Page 122 of I Got You

She studies me intently, then throws her arms around me, hugging me tight. “I can’t believe you played football with my dad.”

Her words are soft and hit me square in the chest because I can’t believe I’m sitting here with her.

Dinner is served, and Maggie makes conversation with our table while I try not to dwell on Cole’s comments about what comes next. Liv is safe, and that’s all that really matters. My mind knows that, but I can’t help my gut twisting with questions about what’s next. What if Maggie decides her use for me is up and wants to go on with her life to find someone who can give her everything I can’t?

Most of my dinner remains on the plate, but when a band takes the stage, it only takes until song number two before a line starts for Maggie. CC gives me the eye before stealing her away, leaving me to fend for myself at the table. Instead of trying to make small talk, I order a drink at the bar, keeping my eyes on Maggie as she moves around the dance floor.

Her smile, tight blue dress, and easy laughter make me kick myself a hundred times for not being the one holding her in my arms. Her eyes meet mine over a man’s shoulder, who was introduced as one of Tim’s teammates. I see the smile in them and feel the connection that the two of us have developed over these past months. A connection I’m not sure I can stand to lose.

The remainder of my drink burns as it slides down my throat before I move to steal my wife back and not let her go for the rest of the night. What I need to figure out is how I’m going to let her go when she asks me to.

Chapter 46

MAGGIE

Seriously. How long is it going to take for that big gorilla to get over here and keep his promise? His eyes tell me he wants to, and he’s thinking about it, but I know he’s nervous.

I’m freaking nervous. These past weeks have turned into something completely unexpected. Our relationship has moved from committed partners, in writing only, to friends to something more. Exactly what the something is, I’m not sure. This is becoming so much more real than I think either of us ever imagined.

I know what I want. It’s what I’ve always wanted, but now I want it with Shane. The question is, does he want that, too? Am I enough? Is what we’re building enough that he’ll eventually let me in?

Cole’s question about what comes next is eating at me. I don’t want to think about it. Knowing that marriage and a family are never what Shane wanted, I can’t help but pray that somehow we’ve changed his mind. Despite his best intentions, I want him to have fallen in love with us. With me. I want him to have fallen in love with me.

I meet his eyes over the shoulder of my current partner and smile. His eyes are intense and determined as he stalks toward me.

“Mind if I steal my wife back.” I don’t miss his fierce tone, and I’d give anything to know what he’s thinking.

My partner, my dad’s old friend, hugs me and excuses himself as Shane’s large hands find my waist and lock behind me. He tugs me close, my body pressing into his. Feeling a little breathless and full of butterflies, I keep my hands on his chest to help steady myself, needing to pull it together.

It’s just Shane. The man I sleep with. The one who reads to me and sees me at my worst. The one who, quite literally, pushes me out of bed each morning. The one who’s unintentionally captured my heart.

“Hi,” I say, for lack of anything else. “I was wondering if you were ever going to save me from two left feet.”

His large arms tighten around my waist just a little more as we begin to sway. I slide my hands around his neck, feeling myself relax in the security of his arms.

His ever-changing color eyes haven’t left mine. “Looked like you were doing just fine to me. Give me a minute. You might want him back.”

I push my lips to the side like I’m thinking. “Want to know what I think?” I run my fingers through the short hairs on his neck.

He squints his eyes. “With you, I’m not sure.”

I grin. Even in these heels, I’m still inches shorter than Shane, so I test my ankle and push up on my toes to get closer. “I’m going to tell you anyway. I watched you on the field when you played. I know exactly what you are capable of, and inside your giant, muscle-filled body is a dancer.”

“Wishful thinking, Firefly. This is all you’re getting.”

I tip my head to the side, searching. The way Shane’s holding me tells me he’s enjoying this just as much as I am. “Is it?” I want to know. Is this all we will ever be, but I can’t make myself ask the question. “If the next song picks up the beat and I start moving, what are you going to do?”

He locks his arms even tighter, cinching me in. “You aren’t going anywhere.”

I like that answer. The music slows, which actually suits me just fine. Being glued against Shane is the only place I want to be. I tuck my face into his neck and breathe him in. He smells so good, and his massive strength fills me with a peace I’ve never known. I’ve never felt so protected and loved, but it’s the last one I’m left questioning. I don’t want this to end, and the thought has me tugging myself up to him a little higher as a burning lump forms in my throat.

I don’t want to have to figure out how to go back to life before Shane. I don’t want him to tell me that his feelings about marriage and a family haven’t changed. I don’t want him to tell me that he doesn’t, or maybe it’s won’t, love me.

One song moves on to another, and Shane turns his head to kiss me on the temple. I return his kiss with one of my own on the edge of his jaw, wanting to find his lips, but I know things would turn inappropriate in a second. It might be my paranoia or my tendency to think a good thing never lasts, but it feels like there’s a cloud of desperation surrounding us that’s suffocating and terrifying. Like at any moment, this happy bubble is going to burst.

I meet his eyes, and even though I think they hold all the answers to my questions, I can’t let myself believe them. What if I’m only seeing what I want to see? I close my eyes, savoring the feel of him around me for another minute before facing reality. Whatever that will be.

“Want to make the rounds and then get out of here?” I’m ready to not be in these shoes, this dress, and I want to try to enjoy whatever these moments are with Shane.

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