Page 75 of Her Football Star Ex

And I don’t know what it was about her keeping something of mine that got to me, even when she’d been so mad at me, but I was momentarily speechless.

She hadn’t wanted to totally erase me from her life after all.

“Anyway,” she said. “Those are mine now. So while I’m fine letting you wear them while we watch the movie, you’re going to have to give them back before you leave.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “For some reason I’m okay with that.”

I wanted her to keep them.

But then I had another idea. “If you get to keep these, then I think it’s only fair that I keep something of yours.”

“You think so?” She smiled, her face open and unguarded. It was the kind of smile she used to give me when we were at our best. “And if you were to keep something, what would it be?”

I pursed my lips as I thought about it. Then I said, “If I could have anything of yours, I’d probably want a lock of your hair.”

“My hair?” Her jaw dropped and she smacked my arm. “Are you serious? Because that’s almost as creepy as that porcelain doll was.”

I laughed, loving teasing her. “Fine, so maybe I wouldn’t really ask you to cut off your hair.”

“Good. Because I would totally turn you down.” She laughed. “Do you know how long it took me to get it this long?”

“No.” I reached out and tentatively combed my fingers through her soft hair. “But it looks good.”

It felt good, too. I’d always loved combing my fingers through her hair.

And when I saw goosebumps race across her skin with my touch, it told me she didn’t mind me touching it right now, either.

This was progress.

She cleared her throat. “So, since we just nixed the whole lock-of-hair idea, what else would you keep?”

“I don’t know.” I thought about it, returning my hand to my lap. “I guess I’d probably want the quilt you used to bring to all the games before we got you the suite at the stadium.” It was a green-and-white striped quilt that had always been easy to spot in the crowd among the black and gold Dragons’ paraphernalia. Whenever I needed a boost during the game, I’d look for her in the crowd, see her smile and wave at me, and instantly feel better.

“Yeah?” she asked, seeming surprised by my choice.

“Yeah.” I nodded.

And when she seemed to study me for a long moment, I couldn’t help but wonder what she thought of my choice. Did she think it was odd that I still wanted something after everything that had happened?

“So what do you say?” I asked. “Think you can part with it?”

She pursed her pink lips then shrugged. “I’ll have to think about it.” She stood and turned on the lamp next to us. “Do you want any popcorn?”

“Sure,” I said.

“Great. I’ll pop some while you change.”

29

Emerson

“So,I guess it’s been a while since I wore this shirt.” Vincent came out from the bathroom a minute later, wearing the clothes I’d given him.

The red T-shirt was a lot tighter on him than I remembered—leaving little to the imagination where his muscles were concerned.

Dang. He was ripped these days.

I let my gaze take in his physique. The fabric of the T-shirt was stretched tight across his sculpted biceps, his amazing pectoral muscles, and those broad shoulders of his.

---