Page 217 of Catch Me
“There’s one more. If we’re using the guys as a reference point and taking my arguably unhealthy attachment to you into consideration, it probably won’t take very long at all.” Taking his chin between my fingers, I kissed him slowly. “I want to fall in love with you, Roman Valdez. And once I do, I want to do it all over again, every day.”
“Get in the fucking car.”
I cocked my head, trying to read his expression. He kissed me deeply and pressed me more firmly against the door.
“Get in so we can get back to your house,” he said. “You thought this ice cream couldn’t get any better, but that’s because we haven’t eaten it off of each other.”
“Well, good thing tomorrow’s laundry day.”
*****
Everyone was acting crazy, and I couldn’t blame them. We paid to occupy a bar tonight without any other customers, and between the players, their partners, and other invited guests, it was pretty packed.
“How do you have a beer?” I asked West.
His eyes widened, then he broke into a grin. “I’ll take it to my grave.”
I looked at the other guys suspiciously and found them all with a drink. I knew for a fact that a few of them weren’t twenty-one. Well, we’d just won the World Series, so I just didn’t care, and there was one person in each of the relationships who was of age. They could be responsible for their boyfriends.
“Have you seen Roman?”
West turned in a circle. “Nope. Did you already scare him off again?”
“You’ve always been my least favorite.”
“I’ll allow that only because it’s your big day.”
Walking past him, I scanned the faces around me. I wasn’t concerned that he’d run off, but I didn’t like not knowing where he was. We’d done a LIVE together before we came here—after our ice cream session. I was surprised when he offered to come on with me, but I was also ecstatic. A lot of my followers already knew about him because of the game, and they were happy to see me online. It felt really damn good. Sen might have been right when he told me I needed to find a way to keep doing it without fucking things up for my career. It already made me feel more whole.
Except the other part of me was currently missing.
Since I’d done a lap around the bar, I decided to head outside. There were a few tables in the back and a spot to play corn hole, which was where I found Roman. He was tossing a bag, and I would’ve joined him, but I heard him talking.
“I don’t know what to do...No, I haven’t talked to him. That’s the problem...Yeah, ever since the game...Can’t I just ignore it? I don’t know if I can do it.”
I smelled smoke and saw that he was holding a cigarette, which didn’t mean good things. Ignoring the fact that he was on the phone, I came up behind him. He heard me and turned around, then pursed his lips. I took the cigarette from him and brought it to my lips, then gave it back.
“What’d he say to you?” he asked whoever he was talking to. “See, why would I want to call him? I don’t care if he’s my dad!”
My chest felt tight when I heard the despair in his voice. He wouldn’t talk to me about it earlier, but I knew that it would affect him. All he told me was that he’d never regret what he did, which made me feel a little better at the time. I wished he would’ve been more open with me, though.
His eyes were watery and I couldn’t stand it, so I moved behind him and pulled him against my chest. When I tucked my face into his neck, he leaned his head on top of mine.
“Yeah, Mom, I know. I’ll call him when I’m home tomorrow...No, I don’t need you there. He’ll just blame you and say it’s because of Ross’ family...Not Til either. He doesn’t have anxiety when it comes to people like him. He’ll say something out of pocket...Yeah, I’ll let you know what happens. I love you too.”
He tapped his earbud, then slumped back against me with a sigh. I kissed his neck, followed by his jaw and his cheek.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“Don’t say that. It’s just a part of the whole fucking journey, I guess.”
“Your mom’s right. Let people be here for you.”
“I do. That’s the only reason I’ve made it this far, but this is different. I know you understand that.”
“Sure, but if I had anyone in my corner back then, I might not have felt so lost along the way. Maybe my anger wouldn’t have grown so much.”
“How did it start?”
