Page 107 of When Wrecked Meets Ruined
Mine.
“I’m your man, huh?” he murmured against my lips.
“Are you denying it?” I asked when he set me on my feet and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, ushering me toward his family.
“Hell no. Makes me feel ten feet tall.”
“That’s how tall you looked out on that field. You practically jumped over that guy’s head.”
“That felt good. I was so pumped.”
“I could tell. You were amazing today.”
“Yeah?”
I smiled up at him, giving my praise freely. “Yeah.”
His family congratulated him, and they talked for a few minutes, going over the game's highlights. Then they said their goodbyes but not before reminding Ridge about Sunday dinner the next day. “Make sure you bring Evie and Wren,” Brody said before walking away.
“Yo, McCallister! You gonna introduce us to your girl?” one of his teammates asked.
“Nope. She’s all mine.” He steered me away from his teammates. “Don’t even look their way, baby. They’re all assholes.”
I knew he was joking. He got along with his teammates and considered a few of them good friends.
“Keep your eyes on the prize,” he said when I tried to peek over his shoulder.
“Are you the prize?” I asked with a laugh.
“What do you think?” he scoffed. “I amallyou need. And you already know I’m more than a handful.”
I couldn’t deny it. But that was just how I liked it.
“Let’s go back to my room before we go out to celebrate,” he said. “I already told Walker he needs to find another place to sleep tonight.”
Poor Walker. He always got kicked out when I came to visit. “You worked pretty hard out there on the field. Are you sure you have enough energy?”
He growled. “I’ve got plenty to spare. Whenever you’re near me, I’m on turbocharge. I could just keep going and going and going. All. Night. Long.”
I would have laughed if not for the fact that it was true. Ridge and I couldn’t get enough of each other.
I hoped it would always be that way.
CHAPTERFORTY
Ridge
“Ready for the game on Saturday?”Gabriella asked as we walked out of the Communications class we had together.
“I’m more ready for the game than I am for this damn English essay I have to write.” I’d already gotten one extension, so it was due tomorrow. I had a shit-ton of work for my other classes too. Which meant another long night after a long day.
“I could help you with that. I could come over tonight, and we can work on it together.”
The old me would have taken her up on the offer. Pretty sure she’d write it for me if I asked. But I wasn’t going there.
“Thanks, but I’ve got this.” The football team had an Academic Support Center in the football complex, and we had our own tutors. The school did everything to ensure that their ‘student athletes’ passed all their classes. But let’s face it, the concept of student-athlete was ridiculous. There were only twenty-four hours in a day, and almost every hour of that day was accounted for, which left precious little time to focus on academics.
“Well, okay, if you change your mind, the offer stands.” Gabriella tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and smiled at me. “I’d love to help.”
