September 6th
Wherever.
Ainsley
I wake up to the sounds of banging noises and cheers.
“Oh shit. I should have set my alarm,” Damon says, jumping up.
“What’s going on?” I ask, jumping up, too, and getting dressed, afraid they might be going door to door or something.
Damon throws on a pair of shorts and leads me out the door. I see the whole group from yesterday is still here, and they are lined up outside of Chase and Dani’s condo.
The singing of a loud and rowdy rendition of “Happy Birthday” commences. And when Chase opens the door, they start throwing stuff at him. Confetti, little trinkets. His little brothers are throwing things hard. Almost pelting him.
What is even happening?
Even Dani is tossing little crocheted cupcakes at him.
“Mackenzie family tradition. The birthday confetti toss. Otherwise known as the birthday throwdown,” Damon says, wrapping his arms around me and leaning down to rest his chin on my shoulder.
“It’s more than confetti,” I reply.
“It is,” he says, pointing at the floor. “Looks like this year, like most years, it’s football and Nebraska-themed. Plus, the ones and nines since he’s nineteen. And the candy. The candy was always my favorite part.”
“I helped you throw stuff at them for their wedding exit. It makes sense now why it wasn’t just confetti.”
After a big home-cooked breakfast with more birthday cake, the families head to the airport, and Chase and Damon get sprawled out on the big sectional.
“This morning, you get to see what dating a football player is like,” Dani says with a chuckle.
“They lie around on the couch on Sundays?” I ask.
“For a bit. They’ll study game film, then go do a light workout and any recovery therapy they might need. Chase has a big bruise on his forearm from when he got sacked. How was Damon’s body last night?”
It was damn fine, is what I think, but what I say is, “I didn’t notice any bruises, and he didn’t complain about anything hurting.”
“They will today. But overall, it looks like they fared well.”
I go sit next to Damon. He snuggles me into his arms, and I fall back asleep while he watches himself play football.
Damon carries my suitcase and puts it in the trunk of my car. Even though tomorrow is Labor Day and we don’t have school, Damon has to put in a normal football day, so I’m going to head home now, missing the holiday traffic, and do some homework.
“I had an amazing weekend,” I tell him.
He gives me a smirk. “Which parts were the most amazing?”
“Hmm, it could have been that you set a new record.”
“On or off the field?” Literally, he’s beaming. “I think you know what I’m referring to,” he says, pulling me close and planting a big kiss on my lips.
“Your reception record. In bed?” I raise an eyebrow at him.
“Exactly.”
“Didn’t we have a conversation about your athletic prowess the night of Chase and Dani’s wedding?”
“Oh, yeah, we did. I know you acted like you were talking about football, but you were totally thinking about me in bed.”
“You’re right. I was.”
He looks genuinely surprised. “Really?”
“Yeah. I wanted to sleep with you. Have a fun little summer fling. You told me that prowess was like prowling. That I was on the prowl for you, but that I thought I couldn’t have you. And that I was making up excuses in that pretty little head of mine.”
“Just a fling?” he says, fake clutching his chest. “And here I thought it was love.”
I laugh out loud. “Of course. Thus why you told me I could discover your prowess in the bedroom—or wherever.”
“I guess I’d better get you in this car and let you go before you disillusion me more.” He slaps my butt and then opens the car door for me.
I slide inside, put the key in the ignition, and turn the key. But it won’t start.
Damon gives me some instructions on different ways to start it or when to press on the gas and when to let off. But the result is still the same.
The battery is dead.
Twenty minutes later, my car has been jump-started, is running, and I’m getting told where to watch the bar for the battery’s charge and to try not to shut the car off until I’m home.
When I get home, I race past Sammy to use the bathroom. I’ve had to pee for the last twenty minutes but was afraid to shut off the car.
“You not able to stop and use the bathroom on the road suddenly?” he asks with a laugh when I come back out.
“Actually, no. My battery was dead, and we got it jump-started, but Damon told me not to turn it off until I got home.”
“Oh,” he says. “Come on. Let’s go check it out and get your stuff unloaded.”
Thankfully, when I turn the key over this time, the car starts right up.
“What a game!” Sammy says, then proceeds to give me the play-by-play like I wasn’t in attendance.