Page 102 of False Start
“This was always the dream, Quarterback,” I remind him.
His face softens. “Playing for the Voodoo under your dad was the dream, babe. Being married to his daughter is an even bigger dream, one that came true for a little while.”
I reach for his hand and lace my fingers through his. “You’re going to play just fine. You’re the best QB in the league.”
He grins at me, and waves it off. “You’re just saying that because you’ve taken my bra off. I think you’re a little biased.”
I giggle. “You’re probably right. The bra is what really pushed me over the edge of seduction.”
“I knew it,” he jokes, and then he leans in and whispers against my lips, “You used to give me a kiss for good luck before a game. Think I could talk you into a little one?”
I look up as I pretend to think hard about his request. “Well, I suppose it depends on how small we’re talking.”
“The teensiest.”
I smile as I lean forward and press my lips against his. “That’s all you get until you bring home a win.”
I pull away, drop his hand, and head for the door, but he scoops me up from behind. “You didn’t just tease the fuck out of me and walk away, woman.”
He tickles my ribs and gets a few shouts of laughter from me. “I give up!”
Bryant spins me around in his arms and leans his forehead against mine. He licks his lips as he says, “I think you can do better than that. As a matter of fact, I know you can.”
“Yeah?”
He reaches between us and grabs himself. “Yeah, baby.”
I close the small gap between us and softly bite his lip before sucking on it to make it all better. I almost tell him I love him, but shy away before I can spit it out. “Please be careful out there.”
He kisses me. “I always am. Will you be there after the game?”
“I work here, silly” I remind him.
He shakes his head. “No, Z, like you used to be there after the game.”
He wants me to meet him on the field and be the first to congratulate him on a win or console him over a loss. It’s a big step for us. “Yeah, Quarterback. I’ll be there.”
He searches my eyes for a moment before he grins, cradles my face in his hands, and pulls me to him for a kiss. “I love you, Coach.”
I panic and stiffen against him. Fuck. It’s been so long since I’ve uttered those words to him. They feel foreign, and there’s a heaviness to those three short words. I close my eyes and turn a perfectly great moment into a shitty one.
“Z, baby, it’s okay,” he tells me and presses his forehead to mine as I cry and shake my head.
“It’s not okay. I’m sorry, I’m just not ready.” I try to pull away, but he holds me tightly.
“Don’t run. Let’s talk about it, baby.”
I freeze in my tracks. He’s right. I’m running. I do it without thinking. It’s my response when I get scared, but I have to stop sometime. “Okay.”
“Listen, I don’t expect everything is going to go back to being the way it was. Honestly, I don’t want it to go back to being the way it was. I want to be a better husband and man for you. I’ve been working on that for two years, but you need time to adjust to it. When you’re ready, you’ll say it back. I know you love me, Zhanna, and it’s what keeps me going.”
God. Why does he have to say the perfect thing at the right time?
I do love him, and it warms my heart that he knows it. I told him as much in therapy without outright saying the magical three words. Saying them simply because he said them first isn’t how I want to tell him I love him for the first time in two years.
He pulls me into a big bear hug and kisses the top of my head. “I’ve got to get back before Otto comes looking for me.”
I snicker thinking of Otto finding us in an empty conference room together. “Yeah, you do.”
