Chapter 7 #2
“Football took my dad from me, Reid.” Her voice cracks.
“I hate the game, and after fifteen years, I’m still struggling to forgive my father and let him into my life.
I didn’t even want to be here today. I let my best friend, Amanda, talk me into coming.
Why should I care about the sport that took my dad from me?
He chose football, Reid. He chose his career, and I can’t do that again.
I won’t.” She crosses her arms over her chest, just as her father did when he was glaring at me moments ago, but I keep that similarity to myself.
I’m certain that pointing it out wouldn’t help my case of getting more time with her.
I need to tread lightly here. “I’m not your dad, Bellamy.
I’m me. I’m a man who met his dream girl, and all I want to do is spend more time with you.
I want to take you on a date. No, lots of dates.
I want to spend hours talking to you, getting to know you better.
I want to hold you while we sleep, and I want more of you, any fucking way I can have you. ”
“You don’t mean that.” She looks off into the distance to avoid my gaze.
“Bell?” I take her hand in mine, giving it a soft squeeze.
Her eyes come back to me—my brown-eyed girl.
“I do mean that. It’s been four weeks since that night, and you’re all I can think about.
Ask my friends. I told them about you. I told them you were my dream girl, and that I hoped one day you’d come back to me. ”
“Right,” she scoffs.
Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I call Knox. He picks up immediately. “Can you come over here?”
“On my way.”
I end the call, shoving my phone back into my pocket.
“What are you doing?” she asks, panic in her tone.
“I want him to tell you who you are to me.” Knox is the calmest and most serious of the five of us, next to Foster, and then Baker, who became more serious when he found out he was going to be a dad.
Damn, maybe I should have called him over.
He could be the perfect example of a father who can have a career.
Oh well, too late to change my mind now.
“I’m your one-night stand, Reid. That’s who I am.”
Fuck, she’s killing me here. I can see it in her eyes. She wants to fall into me, just as badly as I want her to, but she’s fighting it. She’s set on football players being bad, and it’s going to take a damn hard fight to change her mind.
“What’s up?” Knox says, his eyes bouncing from me to Bellamy.
“This is Bellamy. Bellamy, this is my quarterback, and one of my best friends, Knox Beckett.”
“Nice to meet you.” Knox offers Bellamy his hand, and she takes it.
“You too,” she says politely, but she’s guarded.
“Knox, what do you know about Bellamy?”
He raises a brow. “What do you mean?”
“What have I told you about her?” I ask him.
Understanding passes between us. “Well, you said you met a beautiful woman named Bellamy at Landon’s wedding, and you called her your dream girl. You had some drinks, walked on the beach, and closed down the bar together.”
“Thanks, man.” I nod.
“I hope to see you again soon, Bellamy,” he says, before turning and walking away.
I watch as he leaves, and my eyes land on my coach. He’s staring daggers at me, but her best friend is all smiles. That’s encouraging. Turning my back to them, I block her view. I want all of her attention on me.
“Say something.”
“Reid, we can’t do this.”
“We can. You have to let us. Give me your number. We’ll start slow, but it’s just you and me. No others between us while we figure this out.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Your dad didn’t cheat, Bellamy. He worked too much. Just because I’m a football player doesn’t mean I don’t know how to keep my dick in my pants. You can’t just lump me in with your dad or every other football player you’ve heard bad things about. That’s not fair to either of us.”
“How is that not fair to me?” she asks, just as I was hoping that she would.
“You’re robbing yourself of the opportunity to see what this is between us. Even if we don’t end up dating.” We totally will. “I’m a pretty awesome guy.” This makes her crack a smile, but she quickly schools her features.
“I should get back.”
“Please?” That single word stops her. Her big brown eyes, with diamonds in the center, find mine and hold. “We take this at your pace. Let’s exchange numbers. We’ll start there.”
“Reid.” She hangs her head, and on instinct, I pull her back into my chest, wrapping my arms around her. “You’re making this harder than it needs to be,” she says, her voice muffled against my chest, but I can still hear her.
“Because you’re my dream girl. Do you remember what I told you that night?”
“You said a lot of things.”
“You know what I’m asking,” I say, pressing my lips to the top of her head. Fuck, I can’t believe she’s here in my arms.
“You said if you ever found your dream girl, you’d make sure that she and your kids knew they were your everything,” she finally says.
“Give me the chance to show you. I know your father crushed your heart, but I promise you, I’m not him. I'll do whatever you need to prove that to you. I don’t care how long it takes, or what kind of hoops you make me jump through, I can learn the play, Bellamy.”
“If I give you my number, will you let me go?”
“Today. I’ll let you go today,” I correct her, because I’m not giving this woman an inch for her to take a mile. I’m also going to have to learn to sleep with one eye open if I’m ever lucky enough to get her into my bed.
“Give me your phone.” I don’t bother to hide my smile as I hand it to her and rattle off my code.
She freezes, and I smirk. “I have nothing to hide.” I shrug.
She drops her head to enter her number and hands my phone back to me.
Immediately, I search for her contact and hit dial.
Her pocket rings, and I nod to her to answer.
She rolls those beautiful brown eyes, but retrieves her phone from her pocket and answers.
“Hello?”
“I missed you,” I tell her, my eyes locked on hers.
“Is it possible to miss someone you barely know?”
“You tell me. Did you miss me, Bell?”
“You have my number,” she says instead. “I should get back to Amanda.”
She’s not worried about her dad, but about her best friend. “Okay, babe, let’s go.” I end the call, as does she, and lace her fingers through mine. She doesn’t pull away, which surprises me, but I’m taking the win all the same.
“Coach, take care of my girl for me.”
“Montgomery,” he says with a growl, and I chuckle.
“Bellamy, this is my family.” I take the time to introduce everyone, even though Coach already did, because these are my people, and she’s my girl.
I needed to be the one to tell them, and her, the importance that each of them plays in my life.
“This is my dream girl, Bellamy,” I finally say, after making my way through everyone.
“It’s so nice to meet you.” Corie, Rowan, and Sloane take turns pulling her into a hug.
“Oh, and this is her best friend, Amanda.”
The girls start chatting while I watch them, pretending that my coach isn’t staring daggers at me. That’s fine. I can take his wrath on or off the field. He might not have thought she was worth fighting for, but I sure as fuck do.