Page 175 of Scoring the Player
Next week’s too far.
A few minutes later,my head pops up from my phone when Jett says, “Sir, wait here. There’s a man standing in front of your house.”
I lean forward as the headlights wash over my driveway.
Holy fuck!
I’m out of the car before it rolls to a stop.
CHAPTER 41
SALEM
His steps slow as he draws near, searching my eyes like I’m an apparition. For a breath, I wonder if I got it wrong. It’s ballsy to show up out of the blue like this. But then again, he did it first in Chicago.
He sucks in a breath when I tell him, “Anaïs gave me your address.”
The quiet wisdom that speaks to me about Blue whispers to be still as he reaches out and grazes my sternum. It aches to witness the tremble of disbelief that I wouldn’t cross an ocean to be near him.
I needed to cross the ocean for him but also for me. My fears about Denzel…they’re getting harder and harder to shake.
His chin lifts, and the second our eyes meet, he’s there, falling into my arms.
I peel off his fitted cap and kiss his mop of curls as he holds tight like I might vanish. “I missed you, too, Blue.”
I let out a deep breath as I’m grounded by the press of his weight against me. Each breath bridges miles and miles of distance.
The headlights from the car that dropped him off startle him as it reverses out of the driveway.
He lingers for a breath before stepping back.
“How long do I have you?” he asks.
I let out an incredulous breath.Forever if you’d have me.“Just tonight.”
His shoulders curve in. “Come on.” He reaches down and lifts my duffel. “Are you hungry?”
“I can eat.”
“I’ll order us something.”
He unlocks the door with his phone app, and I follow him through the arched entryway.
We peel off our shoes and then continue through a dark foyer.
“Watch the steps,” he says before flicking on a switch and lighting up a sunken living room. He stuffs his hands in his back pockets as he looks around. “Uh, there’s a bathroom through there.” He gestures to a door along the hall that we just passed. “I’m still decorating the place.”
I bite the inside of my lip.
He’s cute when he’s shy.
A cute little liar.
I smirk. “Yeah?”
He looks around and squints. “Yeah, no.”
I snicker. We both know this is as moved in as he’ll ever be here.
