Page 140 of Steeling Her
“ ‘Good sir’? Who the fuck are you calling ‘good sir,’ Steel?” he finally says through his laughter. I know he gets the James Bond reference. I saw the collection in his house when we were looking for a movie that time we went down to Ellie’s birthday party. They had all of them, even the very old ones.
“Wait! Are you not my waiter?” I keep a serious expression on until I see him smirk and then he pulls me back to his chest, holding both of my hands in his as we both cut through the water together.
“I’m Nick fucking Jackson. You’ve never heard of the great Nick Jackson? Ole Miss’s first-string quarterback? Co-captain of the team and the sexiest man on campus? I even have a six pack too,” he jokes. I snort, lifting my leg up out of the water. The cold air latches on to my skin, causing goosebumps and a chill to appear for a short time, so I dunk it back in through the bubbles.
“I’m sure that got you a lot of attention too,” I point out in the most playful manner. I feel him kiss my shoulder, the crook of my neck, and up behind my ear.
“It did. I loved it. I loved having girls around me all the time. I felt like a god, and they treated me like one too. I found it easy to lay them. They came to me, and I wouldn’t protest. Everything was sweet and easy,” he says.
I purse my lips and squint my eyes, wondering where he’s taking this.
“Until I met this girl,” he continues putting a goofy smile on face, “I met her at this party. She was in this gorgeous . . . sexy . . . breath-taking red dress that hugged every inch of her perfectly.” I lean my head back again, listening to him converse about me and that night. “She had this urge to keep running away from me.” He sighs, and I beam at him, remembering when all I did was run away from any football player that night, especially him. “But when I eventually spoke to her, I got addicted to her personality. I thought she was the cutest person I’ve ever met.” He makes me blush again. “You still are.” He blows on my skin. “You always will be to me,” he whispers behind me, kissing behind my ear.
“And you always will be to me too,” I whisper back. “I know I’ve said this before, but you’re nothing like I thought you’d be. All the rumors I’ve heard of you, not a single one has been true. Except for the one where you got around.” I tilt my head to the side, expressing the truth. Not to hurt him, but to state the fact that there was more than meets the eye with him.
But he has to let you in first in order for you to see the other layers. As for those girls that practically throw themselves at him whenever he steps out in public, I understand why he acted like that towards them. I mean, if it’s there why not? But it still doesn’t mean he should hurt them. After all, they’re only human, they were only looking for love too.
I continue, “You have many depths to you. You always surprise me with new things about you. I like learning about you, about your childhood, and I’m flattered that you like sharing your memories with me.” I take his hand up out of the water and kiss his knuckles delicately. Twice.
“You remind me of my mom,” he admits and I freeze. That’s not a comparison I want to be made between the two of us. “Not like that!” This gains a laugh from him. “Jesus, not like that!” he explains. “You both have the same kindness. You look after other’s first and then yourself once you know everything is alright around you,” he compliments both of us.
“I could say the same to you. You have your mom’s kindness too. Putting the girls first, in every sense,” I recite his own words back to him and he continues to chuckle at me.
“If you don’t, then why have sex in the first place? The girl comes first. Plus, I like watching you cum. Your face is so sexy when you reached the peak. Jesus, you looked like a piece of art. I’m getting hard again just remembering you. The rush of redness to your cheeks and the way your body lost all control because I guided you to a place that you’ve never been before. I was the first guy to ever touch you like that. You have no idea what that means to me. The fact that you trusted me enough to make you feel that way . . .” His speech has the butterflies in my stomach acting up again. My heart is pumping the blood around my body via my veins. The strong pulse rhythmically thumps inside of me. I’m not sure what the cause of it is, it could be a mixture of him and his flattering words.
“I trust you. I couldn’t think of anyone else I’d want to share that moment with,” I confess truthfully to him because I couldn’t think of another guy who would have made me feel that way.
The gentle touches, asking me if I was okay to do that, coaching me through what I needed to know about this entire thing without getting frustrated because he was there for me when I felt the expected pain, and telling me it’s okay and it’ll get better. He never lied to me during that special moment between us; he was truthful, and that’s why I trusted him so much.
Because what is a relationship without trust?
And I wouldn’t change that moment for anything.
Chapter Thirty
It Was Just a Joke, Man
Carter
The roar from the people around me make me wince in pain. It’s something that I have to get used to again.
I haven’t been to Nick’s game in a while. It’s nice to be back. It hasn’t started, but they’re going through the line-up of the teams that are going to be playing tonight. Alabama graces us with their presence tonight, and I can’t wait to watch the game. It’s been a while.
I’m sitting in the middle between Haley and Danielle. Haley’s parents have yet to arrive to watch their son play tonight on the field. I’m so thrilled to see Nick too. It’s been a few days since our date and the time I handed him my v-card. I haven’t told anyone that we had sex, and that’s just the way I want it. I want to keep it between us.
When we woke up next morning, everyone was dying of hangovers, so nobody came out of their rooms or bothered us either. All we did was lay in bed and made out with each other. It was lovely and gentle. Then, we drove to eat some breakfast and had some alone time in a restaurant where nobody recognized him or hit on him. It was pleasant. We spent time alone together, and that was all I needed.
Now, I’m waiting for him to run on the field so this game can start. Alabama is out in full steam and is pumped up for the game. When the speakers erupt with a booming voice welcoming the home team onto the field, everyone explodes in cheers and shouts. Standing on our feet, we clap for the home side, who race onto the field all fired up. Pumping one another up, I capture Nick’s eyes just as his parents take their seats. He beams up at me and sends me a wave which I return.
I can see his mom wave at him too, bouncing up and down like one of those proud football moms. My mom is the exact same. Turning back around to kiss Haley hello, she waves at both Danielle and me while their dad doesn’t even bother to greet anyone except his daughter. Maybe he’s too caught up in this game?
Either way, it’s still a little rude.
However, the main focus is to cheer on the team so they win the SEC for the college. I hope they win and do themselves proud. I know they’ve all worked hard for this. When the game kicks off, there is an almighty roar in the stands to hype up either side. Because it’s a home game, there are more home supporters. Fans are being crushed from either side, and it looks to be a more physical game than an airborne one. No doubt that either team will be suffering from cuts and bruises after this one.
“Dammit, Nick!” Mr. Jackson thunders as he stands up and points to the field, largely at his son. “Use him! He’s open!” I can tell that he’s frustrated with his son, and he is right. Ryan is open, but he preferred to pass to TJ. It was so obvious to the other team that TJ often gets tackled by them. He and Ryan have not seen eye to eye for the past while, and it’s evident on the field too.
When Nick gets the ball again, everyone observes that Ryan is wide open. He waves his arms around, practically screaming that he can score, but Nick chooses TJ again.
