Page 15 of Tempt Me

I made it happen.

Once I change out of my costume, I head out the stage door to meet my dad.

I find him standing outside… next toBlaze.

“What…” I let my words trail.

I don’t even know what to say.

Blaze speaks first, handing me a bouquet of flowers. “You were incredible.”

“You really were, hon,” Dad says, bringing me in for a hug.

I’m in shock.

What does Dad know?

If anything?

“Thank you,” I said. “Blaze was a big help.”

“I talked to your dad,” Blaze says, finally giving me the information I’m wondering about. “And I asked him if I could have his blessing to date you.”

Now… I’m really stunned.

I look at my dad. “I was going to talk to you.”

Dad puts his hand up. “It’s alright. I get it. This is a sticky situation. But you know I love you, Mel. I want you to be happy. So, of course, you can date Blaze if that’s what you want. Don’t worry about football. We’ll keep things professional when he’s ready to come back.”

I can’t believe this is happening.

I thought Dad would be okay with this, but I thought it would take some convincing.

I guess Blaze really did the work for us.

“Okay,” I said. “Thank you. Really.”

“I’ll give you kids a moment,” Dad says, excusing himself. He turns to add, “But we can all agree that if he hurts you–”

“I’ll kick his ass,” I tell Dad.

Dad smiles at me and says, “Exactly.”

When he’s gone, I ask Blaze, “How? When?What?”

He laughs. “It’s simple. I told him that if it came down to it, I would walk away from football if I needed to. I think that showed him how much you mean to me. And he said yes.”

“I can’t believe you did that,” I said in awe. “You would give up on football for me?”

Blaze steps closer to me. “Yes. Because when you fall in love, you will do anything not to lose that. I’m sorry that I doubted that. I’m sorry I didn’t see a way out at first. I will never waver again.”

Fall in love?

Is that what we did?

It makes me nervous to even think about, but I think he’s right. The way I’ve felt this past week is unlike anything I have ever felt. And the fact that he would walk away from football for me shows me everything that I need to see.

I reach my hands around his head and pull him into me.

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