Page 41 of Personal Foul
Chapter Fifteen
Sydney
Flicking the light off in the bathroom, I’m careful not to make any noise as my feet pad across the hardwood floor. Colson’s body takes up nearly every inch of my bed, stretching from the headboard to where his feet are precariously close to dangling off the end.
I stare at his sleeping form, the way his arm is curled under his head, the white sheet draped over his waist. For a moment, my mind drifts to what happened earlier tonight. The visual has me biting my lower lip, contemplating all the ways I could wake him up.
“You’re staring…” he murmurs, my eyes darting up to his. They’re closed, but his breathtaking grin stretches across his face.
The alarm clock behind him flashes the time. It’s nearly four in the morning, and like usual, I’m unable to sleep. Growing up in and out of different homes, I was conditioned not to sleep for more than three hours at a time.Depending on where I stayed, there were some places I didn’t sleep for more than an hour without waking up. I also learned never to sleep with your back facing the door.
I guess you could say I’ve had one too many unwanted visitors to let myself be so vulnerable. The fact Colson is here, asleep in my bed, says a lot about how much I trust him.
He rubs his hand over the empty space next to him, where I was lying before. My mind flashes back to the conversation with my father earlier today when he stopped by my office as I was about to leave.
“You headin’ out for the day?”my dad asked as I was shutting the door to my office behind me.
I hadn’t seen him right away, which said a lot. He towered over me, standing nearly six-and-a-half feet tall. He wasn’t easy to hide, but he had a habit of coming up behind me when I least expected him.
“Yeah, I got everything done, so I thought I’d take the rest of the day off.”
“Why’s that?”
I hadn’t thought through how I was going to explain this to him. What was I supposed to say? Sorry, Dad. I’ve been seeing one of your players, and now I’m trying to avoid him.
“Is this about Colson?”
Shit.
Deciding to play coy, I avoided answering it directly, trying to feel out what exactly he knew.
“He stopped by to talk to me the other day…” he said, his voice trailing off.
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah…” His mouth curled up on the edge, smiling. “You didn’t want to tell me? You just wanted to let me find out for myself?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Sydney, do you honestly think I have no idea what’s going on?” He chuckled, shaking his head.
“I don’t have any idea what you are talking about.”I continued to play clueless.
“Yeah, Colson expected you’d try to hide it. He hadn’t expected me to bring it up to him either, but I called him out. Unlike you, he didn’t continue to pretend like I was blind or oblivious.”
“Okay,” I replied, nodding my head slowly.
“Listen, come here,” he said, reaching past me to grab for the door handle to my office before I had a chance to lock it.
He pushed it open, pressing his hand against my back to urge me to join him as we took a seat in the two chairs facing my desk.
“How long have I been in your life now? Wow, I guess we’re going on ten years, huh?” A smile stretched across his face. Warmth filled my chest, seeing how happy he was thinking over the question.
I was so incredibly lucky to have him and my mom in my life. I didn’t want to think about where I’d be without them.
“When we first met, I remember it took you nearly a week before you came around to talking to me. You warmed up to your mom much quicker than you did me, but I understood. I knew I had to earn your trust, and I was okay with you taking your time.”
He moved the chair slightly to face me. His penetrating gaze left me feeling like there was nowhere for me to turn.
