Page 48 of The Long Game

There’s no part of Lexi I don’t like.

She’s smart, talented, and beautiful.

She has an incredible work ethic and the best family on the planet.

She has her own dreams and aspirations. She isn’t looking for a potential NFL earner to hook her cart to.

And there is something about our banter and the way we tease each other. I can’t seem to stop smiling when we’re together.

Lexi Benson is everything, that’s it, nothing else left to add… she is everything.

I lift the duvet comforter and motion for her to get in. I love seeing her naked body out for me to admire but I need to feel this one out differently. She climbs in and I climb in behind her, pulling her to me. Her face buried in my chest.

"Have you had any more nightmare?" she asks in the silence.

"No. Not when I’m sleeping next to you."

"Good." She smiles into my chest.

"I wish I could keep you in my bed all the time. I’d never had a nightmare again."

"If only," she says.

"If only," I repeat.

A minute of silence passes as I rub her arm.

"Why do you want to sleep with me, Lex?"

"Isn’t that sort of obvious?" she chuckles.

"Not the usual stuff. Not the reason other people want to. Why do you? You could have anyone you want. Why me?"

"Anyone I want? That’s not…"

"Yes, it’s true. I’d bet you my NFL career on it. But I don’t want to think about you with other guys. I want to know why you want to sleep with me."

Her fingers dance against my chest and she calculates her next answer.

"I feel safe with you."

That answer surprises me, but it shouldn’t. She is safe with me. I would do anything to keep her safe.

"I feel protected and cared for when I’m lying in your arms. I trust you…or at least, when it comes to the bedroom I do. I know I’m your priority when we’re in bed together."

There’s so much there that makes me feel ten feet tall, but one thing shrinking me back down.

"You only trust me in the bedroom?"

"Sorry, forget it. That’s not what I meant to say. The point is I trust you and I’ve thought of how it would be with you. Now, I want to know if it’s as good as I imagined we’d be together."

I’m a fucking idiot, but like any lovesick moron, I let go of the issue that I should push harder on…

…should get to the bottom of…

…work this out until she can dispel that notion.

But my cock has different ideas and he says,Welp, that’s enough for me…let’s do this!

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