She sits staring out the hotel room window, a curtain of wet hair against her back. I come up behind her and wrap her in my arms. “What are you overthinking?”
“I can’t go back and live with him.” She turns to look up at me, a slight grimace on her face as she looks at the stitches above my eye. “Not after this.”
I kiss her temple. “No, I agree. You should move out.”
She turns back to the window with a deep groove between her pale brows.
I smooth the spot with the pad of my thumb. “You’re going to give yourself a headache.” I turn her around and sit at the edge of the closest bed, pulling her between my legs. “Move in with me.”
She makes a choking sound and laughs. “You’re kidding.”
“I’m dead fucking serious.”
My tone sobers her instantly. “We’ve only been dating for—”
“Who cares? Are you in this for the long haul? Because I am. So unless you have plans to end up with someone else…” I swallow back a fierce growl at the mere mention of her being with someone else. “Move in with me.”
She chews her lip.
I slide my hands up her shirt and palm her ribcage where I can feel her heat and the rapid beating of her heart. “Look, if you’re absolutely miserable living with me, we’ll find you some roommates or a little studio somewhere, but I’m going to do everything in my power to get you to stay with me for as long as I can.”
The corner of her mouth ticks up. “What kinds of things?”
“Well, you can take the walk-in closet, redecorate anything you want on my dime, I’ll feed you…” My wicked smile elicits a faint blush on her cheeks. “Daily orgasms.”
“Plural?”
My grin widens. “Yes. Whatever you want.”
“Hmmm…can I think about it?”
I clear my throat hoping she doesn’t hear the utter disappointment in my voice. “What’s holding you back?”
“We went into this with the agreement of no strings and now we’re discussing all kinds of strings.”
I run my thumbs along her bare skin. “I want to be tangled up with you. But go ahead and think about it. We’ll talk tonight after I get back into town.”
I’m assuming Brawley will be with us for the entire day which means Emery will be able to go home and hopefully pack up her shit to come and live with me. If it were up to me, I’d make sure she never had to see that asshole again. But I’ve fallen for a strong woman who will insist on doing things her way and on her terms, and fuck if that doesn’t just make me love her more.
The early meeting was exactly what I expected. Our defensive Coach informed us that Brawley would not be coaching today’s game, and that I was going to be sitting on the bench because of my injuries.
I wanted to kick Brawley’s ass all over again for making me miss a game.
We ended up losing and the bus ride home was filled with a simmering disquiet among the team. News spread fast that Coach hit me because he found out I was sleeping with his daughter. Judging by my teammates glares, they blame me for today’s loss.
My head hurts and I pop the pain meds Doc gave me to sleep during the bus ride back to campus. Once there I head straight to my car without explanation or excuse.
I get home before my roommates, anxious to connect with Emery. I run upstairs, toss my duffle onto the floor and catch something out of place from the corner of my eye.
I cross to my bookshelf and stare at a small, tarnished, old picture frame that wasn’t there before. The photo in the frame is a little faded. It’s the image of a beautiful blonde woman wearing a bubblegum pink sweater set with pearl buttons. Her pale hair is long and pulled back into a ponytail with a silk scarf. Her wide smile is aimed down at the tiny blonde toddler in her arms who looks up at her as if she were the sun rising in the dead of winter. Even in profile, I know exactly who this woman is as she is a spitting image of her daughter.
“You’re home.”
I whirl around to see Emery looking like an angel standing in my doorway. She’s leaning against the doorframe and her hands are clasped in front of her. It’s the most self-conscious I’ve ever seen her. “You’re here.”
She takes a timid step into the room. “I thought about what you said, and I like being tangled up in you too.”
Doing a fist pump into the air and hollering fuck yeah doesn’t seem like the most appropriate response so I do it on the inside and hold up the framed photo. “Your mom?”
She nods, but her expression turns sad when she looks at it. “Her name was Caroline. I only have a few photos of her.” She nods toward the image. “That one is my favorite.”
“You look just like her.” And dress like her too. Damn if that doesn’t cause a painful spasm in my chest.
“Thank you.”
I set the frame back in it’s spot with a gentle hand and vow to protect it for the rest of my life. When I turn back around Emery is heading toward me. I take a couple steps to meet her midway and she curls into my chest. I kiss the top of her head, and squeeze her closer. “I’m glad you’re here.” I had planned to hunt her down and convince her to move in with me even if it took all night.
“I put all my things in your closet, I hope that’s okay.”
“Take whatever space you want.” My room, my bed, my life, my fucking soul, it’s all hers for the taking.
She tilts her head back, her eyes looking more tired than they did minutes ago. “How was the game? Did you see him?”
“I didn’t see him. I guess the fight
