Chapter Thirty-One Archer
Chapter Thirty-One
Archer
My house was full. Of people. Laughter. Music. Food.
Sitting in one of the dining room chairs, an iced tea in hand, I couldn’t help but marvel at the bizarre scene taking place in my home.
Pops sat between Coach and Pearl. He was telling a story that made them both laugh. Ness was in the family room with four of the offensive players, talking them into adopting dogs, and her animated hand gestures brought a smile to my face.
Gavin, who’d gotten picked up early from school because Remi didn’t want him to miss this, was outside with William, Brooks, Smith, and my QB coach, teaching them the sounds of different birds.
At the moment, he was perched on Smith’s broad shoulders, pointing frantically at a grove of trees behind my house.
In the kitchen, Lily King was dishing up pieces of pizza for anyone who hadn’t eaten enough already. Not two minutes earlier, Remi had been by her side. The two had met last year when Coach brought his family by to adopt a dog.
Analise was holding court with the rest of the players, discussing their social media strategies.
For the moment, at least, I was separate from what was happening. Not because I was punishing myself, but because I needed to sit back and soak this all in.
For two hours, I’d watched Remi circling around.
She always found herself back by my side, checking in to see if I needed anything, tucking herself under my arm for a hug.
Or she’d walk past when I was in conversation with Pops and Coach, and do nothing but lay her hand on the back of my neck and squeeze.
This moment of separation, the first for me since everyone had arrived, was necessary because the enormity of it short-circuited my brain. Not simply because of all the teammates, the coaches, and her family.
It was her.
Remi in my home set my entire fucking soul at ease.
I wanted to keep her here. Wanted to keep her, period.
Lily moved away from the island to find her husband, perching herself in his lap and winding her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. But Remi didn’t follow her in from the kitchen.
I looked around but didn’t see her anywhere on the main level, so I set my drink down and wandered off to find my girl.
She wasn’t in my bedroom or bathroom, or the fireplace room off the kitchen, where I’d thought I’d find her.
When Williams had walked into the house earlier, he’d stared at the roaring fire there. “It’s eighty degrees outside,” he said slowly. “You have the fireplace on.”
I merely glared at him. “So?”
From where she was tucked underneath my arm, Remi turned her face into my shoulder and laughed.
His eyes widened, his brows shooting up like I’d lost my mind. “It’s . . . nice.”
I kissed the top of her head and squeezed her waist. “Don’t touch it, rookie. She likes it.”
“Right.” His throat worked on a nervous swallow. “It’s perfect. I love a hot, cozy fire at the end of May.”
Once I’d looked through all the rooms on the main level, I made my way downstairs, smiling as I reached the bottom. She was in the middle of the second family room, her hands on her hips.
“There you are.”
It was my first chance to be alone with her, and while the caveman part of me wanted to drag her into the closest room and lock the door, I’d happily settle for just having her in my arms again.
My hands eased around her hips, tugging her back against my chest, and when she tilted her head to the side, I brushed her hair out of the way and kissed the soft skin on her neck. Remi slid her fingers over mine and settled into my embrace.
“You have a whole other house down here.”
“Do I?” I kissed the edge of her jaw. “You like it?”
“It’s terrible,” she said breathily. “Who needs a home gym and a comfortable place to watch movies or three extra bedrooms with their own bathrooms?”
With our hands joined, I gently raised the hem of her shirt, teasing the soft skin on her belly. “Analise has the room to the left.” I kissed her shoulder while my pointer finger traced around her belly button. “The other two are guest rooms.”
She dropped her head back on my shoulder, arching her back slightly when I started toying with the button of her jeans. “Don’t you already have a guest room upstairs?”
“Yes.”
“Show-off.”
I chuckled, mouth brushing over her skin. “I do try.”
Remi turned in my arms, coasting her hands over my stomach and chest while I clasped mine on her lower back. “What did the rest of your letter say?” Her smile was mischievous, tightening my stomach with heady anticipation. “Was it terribly inappropriate for her to see?”
“No.” I grinned. “I wasn’t writing it to seduce you. I just wanted to tell you the truth.”
“And what was that?”
I dragged the back of my knuckles over the line of her cheek. “That I wanted another chance. That I’d wait for you to be ready. That I wanted this to work, no matter what that looks like right now.”
Her eyes fluttered closed as my thumb dragged along the line of her bottom lip. “I would’ve liked to hear that.”
“Eight dates or eighteen or eighty-four,” I repeated, picturing the words on the paper.
“It doesn’t matter, because any amount of time is worth it if the time is spent with you.
When I told you it shouldn’t be this hard, I was wrong.
Fighting myself was hard. Falling in love with you was easy.
So easy, it happened before I could even put a name to it.
” I ducked my head and ghosted a kiss over her upturned lips, pulling away before it could deepen.
“Give us a chance, firefly. I want to know what life looks like with you in it. You and Gavin and Pops—and Ness, probably, because I don’t think I’m ever getting rid of her either. ”
Eyes full of tears, Remi shook her head. “I don’t need eighteen dates.”
“No?”
She came closer, her fingers inching underneath my shirt. “I don’t need eight dates.”
My voice lowered to a desperate rasp. “I’d take you on however many you want.”
Remi hummed, sidling her hips closer to mine, her eyes fluttering shut when she felt my aching hard-on between us. “The bar was number one.” She dragged her fingernails down my abs, eliciting a shocked hiss from my mouth. “Number two was definitely when I slapped you in the parking lot.”
“Fuck, Remi, that does not count as our second date.”
Her eyes were devilish as she stared at me. “Are you going to argue right now?” Her palm slid down to the front of my pants, and she rubbed back and forth.
“No, fuck no.” I cupped the back of her neck. “But our entire family is here and you’re about to make me come in my pants, you little devil.”
Remi rolled onto the balls of her feet and sucked my bottom lip into her mouth, releasing it with a dirty pop. “Good. I vividly remember someone whispering in my ear when there were dozens of people around that you’d bend me over and take me right there.”
Her fingers curled around my length, and I groaned. “Remi, have mercy.”
She grinned. “Need a time-out?”
“Yes. Yes.” I plucked her hand away and nibbled at her fingers.
“Later. Everyone will leave and we can do whatever you want. Or you can go home and I’ll plan our next date and we’ll have phone sex and I’ll listen to all those sweet little sounds you make, and I’ll be just as happy.
God, whatever you want to do will make me happy. ”
Her eyes were glowing, and she bit down on her bottom lip. “I don’t want phone sex.”
“No?” I gripped her ass with my hands, leaning down to bite along the edge of her jaw. “Great. Neither do I.”
“Phone sex is bullshit,” she sighed. “When can we kick everyone out?”
As I wrapped her tight in my arms again, I laughed. “Soon, firefly. Soon.”
Soon ended up being about forty-five minutes later, when I spied Vanessa and Remi whispering in the kitchen. Most of my teammates had already left, as had the coaches. The only people left were Remi’s family and Analise. And somehow, quite inexplicably, Williams.
He was talking about World War II with Pops, and I was pretty certain I’d have to physically throw him out the front door and lock it in order to get him to leave.
Remi said something to her friend, and Ness nodded vigorously, then hopped off the island. “Analise, how do you feel about epic blanket forts that fill an entire room?”
My sister blinked. “I can’t say that I have an opinion on them one way or another. I’ve never been in a blanket fort. Why?”
“Oh, honey, we need to fix that immediately. Blanket forts are awesome.” Ness dragged Gavin in front of her. “My godson here loves them, and I’ve been promising him a blanket-fort campout at my house, which we’re going to do tonight.”
Gavin’s face transformed. “We are?”
“Yup.” Ness looked at Remi and winked. “I had to work pretty hard to convince your mom, but she always gives in to me.”
Remi snorted.
Ness shifted her smile back to my bewildered sister. “Would you like to join us?”
“She would love that,” I said. Analise gave me a look, and I grinned. “You didn’t answer quickly enough, and you would love that,” I said.
“I would?”
“Yup.”
When I glanced pointedly over at Remi, Analise’s mouth fell open. “Oh, yes. I would love that. I’ll, um, go pack my bag?” She looked at me again. “Now?”
“Right now would be perfect,” I told her.
Remi covered her mouth with one hand to hide her laughter. Ness whispered something to Gavin and he nodded, then ran over to me. I crouched down in front of him.
“It’s okay if you’re going to hang out with my mom tonight.” His eyes were wide and serious. “I know you’re friends, and friends spend time together.”
“You sure you’re all right with that?” I asked.
Gavin nodded. “As long as you hang out with her at our place, too, sometimes.”
Remi and I locked eyes over his head, then I smiled at Gavin. “You’d be okay with that too?”
He smiled. “Yeah. But if you marry her, I’d probably want to move in here. It’s nicer.”
“Gavin,” Remi hissed.