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“I don’t want to bother her with something so silly. I’m doing some exercises I found online and using a heating pad. I’ll be okay in a few days.” Riley smiles. “Thanks for looking out for me, Emmy.”
level 10 foreshadowing
“Do you think this place has olives?” “If they don’t, I brought some.” Maverick digs around his black coat and pulls out a glass jar.
“I popped into the bodega on our way here and grabbed some.” “Why would you do that?” “Because I remembered you said you like martinis. Can’t make a good drink without a garnish.”
didn’t think it was that big of a deal when I bought them. It’s not a marriage proposal or anything. You can throw them at me if you want. I wouldn’t—”
“I appreciate this. It’s very considerate of you.”
“I have a standing appointment on Wednesdays, whether in the arena or virtually if we’re on the road. Being a professional athlete is really fucking difficult, but remember what I told you? You’re not alone.”
Maverick crashes his mouth against mine with so much intensity, it’s like he’s afraid I’m going to take back what I said. I’m not. I want to be consumed by him.
“Yeah.” He traces the picture of her with high pigtails and her two front teeth missing, and my heart nearly cracks in two. “I told you she’s my favorite person in the world.” “Goddamn you.” I fist the cotton of his shirt and give him a little shake. “Why do you have to be so goddamn hot and such a nice guy?”
“Only because I’m not afraid to admit I want you so damn bad.”
“All of it, baby. I want all of it.”
“Take me to church, Emmy,” he murmurs. His hands run up my thighs and squeeze my hips. “Please.”
“Good night, pretty boy.” Maverick bends down and kisses my forehead, just like he did the last time we were together. His lips linger on my skin, and my heart skips a beat when he’s slow to pull away. “Night, Emmy girl. Sweet dreams.”
I’ve never wanted someone the way I want Emerson—repeatedly. Consistently. Every second of every day.
“Don’t worry about practice, Red. We’ll cross that bridge later. I’m here. How can I help?”
“I don’t have to do anything, but I want to. Tell me what you need.”
“Figured it was. I just wanted to keep looking at you.”
“Doesn’t mean you’re not beautiful,” I say. “Why didn’t you tell me you weren’t feeling well? I would’ve been here the second you called. You wouldn’t have had to spend hours all alone with your head in the toilet.”
“Thank you for letting me help you, Emmy. Thank you for letting me be here. You can tell me to go whenever you want and I will, but I want you to know this is exactly where I want to be. I’ve got you.”
“You’re welcome, Emmy girl. Get comfortable. I’ll be back soon.”
Before I can think twice about what the hell I’m doing, I drop a kiss to her forehead and get to work.
He dropped everything for me. He helped put me back together and stayed to make sure I was okay all because he wanted to.
“We are, but we’re your weirdos.
“Night, pretty boy.”
“Night, Emmy girl,” he says, and he leans against the door of my bedroom, watching me until I fall asleep.
There’s another message from Emerson, a single black heart emoji that has me grinning like an idiot the rest of the night.
“I don’t know.” He shrugs, and his fingers dance over my knee. “Guess I’ve been too busy looking at you.”
There hasn’t been any of that, and when he turns around and his eyes meet mine through the crowded room, his smile turns softer.
I want to shout at them all that she’s mine. Mine, mine, mine and to back the fuck off.
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m fucking addicted to you.” I press my cock against her ass, and her breath stutters. “This is what you do to me.”
“Deep breath, baby. You can take it, can’t you?”
“That’s my girl. I told you you’re safe with me. Let go, Emmy. Let me see how pretty you are when you come.”
“You’re such a good boy doing what I ask. Look at the mess you’ve made.”
I keep getting tangled up in him, and I can’t find a way to stop. I’m not sure I want to.
There are four hundred people are here, and she’s picking me to give out her smiles to.
I’m the luckiest bastard in this room.
I care a whole lot, and I don’t know what the fuck that means.
“Do you like what you see right now, Emmy girl?”
This time when she smiles at me, I feel it in the center of my chest. There’s a hollow part behind my ribs where I’ve never felt an ache before. It spreads through me until everything boils down to a single entity: her. “Yeah,” Emerson whispers, and I’ve never loved a word more. “I do.”
“It means you know that kind of love is out there, and you’re worthy of it. There’s nothing silly about that, even if the words are make-believe. They can be real to you.”
I can’t figure out what I’m feeling either, because seeing him with a kid in his arms and loving on her does something to my insides.
“Happy New Year, pretty boy,” I whisper, and he rests his hand on the back of my neck. His touch is an anchor on my skin, and I blow out a breath.
“Happy New Year, Emmy girl,” he murmurs low and rough, and he crashes his lips against mine.
“I think this is going to be the best year yet.”
There’s a moment where we both pull apart, a string cut in two and the natural end to the intimacy. I don’t want that tonight. I want her right here.
pretty?” “So fucking pretty, baby. I like that you have nice things.”
“You sweet man. You’re the furthest thing from a horrible person. You have a gentle soul that’s been beaten up and broken through no fault of your own. I’m so sorry anyone’s ever made you feel like you weren’t worth keeping for more than a night.
You are and you’re wonderful and… and one day, when you want to settle down, you’re going to make someone really happy, and they’re never going to leave.
“Because you love everyone fiercely. You put your whole being into the people you care about, and a woman is going to come along who sees that. Who knows what a gift you are, and it will be an honor for her to fall in love with you. She’ll protect your heart, and it’s going to be okay.”
but all I see is red hair. Green eyes. A wicked smile and a whispered pretty boy in my ear. Oh, fucking shit.
I never really felt like I had a home. But with Emmy next to me, I think home is wherever she is. A place I’d like to stay forever.
