Chapter 28
Charlotte
I finish telling Taysom my story, but I feel cold. Not because it’s actually cold but because…why? Because I laid my heart out bare for him to see? Because I kissed him just now?
He sighs and the way he’s looking at me settles in my stomach like a moth, flitting around, tickling me.
“That was rude of me to walk out like that, not even letting you answer my question.” He cocks his head to one side. “I’m sorry.”
“You’d just carried me in the house! You were great.
Sometimes Twinkies make me forget my surroundings, too.
” I laugh. “It’s all good. I just wanted to tell you since I sort of blew it all out of proportion in my mind, you know?
And with Penny leaving…well, I blamed myself for trying to flirt with you.
I realize now I was just a confused kid making rash conclusions. ”
His gaze softens and he caresses my hand. “Tell me about your hip condition.”
“I’d told you before. Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip. DDH. The thorn in my side…or actually my hips, you know.”
“Yeah, I know what it’s called. But what was your experience like with it? Does it still bother you?”
I swallow hard. “Yes, it does. It locks up. Nothing like when I was a kid, but it still aches.” In fact, I’ve started taking dietary supplements that are supposed to help inflammation and joint pain.
“It’s my old man hips, you know? The ones that tell me it’s going to rain.
Just call me Uncle Hershel with the wonky hips. ”
“I’m sorry.” He moves a lock of drying hair off my forehead. “Is there anything that can be done?”
“Not really. I do special stretches. Physical therapy sometimes, if it gets bad. I try to watch what I eat. If I stay away from inflammatory foods, that can help.”
“And so it didn’t get diagnosed until you were…?”
“Four. A risky surgery and traction and kids calling me names. The physical pain was one thing. The kids making fun of me? That was on a whole other level.”
A muscle in his jaw jumps and tightens. “Who were they?”
“What?”
“Who made fun of you?”
“I’d rather not talk about them right now…”
“Do I know them? Were there any who were my age, because I swear, if I knew them, I’ll call them right now.”
Is he being serious? Does he want to avenge the bullies of my past? Something in his gaze tells me he means what he says. My heart thuds in my throat.
“Whoa! It’s okay. It’s not—”
“No, it’s not okay.” He shakes his head. “Who were they?”
“Just a bunch of dumb boys. They grew out of it. They stopped after a while. It’s not a big deal.”
His Adam’s apple bobs once, and he jams his thumbs into his forehead, just above his eyes. “You shouldn’t have had to go through that. None of that. I’m sorry.”
“Which is why I do what I do. So others won’t have to go through the same with any number of childhood conditions. And we’re making a difference. We’ve been helping a lot of kids. It brings purpose to it all, you know?”
“You’re incredible.” Taysom slides a finger down my jaw. “Do you know that?”
“No. Just sick and tired of kids not getting the help they need, that’s all.”
“Hey, I’m sorry I Twinkied you.” His lips don’t twitch this time. “I was a fool. I had no idea—”
“I was thirteen and you were seventeen. It would have been very weird if you’d noticed me.”
“Well, I did notice you later.”
“When?”
“Sushi?” he asks, a slight cringe moving across his face. “But by then, you must have changed your mind about me.”
“No, I hadn’t changed my mind.”
“But I would have been able to tell if you were at all interested.”
Oh wow, how can spending one hour with a person years ago be perceived so differently?
“I put up walls, okay? I couldn’t let you hurt me because you were a famous football player, Taysom!
I couldn’t compete with anything else in your life, not your fame or your money or status or the other women in your life. Nothing.”
“I’m really sorry you felt that way.” He shakes his head. “If I could go back in time, I would have said more to let you know I really did want to go on a date with you. You wouldn’t even give me your number.”
“Sorry for the games, but I thought if you actually were interested, you’d ask Kyle for my number.”
He groans. “And I thought asking Kyle would be weird. I worried about how he’d react and I let it get to my head and then…”
“And then you were on to the next woman?” I hate that I just asked that question. “Not that it’s any of my business,” I amend.
“No, the next day, my father showed up at practice and told me he was getting remarried. That was his first marriage after divorcing my mom.” He moistens his lips.
“It hit me hard that time.” He glances at me.
“That was Breanne, by the way. That marriage ended and now he’s engaged again. Her name’s Jess.”
“Oh.”
The pain in his eyes makes me want to curl him up in my arms.
“And look, I didn’t move on to the next woman.
” He cringes at the sentiment. “Not right away. I did date someone the following summer and then someone else for a little while the summer after that. But my life was football. I played my guts out. I’ve been playing my guts out for six years and things are going to change.
” He stops short, like he regrets what he just said.
“Anyway, I’ve dated less than you may think.
I never date during the season. That’s a recipe for a disaster. ”
“What? So you just tell your girlfriends, hey, when the season starts, we’re done? Just so you know in advance?”
“No, it’s just worked out that way. I haven’t dated anyone long enough for it to carry over into the new season. And it was easier to not worry about finding someone else because my life is insane during the season.”
I stiffen. Is this where he’s going to tell me we can’t go out, that it’s been a fun little…whatever you’d call it…but he’s got to focus on the season coming up in August, so bye bye?
“What did you mean when you said everything’s going to change?”
He hedges, scratching at his brow. “Casey Riddock is really good.”
“So are you.”
He tilts his head from side to side. “Yeah, but Casey didn’t just have two losing seasons. I did.”
“Casey hasn’t had any NFL season whatsoever. I can’t see the Wolves taking that big of a risk by putting him in the number one slot and what…trading you?”
“That’s the thing. I totally can see that. It happens all the time.”
I rub his arm. “Well then, you’ll get traded and maybe it will be the best thing to ever happen to you.”
He snorts. “No. I need to be here for my family.”
Seems like there’s no convincing him. He’s choosing to think this way until something happens that forces him to see things differently. I can’t push him.
I squeeze his arm and try to smile. “They’re lucky to have you in their family.”
He lifts a shoulder. “Hey, you know what I said about not dating during the season?”
“Uh huh.” Nerves flick along my skin.
“It’s not a hard and fast rule.”
“Oh, so it’s just a soft and slow rule?”
His lips twitch. “Yep. It’s barely even a rule. And if some circumstances were to present themselves and make things different…”
“Then this barely even a rule might go out the window?”
“Out the door. Out the window. Through the roof.”
“That’s such a flimsy little rule, then.”
“It’s the worst.” He makes a little gagging noise and then smiles, his gaze taking me in.
“So, where does that leave us?” I have to ask because I’m still, frustratingly so, incomprehensibly so, doubting this could actually happen. That Taysom and I could make a go of this…thing…whatever we have between us.
“I like you, Charlotte. That’s just…the thing. I want to be around you.”
“You don’t mind me and my wonky, old man hips?”
He stands and pulls me up to join him, placing his hands carefully around my waist, slowly rubbing gentle circles with his thumbs.
“Your hips are perfection.” His eyes glaze over and his gaze sears me, brands me, so that I don’t think I’ll ever be the same again. Everything’s changed now that he’s looked at me like that.
I give a wobbly smile.
He strokes his hands along my hips and I stiffen at first because I’m afraid I’ll be ticklish. But it turns out that I’m not. It just feels good. Right.
“Your hips are…” His gaze dips down and he looks at me, taking a step back to really see me. His gaze is full of appreciation and my heart skitters under my breastbone.
He leans down and his lips feather against my neck, sending waves of pleasure across my skin. “I’m sorry they’ve given you grief. But to me, they’re beautiful. All of you is beautiful.”
I shudder against him as he kisses me, taking my mouth, softly caressing it at first. Then, his movements dissolve into urgency.
“Taysom,” I whisper against his mouth as he tilts his head and his teeth graze over my lips.
He kisses me like he’s just won the Super Bowl, a hard-fought victory, the best day of his life. It’s full of celebration—at finally getting to this point. It’s reverence for the past and all the events that led us to this moment. It’s exploring the possibilities for what may come tomorrow.
It’s the now.
With a soft moan deep inside his chest, his hands splay against my lower back, and he drags his mouth up my jaw, finding that place right below my ear. He devours it, like it’s his favorite thing.
Taysom’s lips are my favorite thing, and soon, the sensations get to be too much. So, I clutch his hands in mine to draw his mouth back to my lips.
I’m hungry for him.
For this thing that’s suddenly become so real.
I’m hungry for us.