Page 32

“I feel like an asshole, you know,” I say to Saylor, keeping my arms looped around her body and my hands cupped at the bottom of her back.

“I haven’t even been your boyfriend for twenty-four hours, and I’m already ditching you to fly back to Maine while you have a long-ass drive back home.”

I wonder if she caught that I called myself her boyfriend, but when her lips bashfully tug upward, I know she did.

“Pretty Boy, did you just say you’re my boyfriend?” she says playfully.

“That’s a little presumptuous, don’t you think?”

“Nah, I don’t think so,” I drawl.

“Why would it be, Brat?”

“Well, the thing is, I remember you confessing your love for me and all, but I don’t remember being asked a certain question.” She shrugs, giving me a confused look.

“Just going to leave it at that.”

I feel like I’m sixteen years old again, but fuck it.

“Saylor, will you be my girlfriend?” I say, swaying her slightly in my arms.

Her grin broadens, and she bites her lip to hide it.

“Hmm …” she coos. “You know, I’ll really have to think about it.” She sighs thoughtfully.

“Compliments usually help me make decisions.” She shrugs her shoulders.

“Just saying.”

“Well, if that’s the case, first of all … you have the prettiest tits I’ve ever seen. Your pussy? Straight out of a fairy tale. Your ass? I can’t wait to devour it because it looks so damn good.” I slide one hand from her back to her face.

“You’re funny, and you know it. You are the person who takes on extra shifts just to help out coworkers you barely even know.” I stop, watching her grow tense as my compliments get more heartfelt.

Saylor might have joked about wanting compliments, but honestly, she’s not great at taking them.

I’ve heard others call her pretty before, and she instantly goes into jokester mode.

She might seem like she’s confident, but deep down, she’s insecure.

I’ll fix that eventually.

“You’re one of the most interesting humans I’ve ever met, Saylor Sawyer. You both love and hate attention, and I find you extremely charming.”

I cup her cheek as I bring my lips to hers, kissing her long and hard.

She smells and tastes so fucking good, and even though I know she’s toying with me, I’m not leaving here until she agrees to be mine.

When I finally pull my head back, her eyes remain closed for a few seconds before slowly fluttering open.

Dazed, she pulls in a few breaths, staring up at me.

“So?” I probe her. “What’s it going to be?” I lift my brows.

“If you need me to make a scene in the middle of this airport, you know I will.”

“Okay, okay. No need to act crazy.” She smirks, moving her shoulders up and down.

“I’ll be your girlfriend.”

“Good answer,” I utter against her mouth before kissing her again.

Her brother is somewhere around here, but last I checked, he and Gemma went for a walk.

I’m not sure he’s quite ready to watch me make out with his sister.

Then again, even that wouldn’t stop me from kissing her now that she’s finally mine.

When I release her, she grins up at me like a fool.

“So, I’m your girlfriend then? Jeez … that makes me a WAG. Which means I’m pretty important.”

“I guess it does,” I murmur.

“All right, I don’t want to have Gem piss on my eyes, so can you cut it out?” Smith says, walking beside us, eating a KitKat bar.

“Why would she piss on you?” Saylor scrunches her nose up.

“Y’all are into some weird shit,” I utter, dropping my hands from Saylor and running one up the back of my head.

“Really weird.”

“I’m not into pissing on people,” Gemma blurts out defensively, scowling at Smith.

“Why would I piss on you?”

“Because my eyes feel like they’ve been stung by a jellyfish after seeing Ryder with his tongue down my little sister’s throat,” he says sharply.

“When you get stung by a jellyfish, you have to get pissed on.”

“Pretty sure that’s a myth, bud,” I say, shrugging, fully ready to let it go, but the little firecracker beside me narrows her eyes and folds her arms across her chest.

“I’ve had to watch you grope my best friend more times than I can count, asshole,” she sasses at her brother.

“So, no, Smith, we won’t stop. I’ll gladly have Ryder’s tongue down my throat any day.”

“Gross,” Smith utters.

Sighing, he pulls Gemma’s back to his chest. “We gotta go, man. We have to go board our flight with the team.”

Gemma’s hands hold on to Smith’s forearms before she spins in his arms and plants a kiss on his lips.

“Have a safe flight,” she says in a sweet tone.

Pulling Saylor against me, I kiss her forehead.

“Be safe, driving back.”

“I will,” she whispers, kissing me.

“You sure you can’t just leave your shit in Charleston and come back to Maine with us?” I tease her, knowing that her contract doesn’t end for, like, four more months.

“I wish,” she says honestly.

I know right then that, someday, she is going to come home.

We just have to make it through the whole long-distance thing until that happens.

Right now, I’m on the road for games so much that maybe it won’t be that bad.

Maybe.

As Gemma walks Smith toward security, I push Saylor’s chin upward with my finger.

“I love you.”

She smiles, her eyes lighting up.

“I love you too, Pretty Boy.”

“Sure wish I could bury my dick inside of you one last time before I got on the plane.”

“Not a chance, babe.” She sighs.

“There’s no time.”

“I guess a naughty FaceTime it is?”

Her eyes widen, and she grins mischievously.

“In that case, I’ll have my phone on an extra-loud ringtone.” She winks.

I wrap my arms around her, giving her one last hug and pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

All the other times we’ve parted, we were either supposedly just friends or trying to figure our shit out.

This time, we’ve finally figured our shit out.

I’m not ready to leave her though, and I hate that I have to.

Dropping my arms, I sigh.

“I’ll call you later.”

“I’ll consider answering,” she teases.

“Safe travels, Ry.”

As I turn away from her, Gemma heads toward me.

She doesn’t look overly sad, but why would she be?

She’s traveling back home in a few days to be with Smith again.

With Saylor, I have no idea when I’ll see her again.

All I know is, I’m already counting the days.

“Hey, thanks for making her hear me out,” I say, jerking my chin upward.

I know Saylor being there and talking to me after the game was Gemma’s doing, even if no one told me that.

“Hey, you’re welcome,” she says cheerily, but then her face turns cold.

“Hurt her, and I’ll chop your dick into a thousand pieces and feed it to you like a toddler sitting in a high chair, pretending the spoon’s a fucking airplane.”

My eyes must grow wide, and my steps slow.

Sweetly, she smiles, waving.

“Have a nice flight!”

She continues to walk past me, and I crane my neck to see her standing beside her best friend.

They sling their arms around each other before turning around and heading toward the exit.

I’m damn glad Saylor has someone as strong as Gemma Jones in her life.

And I’m thankful Gemma has a woman as incredible as Saylor in hers too.

As I watch them walk away, I know one thing to be true: I might be lucky enough to be her boyfriend, but I will never be her person.

That role has already been filled.