Page 112 of A Quarterback for Christmas

There’s a short moment of silence as Bella pushes her lips from side to side. I know there’s something going on in that pretty little blonde head of hers, but I have no idea what. “Not sure what Sam would think of me staying with you.” She drawls out the same like she used to with Brianna’s.

“Sam?” It takes me a minute to realize who she’s talking about. “Do you mean Sam Taylor?”

She nods with pursed lips. “Yeah, read that she was after you after a couple of failed relationships, and saw a few pictures of you guys together.”

I throw my head back on a cackle. “Wow, I didn’t think they hadBaseball Wivesout here. How are you keeping up with all this crap?”

“They don’t, butI saw some stuff online.” And there it is. Without asking, I can see it. The hurt and frustration mixed in her facial expression.

“Is that why you stopped responding to my texts? Because you thought I was dating Sam?”

The sheepish expression and red tinge to her cheeks answer the question for me, and I clench my fists, annoyed that a few PR pictures cost us two years of talking to each other. “I’m not dating Sam.” I can see her shoulders visibly relax. “Sam slid into my DM’s shortly after I got drafted, trying to get me to agree on fake dating her so she could get more tabloid attention. You’d think she’d be bored with it after that apparent non-engagement to Tate Sorenson and that other football player, but she apparently thought she needed to date younger. I ignored her, but she stalked me for a few weeks, trying to create some buzz, which worked for a week.”

“So you didn’t date her?”

“Nope, and I wished you had asked me about it instead of ghosting me,” I sigh out because I can’t believe I’m still having to explain my intentions to this girl. Okay, okay, I wasn’t a saintfor the last two years. Sue me. Bella stopped talking to me, and last time I was messed up like that was when she showed up at St. Michael’s without warning. “The only girl I’ve ever been interested in seems to be more interested in running away from me.” I wink, and watch as she slowly takes that in. Biting down on her lip, she raises her brow and tilts her head. “She ran all the way to London to get away from everything.”

“I think you’ll find she stopped running a long time ago,” she retorts, lifting her foot until it grazes against my knee. I move back, solely because I’m worried she’ll accidentally kick me in the balls. “She’s got a bad leg, after all.”

“Prove it.”

Her foot stops moving, and I grab it with my hand. Holding her boot in place, I watch her squirm. She doesn’t know what to do so ends up just shuffling in place. “Is that a dare?”

I press down on the fabric of her boot, trying to massage her leg. “No. I don’t want to dare you to do anything. I want you to act on something because after two and a half years of soul searching, you finally know what you want.”

“Do you want me to admit that I love you again? Because the last time I did that, you told me to leave the country.”

“Because I love you enough to want what’s best for you. I never wanted to be a reason you held back and never found your true passion in life. I never wanted you to feel like you settled on what you wanted in your life, and with me.”

“Silly, Drew. I’ve always known what I wanted when it came to you.” My heart is beating wildly because her admitting that makes me want to throw her over my shoulder and drag her up to my hotel room to show her just how much I’ve been thinking about her this whole time.

“Then what are you waiting for? Show me.”

“I need an invitation to your room first.”

I smirk, moving my bulky body out of the booth to her side because I’m not going to let that linger for too long. “So, an invitation to live in my house in California isn’t enough for you?”

I hold my hand out, and she accepts it without hesitation. “But an invitation is just that. It’s not reality, Drew. Things aren’t that simple between us. They have never been. We’re complicated.” She shakes her hand, but that doesn’t deter me.

“Wewerecomplicated. Like I said before, our timing has never been right. But think about it. You need to come back to the states and have nowhere to go. I’ve got a big house, waiting for someone to fill it with their stuff. Hell, I’ve even got a room where you can sew if you want. Maybe this is it. Maybe this is finally our time.”

“Are you sure you’d be ready for that? Living with me twenty-four seven?”

“Are you forgetting that I’ve already lived with you?”

“Yeah, but that was only for a few days, this would hopefully be for a lot longer.”

“Like forever,” I joke, but not really and I’m pretty sure that zing of electricity passing between us makes it obvious. “In all honesty, Bella. I’ve been ready for you to be mine since I was sixteen and painting your name on that stupid ball. Come upstairs. Let's figure out the logistics later. Right now, I want to make up for lost time.”

“Okay,” she says with a smile and lets me pull her into my arms, ready to go wherever I want to take her.

Epilogue

Bella

Two Months Later

Christmas

---