The world around us fades away; there’s only her, her taste, her warmth mingling with mine. It’s intoxicating, a perfect blend of comfort and desire, and I never want it to end.
“What are we doing?” she asks as she pulls away suddenly, her tone hushed. She rests her head on my shoulder and sighs.
“I’m trying not to think about it,” I respond honestly.
She pushes me away, gently but a push nonetheless. “I like thinking about it because I like thinking about you, but if we’re not going anywhere, I need to know.”
“You need to know now?” Lifting her chin with my thumb and forefinger, I place a soft kiss on the tip of her nose. “Why is that?”
“To guard my heart. Do I like being with you? I do.” She stops talking as I place another soft, gentle kiss on her lips. “You challenge me in so many ways…but I’m scared. There’s a lot that comes with dating someone like you.”
“But, you’ve seen this before, right?”
Bex cocks her head and looks at me funny. “What do you mean?”
“Your former job, personal assistant. I’m sure you’ve dealt with some weird challenges.”
“As an employee, yes. But not dating someone so public.”
“You didn’t date any celebrities?”
“No way!” She chokes on her laughter. “Y’all are high maintenance to work for, not even going to try to date one.”
“But you said yes to a date with me.”
She bites her lower lip, taunting me. “I did.”
I stand up a little taller. “Guess I’m special, huh?”
“I can’t get what I want from that hedge situation unless I win you over now, can I?” she says with a wink as she starts down the steps to the sidewalk and heads to her car.
There’s no way I’m letting this woman go.
“Hold on,” I call out, racing behind her. She is my guiding warmth at this very moment, she is the sun and I’m happy to be a planet in this woman’s orbit. “Dinner. This week. What night are you free?”
She looks at me and shakes her head. “Why, Austin? Why me? Why have we gone from zero to one million in such a small amount of time? I’m not complaining because those kisses are white-hot amazing, but…why?”
“Because I spent months closing everyone out, including you. I remember seeing you at Georgie and Levi’s wedding and I kicked myself in the butt because I couldn’t get it together to come over and talk to you.”
“What?” She looks at me with sadness flickering in her eyes. “Why?”
“I was hurt, not sure what the future held. I only knew football and the farm. You’d swept in, this cool girl from LA who might be moving here…and I started to feel something.”
She waves a finger. “Wait. Remember you were dating someone named Stacey at that time. What about her?”
Ahh, Stacey. A social media influencer who showed up for her millions of followers, but couldn’t be bothered to go to the hospital with the family when I was taken off the field on a stretcher. Self-serving, selfish, and self-involved.
“Funny thing, I was going to break up with her at that game in Charlotte.” I wave my arms in the air. “When Georgie told me you were coming to that game, I’d made up my mind that I was going to ask you on a date. Then my life changed.”
I watch Bex’s face as the weight of what I’m sharing with her hits home. She snakes her hand out and wraps it around mine as she steps closer to me.
“Really?”
“Really,” I say with a nod. “That’s why I’m not going to take moments like this for granted anymore. I don’t want to ignore the little things from now on. I wasn’t seeing anything clearly until you came into focus, don’t you get that?”
Bex grins, standing on her tiptoes and throwing both of her arms around my neck. “I do now.”
“So, our date?”
