Off Camera (Love Through a Lens, #3)

by Chelsea Curto

Fuck, I love her. This isn’t a crush that’s going to go away in a few weeks. This isn’t something I can expect to fade away when the football season ends. It’s an all-in thing. It’s big and important, and I can’t ignore it anymore.

“I spent three years talking to someone I pretended not to give a damn about, but the thing is, I love you,” I say. “I love you a whole fucking lot, Avery, and it’s the one part of our bet I didn’t see coming. I planned for everything else except falling head over heels for you. And I still fell. Hard. I fucking smashed into the ground.”

“I love you too,” she whispers, and my heart stops. It flatlines before jolting back to life when she takes my face in her palms. “I love you so very much, Reid, because you’ve made me believe in it again. I feel it when I’m with you. In every cracked corner of my heart that’s putting itself back together again. Every morning when I open my eyes, and you’re there. Sometimes it scares me how much I love you.” “You don’t have to be scared with me.” I wrap my arms around her and pull on the ends of her hair. “You know why?”

“Dead fucking serious. It might be titled ‘Thunderhawks girl’, but it gets the job done. I know you. And you know me. Did we go about it in an unconventional way? Without a doubt. It doesn’t change the fact that you are the most perfect person for me, Avery, and I’d be lucky if you tormented me for the rest of my life.” “The rest of your life?” Her palms move to my back, rubbing over my shirt and across my shoulders. The noise from the crowd quiets. The lights dim. In a sea of thousands, all I see is her. “I think I’d like that.”

“Almost hurt my girlfriend again, and we’re going to have a problem,” I warn him. “Oh.” Avery tugs on my shirt. “That was hot. I didn’t know I was into nerds who were protective of their women.” “Guess that means I need to do it more often.”

“Important moments?” Avery turns her chin to look at me. “We’re just playing board games.” “Any moment with you is an important moment, Ave. I’m not risking this—” I gesture between us. “For this,” I say, picking up my phone. “I’ve been there before, and it sucks. Nobody wins. Whatever is going to happen tonight can wait until tomorrow.” “I think I just fell in love with you all over again.”

“I like being in your spaces,” Avery says. “I like seeing the parts of your life I only had glimpses of. I like putting names to faces, and I like to imagine you were thinking about me in all the moments I was thinking about you.”

“I was. Spitefully, of course, but I was. And I have no plans of stopping anytime soon.” “Good. You’re going to include me too, right?”

“Baby. You’re going to be fucking sick of me soon.” “Doubtful. I’ve always been a little obsessed with you, Duncan...

“I love you,” I whisper, and his eyes light up. His smile melts into something beautiful, something precious. Mine. “I love you so much. I’m so glad I sent you that first message. I’m so glad I get to be here with you.”

“I love you,” I whisper so only he can hear me. “I think I’m going to love you forever.” Reid grins, a smile matching mine. The adoration in his eyes makes me weak in the knees. “Wanna bet?” I grip the collar of his shirt and knock his hat off his head. “You’re on.”

I clutch it to my chest and sigh, still feeling like I’m living in some dream world even after a year and a half of dating. It almost seems like a lifetime has passed with all the adventures we’ve had. With the trips we’ve taken and the work we’ve done.

A wave of love hits me. It’s there during all the big moments, a large swell that rises when he kisses me. When he fucks me nice and slow under the stars, a hand on my heart and the other in my hair. When we’re with our friends and our eyes meet, a smile pulling at his lips the second he sees me. It’s more powerful in the mundane moments, though. That swell turns into a tsunami. A tidal wave of affection and adoration for the man who loves me wholly. Completely. With flaws and faults and beyond.

“Call me when you get here. I want to see you before I head to the locker room.” “Kind of sounds like you’re obsessed with me, Duncan.” “Have been for a while now, Sinclair. Keep up.” He pauses and clears his throat. “I love you, Ave.” My mouth splits into a wide grin. “I love you, too.” “Drive safe. I’ll see you soon, pretty girl.”

“Almost five years ago, I got a notification that the Baltimore Thunderhawks’ official Instagram account followed the DC Titans’ account. In the moment, I didn’t think anything of it. I was out at dinner with some friends and ignored the alert. Which is funny, because that’s the day my life changed.” He smiles and holds up a phone. “That follow turned into a direct message. A short and curt message from someone running the Thunderhawks account telling me to ‘delete this’ when I posted a comment about the Titans being the only decent mid-Atlantic NFL team.”

“But then a funny thing happened. I fell in love with her instead. Slowly. Accidentally. Deliberately, now that I think about it. With every message. With every like. With every comment. With every late-night conversation that felt a lot like fighting, I lost my mind for this woman. And she’s the total package. I’m talking smart. I’m talking knowledgeable about football. I’m talking smoking hot. I’m talking someone who likes to wear heels and Air Jordans and makes them both look good.”

“I know what you’re all wondering: what the hell is this nerd doing talking about love on a football account? Because, as silly as it is, this account brought me the most important person in my life. It brought me my dream girl. The person I’ve waited a very long time for. I thought I had it before, but I realize this is what I was looking for.”