Page 143 of Face Off
“Are you just talking about the jersey?” Emmy tips her chin up. “Or something else?”
I crowd her space and put my hands on the wall, bracketing her head. “Do you want me to be talking about something else?”
“Yes.” She bites her bottom lip. “I do.”
I take a deep breath. This isn’t where I expected to have this conversation, but I’m not going to complain. The sooner we have it, the better.
“I want more with you, Emmy. I want to come home to you every night and I want to take you out to dinner in the city. I want to hold your hand on the sidewalk and I want to kiss you in the rain. I want all that shit they talk about in the movies. I’m going to be honest with you, though. I don’t have a fucking clue how to be in a relationship or how to be a boyfriend, but I’m going to learn. I’m going to try, and you’re the only person I’d ever want to try with. This isn’t just sex to me, and it hasn’t been for a while. If keeping it casual is the only way I get to keep you, then so be it. But I think you want something more too.”
Her nod is slow. “I want that. I want you to wear my jersey and let me wear my heels. I want you to come food shopping with me and give me an eight-minute lecture on why almonds are better than pecans.”
“They are,” I say firmly, and she touches my cheek.
“That’s why I like you so much. You’re so passionate about the things that are important to you, like almonds. Who the hell gets excited about almonds?”
“I do, because they’re good for you. They’ve got vitamins and minerals and all that other stuff we’re supposed to eat every day.” I take her hand in mine and kiss the inside of her palm.
“Enough almond talk.”
“Is that a yes to… to being whatever comes after fuck buddies?”
“I think they usually call that boyfriend and girlfriend. Dating. Acting like idiots because we can’t keep our hands off each other.”
“Yes.” I bob my head. “Yes to all of that.”
Her smile is soft and pretty. “It’s okay if you don’t know what you’re doing. We’re definitely going to mess up, but we can mess up together and it doesn’t matter. I’m going to get mad at you for wearing mismatched socks. You’re going to get mad at me for not laughing at your jokes. We’ll give it a try and see where it goes.”
“This conversation is not what I had planned when I put your jersey on.”
“What did you have planned?”
“I was ready to hype you up and tell you all the reasons why I’m going to buy one of your jerseys in every color. I had your stat line ready to go.”
“I can be difficult sometimes, Maverick. I know I’m snarky, and the last thing I’d ever want is for it to come across as ungrateful for something that’s so nice.” Emmy pauses to take a breath. “I want you to know when you do things like this—” She gestures up and down my body—“I struggle to find the words for how it makes me feel. Thank you seems too small, and I’m working on being more outwardly appreciative of your kindness. Inside I’m…” She pops a shoulder and tucks her chin to her chest. “It gives me butterflies, and I feel lucky that I’m the one you’re giving your time to.”
“I know how you feel, Emmy.” I rest my hand at the back of her neck. “I see it when you smile at me. Which is a lot, by the way.”
“No, it’s not,” she challenges, and I grin.
“You’re smiling right now, Red. You’ve got these little wrinkles around your eyes, and they’re the cutest damn thing. They make me want to stick around for a while.”
“How long?”
Forever.
“Until you get sick of me.”
“I’m not sure I’ll ever get sick of you,” Emmy admits. “You’re my favorite person in the world.”
“Funny. You’re my favorite person too.”
The door down the hall opens, and she scoots out of the cage I have her in. Grant gives us a big wave, and Emmy waves back.
“Sup, G?” I ask, and we exchange a high five. “You good?”
“Yeah, I’m good. Oh,shit, Cap. Is that Emmy’s jersey? No fucking way. That’s fire.” Grant pulls out his phone and starts to record a video. “Check out the drip from Maverick Miller tonight, y’all. He’s rocking an exclusive Emmy Hartwell jersey complete with custom high-top Nikes.”
“I don’t know what half of those words mean,” Emmy says.
