Boston, Oakland—the words good night written on the glass of the floor to ceiling windows.
I don’t care about his money or his name. He might be a god in the football world, but he’s also the guy who remembers exactly how I take my coffee.
“You have to do what’s best for you,” I say. “There’s not a one-size-fits-all happily ever after.”
It’s jealousy, I think, not of the person but of their situation. Of having someone to come home to every night. Someone to share their day with, the good, the bad, and the mediocre moments in between.
she’s a magnet and I’m metal.
Aiden treats Maggie right. He loves her loudly and softly, in front of everyone and when no one is watching. I always catch him looking at her, this dopey smile of adoration on his face, like he can’t believe she’s his.
Shawn spins his finger and I roll my eyes, turning to show him his name on the back of the jersey I’m wearing.
When the huddle breaks and the defense takes the field, he’s still looking at me, and I don’t see an ounce of strain on his face.
“You have the ability to fight off these thoughts of yours, which isn’t easy. You don’t let the negativity win. And if it does win sometimes, that’s okay. That doesn’t make you less. It makes you more. You’re an incredible human learning to juggle the balance between your mental health and being on the field, and I respect you for it. Thank you for sharing part of yourself with me.”
I can’t explain it, but the invitation to join her makes me feel higher than our win did.
When she doesn’t pull away, I smile big and wide. She gives me a shy grin in return and I press my lips against hers, kissing my best friend in front of seventy thousand people without a damn in the world, just as snowflakes start to fall from the sky.
I might burst into a million pieces. I might turn to stardust and ascend to the clouds or somewhere beyond because every press of his fingers, every exhale and little huff of appreciation when I touch the stubble on his cheeks, every inch he pulls me closer drives my want, my need, higher and higher.
but if we’re going to do this, we’re going to be exclusive. We’re not dating other people, real or fake. No one touches you but me.”
“A home isn’t measured by the size of the structure. It’s measured by what’s inside. And I can tell your home has a lot of love.”
I want to know all about your dreams, Lacey.”
“No, I haven’t. I never understood the point of cheating. Why be with someone if you don’t want to be with just them?”
“Sounds good. Miss you already, angel butt.” “Oh, my god. I’m going to hurl a stapler at you if you don’t stop,”
“To the best fake boyfriend I’ve ever had,” I say, and Shawn grins. “To the most beautiful fake girlfriend in the world,”
“I can’t really control it, and now that you’re associated with me, it’s my responsibility to keep you safe. I am going to keep you safe, Lacey. I’m sorry for not telling you. That was shitty of me.”
“Doesn’t matter. Fake. Real. I don’t give a shit. I take care of what’s mine, and right now, you are mine.”
“Your smile is my favorite smile.”
“It’s unique and special. Just like you.”
You can let it out. You’re allowed to be a little broken. I won’t think any less of you.”
“It’s nice to have something to look forward to when I get home. This is exactly where I want to be. Exactly what I need.”
“Thank you for being my friend. Thank you for… for being a safe place for me. Thank you for letting me be here. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
Here with him is magic.
“Why do you call me Lacey girl? It’s the only pet name you’ve ever used twice.” “Because I can tell you don’t hate it. And because you’re my girl.”
“I’m a woman who makes two hundred thousand dollars a year. I’m smart and I’m successful. I don’t have time for boys who don’t see my worth and expect me to change to fit their needs.”
He knows I’m looking at him because he’s busy looking at me, too.
We both know what I’m doing, and we both know how this ends. I’m playing with fire, but I think I want to burn.
“No one can take care of me like you do,”
“No one treats me right like you do.”
I realize. Shawn makes me happy. When I’m with him, I feel like I can fly.
Seventy thousand people in a stadium or four hundred people in a museum. It doesn’t matter. I always find her, and I’m happier because of it.
“You’re the only one who knows how to take care of me so well.”
“I’ll take a bad day with him over a good day with anyone else.”
“You feel more like home to me every day.”
“Sweetheart, you making fun of me is what I look forward to every day. You know why? Because you treat me like you would anyone else. You give me shit. You hold me accountable. You make me laugh. For the first time in my life, I don’t feel like I have to act a certain way around someone. I’m myself, and that’s enough,”
This woman saved me tonight, and I’m starting to wonder if she wasn’t put in my life by accident but for a very specific reason. To be mine until the end of time.
“You’re beautiful,” I whisper, and it’s an admission—a fact—I won’t be allowed to say soon. “You’re the most beautiful woman in the world, Lacey.”
“You win every time. It’s not even close. Even with a billion choices, it would still be you.”
“I want you there, and I’m glad I’ll have you by my side.”
“I like her very, very much,” I say. “She’s my favorite person in the entire world.” “The entire world?” Eliza wrinkles her nose. “But there are a lot of people. You haven’t met them all.” “Doesn’t matter. She’s still my favorite,”
You’re safe with me, Lacey girl,”
God, the way he looks at you is how my husband looked at me the first year of our relationship. Now I have to snap my fingers to get him to pay attention to me.”
“Sometimes when the world is shit, you try to latch on to the good things happening around you. For a lot of people, that’s helping the community.”
“I’m sure about everything with you.”
“Before we get going, I wanted to take a second to tell you how proud I am of you. You’re one of my favorite people in the world, Shawn, and getting to be here with you while you—we—do something so important means more to me than any gift ever will.”
