Page 33 of Closing the Distance

“What happened out there anyway?” Romel asks, fatherly concern in his gaze. I’m not sure he’d know how to shut it off even if he tried.

I grip the back of my neck and then tell them about Lexi and how I was late moving after the snap. These guys get it. Both Gabe and Dom would do anything for their women—including being distracted on the field if they thought something might be wrong—and Romel’s biggest priority is his daughter. I don’t have to explain myself, but I still feel guilty.

“Don’t beat yourself up about it,” Gabe says. “We all would’ve been the same way.”

“When are we gonna get to meet this chick anyway?” Dom asks.

“I was hoping you’d get to meet her today, but now I don’t know. I don’t want to push her into anything until she’s ready.”

Romel watches me carefully. “You’re falling for her, aren’t you?”

I drop my gaze to the ground, not entirely sure how to answer. I’ve never been in love before, but I can’t deny the way I feel about Lexi is more intense than I’ve ever felt for another woman. I look back up, locking my gaze with Romel’s. “Yeah, I think I am.”

Of course, I won’t tell her that. Not yet. We might be having sex now—and thank fuck for that because her body calls to me in a way I’ve never experienced before—but that doesn’t mean she’s ready for me to confess all my feelings to her.

But someday soon, I hope she will be.

NINETEEN

Carrying a bowl of popcorn and my apple juice, I head to the couch. It’s not a weird craving, but it’s one I’ve had for a few days.

Ty settles next to me, leaning forward to grab the remote before he turns to me. “Ready?”

I nod, my mouth already full of buttery popcorn. The corner of his lips quirks up in a boyish smile that has my stomach swooping. “What?” I mumble around a mouthful of popcorn.

He shakes his head. “Nothing. You’re cute.”

My cheeks heat like I’m a thirteen-year-old girl with my first crush all over again. But unlike that boy who seemed repulsed by my crush on him, Ty never makes me feel less than the most incredible woman he’s met. He treats me like my time is a gift to him instead of the other way around. It’s taken a lot of getting used to, but I think I’m finally starting to fully embrace all the happy feelings he makes me feel.

This is genuinely the happiest I’ve ever been in my life—and it’s a type of happiness I wasn’t sure I’d ever have.

He presses play on the movie we queued up earlier—a romantic comedy I’ve really wanted to watch—and then spreads his arm along the back of the couch, allowing me to snuggle up next to him.

A deep calm washes over me as I lean against his warm body while his fingers play with the loose strands of my hair. Ty came over right after his team meetings today. He manages to spend all his free time with me and texts me every day that he’s away, just checking in on me. It’s been a completely new experience to have a man as attentive as he is.

If I’m honest with myself, it scares me a little bit.Nothing good in my life has ever lasted, and after the last several weeks with Ty, I’m worried that this time, having the rug ripped out from under me might truly break me beyond repair. I can feel my walls crumbling with every hour we spend together. The way he kisses me on the forehead, runs his fingers throughmy hair whenever we snuggle on the couch, always has my favorite snacks on hand should I ever want them, and looks at me like I’m his whole world. It’s all eating away at any chance I had of keeping him at arm’s length.

And then there’s the sex, which is just as earth-shattering as it was that first night we spent together.

“How’d you get this scar?” he murmurs, and I glance away from the movie that I wasn’t even paying attention to and find him staring at a spot on the back of my neck, the corners of his lips turned down in a slight frown.

I brush his hand away and move my hair back to cover it. “Oh, it was nothing,” I say, forcing my gaze back to the movie, hoping he’ll take the hint and not press it.

He doesn’t.

“It looks…” he trails off and my curiosity gets the better of me. I turn my head to find him already staring at me. “My cousin tried to look like a badass one time and put a cigarette out on his pants, but they were thin and it burned through to his skin. He had a scar that looked kinda like this, but not as bad,” he finishes, his voice trailing off as his gaze moves from mine to the spot now hidden by my hair. When he looks back into my eyes, there’s something dark in his gaze that I’ve never seen from him before. His nostrils flare slightly as he growls out, low and rough, “Did someone put a cigarette out on your neck?”

I swallow thickly, my mouth dry and my heart racing. No one’s ever asked me outright, and I typically wear my hair down so it’s never noticeable. On the off chance I wear it up, I use makeup to hide it. Makeup can cover a multitude of sins.

He cups my face, and tears burn behind my eyes at his gentle touch when it looks like an inferno is raging in his eyes. “Who? Who fucking hurt you like that?”

My nose burns as I fight back the tears with everything I’m worth, but it’s no use as they escape silently down my face, giving away the pain I try so hard to keep buried.

His anger fades as he shakes his head. “Precious,” he whispers, and then he’s pulling me into his lap, holding me tight to him, grounding me with his strength and comfort.

We sit there like that for a long time before I get my tears under control and find my voice. “Tell me about your family,” I say, my voice low but pleading.

“Will you tell me about yours?”

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