Page 140 of The Hardest Fall

Her body went rigid and her hands gripped my forearms tighter.

“That’s not fair,” she whispered, resting her head back on my shoulder.

I licked my lips and pressed another kiss on her neck. “What’s that?”

She wiggled her butt and groaned. We’d been going at each other like rabbits for months.

“I missed you,” I whispered.

“Do we even have time for that?” she whispered back.

I sighed and pulled back. “I don’t think so, not until after tonight.”

“Not even five minutes?”

I gently bit her earlobe and absorbed the way her body shivered. “You’re adorable. Does that feel like something you can take care of in just five minutes?”

There was a soft slap on my arm. “You’re adorable.”

I laughed, finally feeling complete after days of not seeing her. “Why do you make it sound like an insult? Of course I’m adorable.”

Our car showed up and we held hands through the entire car ride back to the hotel where my family was waiting for us. We’d become one of those obnoxious couples everyone hated who had to touch each other at all times. I loved it.

“Are you scared?” Zoe asked when we were a few minutes away from the hotel. “About tonight.”

“Scared, no, but I am excited. I want to get it over with so we’ll know where we have to move.” I tried to act casual and started playing with her fingers. We hadn’t had that talk yet. For me, it wasn’t necessary—I wanted her with me no matter what—but I didn’t know how she was feeling about it. I knew she wanted to move to New York because of her photography work, and one of the teams that had wanted to talk to me and my agent was the Giants—along with several other teams that were nowhere near the northeast—but I didn’t want to tell her anything until it was certain. Unfortunately, nothing was certain when it came to the NFL. You could feel pretty good about yourself, confident that you’d be picked in the first round—maybe even in the top ten—and then out of nowhere you could end up going in the third round, if you got picked up at all.

I had no idea where I’d end up or how long I’d have to wait.

“We, huh?”

I stiffened in my seat and stopped playing with her hand. She picked up from where I’d left off, linking and unlinking our hands.

“Flash?” I prompted when nothing else came from her lips.

“Hmmm?”

“You didn’t answer.”

“Sorry, did you ask something?”

All of a sudden, the car was parking in front of the hotel and we had to get out. I put her carry-on bag on the ground and waited. She got out too and stood in front of me.

“Zoe…”

“What?”

I tilted my head and waited.

“What! You never asked me. We got so busy trying to find a place to live, and then there was the combine. How am I supposed to know whether you want me there or not? Plus, I have one more year, and maybe you—”

I let go of the handle of her carry-on and cradled her face in my hands. She was still trying to talk when I slipped my tongue into her mouth and kissed her senseless right there in front of the strangers walking in and out of the hotel.

“I always want you with me—don’t you know that by now? It’s been months.” I groaned against her lips, my breathing already heavy, my heart racing. “I’ve always wanted you, Zoe Clarke.”

“I wasn’t sure.”

I rested my brows against hers and let her arms snake around my shoulders.

“I’ll go wherever you are, probably the day I graduate, Dylan Reed. You’re the best roommate I’ve ever had, and I won’t let go that easily.”

I let out the breath I hadn’t even realized I was holding and pulled her body flat against mine.

Someone cleared their throat pretty loudly, but neither one of us cared about it enough to break apart.

Then I heard my mom’s voice.

“Dylan, I’d like to see your girlfriend, please. Stop mauling her face.”

Before my mom was even finished with her sentence, Zoe had pushed me away with unexpected force and her face was already turning that beautiful shade of pink I loved so much. She licked her lips and when that wasn’t enough, she swiped them with the back of her hand a few times, her face flushing even brighter.

“Mrs. Reed, it’s so nice to meet you.”

My mom looked at my grinning face and shook her head. Then she was in front of Zoe and pulling her into her arms. “Just Lauren. I’ve been dying to meet you. I’m so happy you could take a few days off and meet us here.”

When my mom let her go, she was still flushed, but instead of that mortified look on her face, she was smiling softly.

“And look at you,” my mom gushed, cupping Zoe’s face. “Gosh, you’re gorgeous. Look at her eyes, Dylan. She is beautiful.”