22. Jackson
Jackson
When my alarm goes off in the morning, I let out a groan and blindly slap the top of my nightstand looking for my phone. I'm exhausted. I’m definitely not prepared to have practice and a game today.
“What time is it?” Harper’s voice comes out raspy and I love it. She sounds so perfect.
“Seven. I have to be at the stadium in an hour and a half.”
“Ugh, I'm so tired.” She pulls the blanket up to her neck and closes her eyes again.
“We can just stay here, sweetheart. All I have to do is call Owen and let him know.” I press a soft kiss to her forehead before climbing out of bed.
I head straight to my bathroom and begin my morning routine. Even if I don’t go to work, I need to get up and be active in some way. If I'm not, the game tonight will be rough. Five minutes later, I'm sorting through my drawer, looking for athletic shorts and a sleeveless shirt.
“I'm getting up so we can go to the stadium, but I'm still not a morning person.” Her statement is punctuated with a loud yawn as she stretches her arms over her head. “I need to grab some clothes from the car though.”
“How about you get ready while I bring them in? I’ll place them all in the spare bedroom.”
“That would be great. Thanks.” She slowly climbs out of bed and stops in front of me as I slip my shirt over my head. “Thank you for keeping me wrapped in your arms all night. I felt so much safer like that.”
“I’ll happily sleep like that, babe, anytime you want.” I grin. It’s definitely not a hardship to sleep with a beautiful woman in your arms.
As soon as Harper goes to the bathroom in the spare room, I quickly change into my shorts and slip on my shoes. It only takes me a few minutes to grab all of her bags of clothing from the car and place them in her room.
Then I move into the kitchen and start pulling out what I need to make my protein shake for the morning. I know I don’t have a lot in the fridge, I planned on calling Maria today to see if she’d do a grocery run for me.
Maria is amazing. She’s a maid, but she’s also like a personal assistant.
She works for me and the rest of the team that lives in this development.
She understands our demanding schedule and that sometimes we need her to run little errands for us.
She’s more than happy to help us with whatever we need.
I pull up my text thread with her and ask her to pick up some things today. I list all of Harper’s favorite foods, hoping they haven’t changed much over the years.
“Whatcha making?” Harper glances at the protein shake and frowns. “That looks gross. Why is it green?”
“Kale.”
“Yup, I was right. Totally gross.” She scrunches up her nose in disgust.
“Do you drink protein shakes? I don’t have much else in the house. I planned to go on a grocery trip today.”
“Well, I don’t eat green things. Do you have frozen waffles or something?”
“Umm, no. I can’t eat any of that stuff during the season. I have an extremely strict diet. It’s easier to stick to it if I don’t have anything I'm not allowed to eat in the house.”
“Hmm…”
“I can stop on the way to the stadium and get you something.” I glance at my watch. We have about twenty minutes to spare. I could definitely make a stop somewhere.
“No, you don’t need to do that. I’ll be fine.” She waves off my concern, but I want to make sure she’s fed.
“Do you still like bananas, peanut butter, and chocolate?”
“Yes, who wouldn’t love those things?” She stares at me like I'm crazy and I can’t help but laugh. I love her personality so much. I don’t think I realized just how much I’ve missed her until she’s been back in my life.
“Alright. I’ve got you, babe.” I kiss her temple as I grab a clean blender cup.
After filling it halfway with milk, I add a scoop of protein, creatine, collagen, and electrolytes before grabbing a frozen banana, peanut butter, and chocolate syrup. Mixing it until the banana is no longer chunky, I pour it into a cup Harper can bring with her, and hand it over to her.
“This is… interesting. You put a lot of different powdery things in it.” She narrows her eyes on the rows of powders I have.
“I promise it’s delicious and you’ll like it.” I roll my eyes and lift her hand for her to take a sip.
She takes a tiny sip, her eyes narrowed the entire time. She freezes for a moment before taking a longer sip. I smirk, knowing she likes it. If she didn’t, she would’ve already handed it back to me.
“Not bad,” she says slowly.
“Oh, it’s delicious. And you know it!”
“Yeah, but I’ve complimented you too many times since I got here. I need to make sure you don’t get a big head. It’s called balance.”
“You mean when you told me I was hot and sexy?” I smirk as I take a large sip of my protein shake.
“Jackson,” she groans, letting her head drop backwards until she’s staring up at the ceiling.
“What?” I lean back against the counter and watch her carefully.
“Can you stop bringing it up?”
“No.”
Her gaze snaps over to me and she narrows her eyes. “Why not?”
“Because your cheeks turn pink every time I say it and I love that. You look gorgeous when you blush.”
“Stop!” She covers her face with her hands and groans again.
“Nah, I like this.” I close the distance between us and tug her hands away from her face. “You’re stunning, Harper.”
“My hair is a mess and I don’t even have makeup on. My clothes are wrinkled and I look awful.” She rolls her eyes, but she doesn’t try to move away from me.
“That’s where you’re wrong. I find you absolutely perfect.” Taking her shake out of her hand, I place it on the counter and pull her into my arms. “I told you, I love you, Harper. Don’t be embarrassed,” I murmur brushing a strand of hair away from her face.
“I think I love you too,” she whispers softly.
A slow smile spreads across my face as I stare down at her. Even though I told her how I feel, I didn’t think she’d say it back.
“Really?”
“I think I’ve always loved you… And that’s not creepy because I'm the younger one.” She smirks, making me burst out laughing.
“Don’t make it weird,” I groan. “I can only imagine what everyone is going to say if I can actually convince you to date me.”
“Why wouldn’t I date you?” She loops her arms around my neck and toys with my hair. I’ve noticed she loves doing that, and honestly, I do too.
“I don’t know.”
“We already established you’re drool-worthy,” she teases me.
“That is true.”
“Plus, you’re kinda sweet and you make me laugh.”
“All good things,” I murmur. “I swear I'm going to fall asleep if you keep playing with my hair.”
“Owen would be really angry if you fell asleep and didn’t show up at work.”
I glance at the clock and realize we don’t have long before we need to leave. I still need to grab my duffle bag and finish getting ready. But at least I get to bring her with me to work.