Page 61 of The Last Person
“Tell me the truth. How long have you loved me? I know I’m irresistible, so I’ll understand if you fell for me the moment you first saw me.” His smile is bright and mischievous, making his eyes crinkle at the edges.
“I hate to disappoint you, but I did not fall for you the moment I met you. I wanted nothing to do with you.”
He dramatically puts a hand to his chest. “Nothing to do with me?”
I sigh and hold up my hand before he can get caught up talking about how amazing he is. “You know who I am. Quiet and calm is my primary nature. You walked into the room at the three-day camp, and you were loud, boisterous, cocky, and drew everyone’s attention. I didn’t want to be anywhere near that kind of energy.”
He grins at me. “Good thing fate had other plans, and we were paired up to work together.”
“It didn’t take long for me to realize how wrong I was. In a different way than I was expecting, you’re still all of those things, but the brightness of your personality complements my shades of gray, and your soul soothes mine.”
“Baby,” he whispers, sending a chill up my spine. He moves closer, intense gaze locked on me. “I knew from the moment I saw you across the locker room that I needed you in my life. My soul was always drawn to yours. Your steadfast calm and yourunwavering support. All I’ve ever wanted to do is give you the same things in return. Care for you. Love you the way you love me.”
“We really should’ve seen this coming.”
“Even the best football players get blindsided sometimes.”
I chuckle and shake my head, but he captures my lips in a kiss so passionate, we tumble backward, lost in each other.
Ryan is lyingin my arms on a blanket by the fireplace.Bridgertonis playing on the TV, but we’re not really watching since we’ve seen them all before.
He’s just finished telling me what Wendell told him.
“Do you think we should file a complaint?” I ask. “Bianca was right there and saw everything.”
“I don’t know. I’m not against it. There’s every chance she’s already reported that to Mike Brady. I wish we could just talk to him and get a sense of what he’s thinking.”
I shrug. “Why shouldn’t we? It’s not the typical way of going about things, but it’s not unheard of, either.”
“It might look shady if they are intending to get rid of him, though,” Ryan says.
“Maybe we should talk to Bianca—off the record—and get her opinion. Probably our agents’ opinions too.”
“And prepare for the worst,” he mutters. Then he sighs and looks at me, running his hand down my chest. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“You’re not going to, so don’t worry about it.”
“Even if they trade one of us? Being apart six months of the year would be?—”
“If they trade one of us, I’ll retire.”
He blinks a couple of times. “What? You can’t give up your career for me.”
“I wouldn’t be. I’d be giving it up for us, and that’s worth it. I enjoy the game, but football doesn’t mean to me what it means to you.”
“You’d really do that?”
“You wouldn’t?” I ask, mostly because I know he would.
“Of course I would. But I can’t say it in such a blasé way. I’d do anything for you, but losing football would hurt.”
“And that’s the difference. It’s part of what fulfills you. That’s not what football does for me.”
“Then what would you do? Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to have you be my sexy house husband and build an incredible garden and crochet me cozy blankets, but I want you to have something that fulfills you too.”
I bite my lip. I think it’s time to come clean.
“One second,” I whisper, pressing a kiss to his head as I get up and go to my room. I find the recently released poetry book and bring it out to the living room. Once I’m sitting back down, I hand him the book. “This fulfills me. You, building a life together, and this… that’s all I need.”
