Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Reid
I don’t have to open my eyes to know she’s gone. The room no longer feels charged. Instead, it’s cold and empty. I wish I could lie here and bask in the time we shared, but I have a flight to catch, and I need to see for myself that I’m right.
Slowly, I peel my eyes open. The spot next to me, where I fell asleep with her in my arms, is cold.
The sun is shining through the windows, and if I had to guess, my dream girl is long gone.
A faint trace of her perfume lingers in the air—lavender and something I can’t name—but it’s already fading.
I stare at the ceiling for a moment longer than necessary, hoping that maybe I’ll hear the soft pad of her feet returning from the bathroom. But the silence is loud.
She’s not here.
That doesn’t stop me from tossing off the covers, searching the bathroom, and even the small closet.
It’s ridiculous, but what if she was planning to get a jump scare out of me or something?
I know that I’m reaching, but fuck, I met the woman of my dreams, had the most incredible night of sex of my life, only to wake up alone.
I had plans. I wanted to get her number, find out where she was from, and make arrangements to see her again.
Sure, the season is gearing up, but I could make it work.
For her, I would make it work. However, she took that away from me by sneaking out of this room like a thief in the night.
That’s when it hits me that this was her room.
Surely, I can charm the front desk into giving me her details—at least her last name. I can start my search from there.
The phone rings, and my heart lurches. Could that be her? I scramble to answer. “Hello?”
“This is the front desk. We were asked to give you a wake-up call,” a soft, feminine voice says. Not Bellamy’s voice.
“Thanks,” I mutter, and hang up without saying goodbye.
It’s rude, I know, but I can’t help it. I guess I should be glad she thought to have them give me a wake-up call.
Otherwise, I could have been sleeping the day away, which isn't something I usually do, but last night was a long, intense one, and we both needed rest. I should be happy she was thinking of me when she snuck out undetected.
I need a shower and to go back to my room.
Begrudgingly, I get dressed in my clothes from yesterday and take one last look around the room.
I see something sticking out from the bottom of the bed.
Moving, I reach under and grab it, seeing that it’s her panties.
Fuck me. I can’t just leave them here, right?
I mean, what if some perv comes along and wants to beat his meat with them?
Nope, not happening. Decision made, I slide the white lace into my pocket as I make my way to the door.
I hesitate, my hand on the knob, the weight of memories settling on my shoulders like a winter coat.
Twisting the knob, I rush out of the room and to the elevator to take me to my room two floors up.
Twenty minutes later, with Bellamy’s thong tucked safely into my luggage, I roll up to the front desk. “Hey, man, I was hoping you could help me out.” I flash a grin, not that I think it will work on him, but I’m going to try regardless.
“Sure thing, Mr. Montgomery. What can we do for you?”
Here goes nothing. “There was this girl. Room 1302, I didn’t get a chance to get her number.”
The attendant smiles. “There’s always a girl.
” He chuckles. “Unfortunately, it’s against privacy policies to give out that kind of information.
” His face is a mask of a man who is not willing to break the rules—just my luck.
I mean, I get it, it’s his job, and it’s against the law, but damn, I need to find her.
“Right. Of course. Thank you.” I knew it was a long shot, and I briefly consider trying to bribe him, but that’s the last thing I need in the headlines.
Tight End for the Nashville Rampage was arrested for bribing a hotel attendant, trying to get private information on a female guest. Yeah, no thanks. I’ll pass on that.
We had a connection. I felt it, and I know she did, too.
I can only hope that she comes back into my life in some way.
That’s fate, right? Meeting again in the most unexpected way?
My dream girl had better be ready. If I ever see her again, I won’t be letting her get away so easily the second time.
I’ll get her last name, her number, and maybe, if I’m lucky, I might be able to win her heart.
“How was the wedding?” Knox asks.
We’re sitting outside on Landry’s back patio. The ladies, Corie, Rowan, and Sloane, are in the pool. We were supposed to be playing poker, but none of us were feeling it. Instead, we’re sitting here sipping on beers, shooting the shit.
“It was good. Landon’s all smiles, and his wife, Tessa, is great. Case was his usual horndog self,” I say, laughing as I think about Case hitting on the female bartender.
“Hook up with any bridesmaids?” Landry asks.
Instantly, memories of my time with Bellamy flash through my mind.
It’s been nothing but the Bellamy show in my head since that night.
It’s only been a few days, but I can’t seem to stop thinking about her.
“Nah, it was a small wedding. The matron of honor was there, but so was her husband. It was chill.” That’s not a lie—it was chill.
The wedding was nice, and the night was spent with the most incredible woman I’ve ever met. How much more chill could it have been?
Camden leans over toward me, holding out his little arms, and I take him from his dad. “Hey, little man,” I say, bouncing him on my knee. He giggles, and damn, he's the best medicine for my mopey ass.
“What gives?” Baker asks.
“What do you mean?” I keep my eyes on Camden, making funny faces at him.
It’s better than facing his daddy. Landon, Case, and I were tight all through college, and we still are.
But these four guys, they’re in my life day in and day out.
My closest friends, even closer than Landon or Case, and they know me well enough to know that I’m being a mopey asshole.
It’s not something they’re used to seeing from me.
I’m the one who’s laughing, smiling, and having a good time.
But that’s hard to do when I’m caught in my head.
“Come on now, Montgomery,” Landry says. “You can’t hide behind the cuteness that is our nephew.”
Camden might not be our nephew by blood, but damn if we all don’t love him as if he were. Family isn’t always blood. “I’m not.” My defense is weak at best, and I know that the guys can see right through me.
“Don’t make me bring my wife over here,” Knox warns, and I can’t help it; I laugh.
Corie is not only Knox’s wife, but Landry’s little sister. She knows us all well, and it’s nothing for her to bat her pretty green eyes to get us to spill. Add in Rowan, Landry’s wife, and Sloane, Corie’s best friend, and I wouldn’t stand a chance.
“Fine, there might have been a woman,” I say, making another silly face at Camden, which he rewards me with a giggle.
“And?” Foster asks.
Sloane appears beside me, holding her hands out for Camden. “Y’all have been hogging him all night. It’s our turn.”
I wait for her to comment about my confession, but it never comes. She’s only here to steal my little buddy.
“Release the baby, Montgomery!” Corie calls out.
“No, he’s mine.” I hold Camden against my chest and wiggle him around. His laughter fills the air around us. Damn, I love this kid.
“Don’t make us come over there!” Rowan adds.
“See.” Sloane smirks, and she lifts Camden from my arms and snuggles him. He rests his head on her shoulder, and she carries him to where Corie and Rowan are now sitting in lounge chairs, waiting for their turn.
“Thief!” I call after her. Sloane just tosses her hand up in the air in a wave.
“The woman?” Baker prompts.
Huffing out a breath, I close my eyes, tilt my head back against the chair, and start to talk.
I tell them about Bellamy sitting next to me at the bar, how we walked on the beach, and ended back at the bar, talking the night away, until the bartender kicked us out. I tell them how incredible she is.
I open my eyes and meet each one of theirs before saying, “She didn’t recognize me. I was just Reid.” Knox and Landry both hum their agreement. They know what it’s like to find ladies who don’t have a single fuck to give about the zeros in our bank accounts.
“Are you sure?” Baker asks. If anyone is going to be skeptical, it’s going to be him. He’s the one sharing his son with a one-night stand, but that’s a story for another day.
“I’m positive. No hint at all, and we went back to her room. Not mine. She even tried to pay for her drinks.” I don’t tell them that we slept together, but I’m sure they can read between the lines.
“So, what’s the issue here?” Knox asks. “Are you missing her that bad? Call her, man. We have a few weeks left before training camp starts. Go see her. Wherever she is.” His eyes glance over to where his wife is now holding Camden, and a goofy smile lights up his face.
“Yeah, about that. I don’t have her number.”
“What?” Landry asks.
“We didn’t share last names or numbers. Hell, I guess her name might not even be Bellamy, but her eyes were honest. The things we talked about. It wasn’t just surface level, although there was some of that, too.”
“Tell me you didn’t slip out on her,” Knox says.
“Nope. She got the slip on me,” I confess.
“I thought I had more time. I thought I’d wake up with her in my arms, just how we fell asleep, and I could tell her that I wanted to see her again, but I didn’t get the chance.
Guys, I’m telling you, she was unlike anyone I’ve ever met before.
Not getting her name or her number will be the biggest regret of my life. ”
“What about sleeping through her sneaking out?” Foster twists the knife that’s already tearing me up inside just a little more.
“Yeah, that too. We were up late, and I guess I was either dead to the world or she was quiet as a mouse as she slipped out of her room.” I don’t tell them about her thong or the wake-up call.
Those aren’t important, at least not to this conversation.
Those pieces of her, of our time together, are just for me.
A wake-up call might sound lame to hold on to, but she cared enough to make sure I was up. If I were just someone she was never going to see again, someone who didn’t mean anything, she wouldn’t have done that, right?
“So, what are we going to do?” Baker asks me.
“What do you mean? I already tried to get the hotel to tell me who she was, but I failed. The guy wasn’t breaking the rules for me. I didn’t press because I don’t need that headline circling the globe.”
“Good choice,” Foster agrees.
“There’s nothing I can do.” I shrug.
“You could hire a private investigator,” Landry suggests. “She was attending a wedding there, as well, right? There has to be a way for someone to find out who she is.”
“Yeah, but if she wanted him to know, she would have told him,” Foster counters. “There was a reason she slipped out while he was sleeping.”
“I hate to admit it, but Foster’s right. I don’t want to invade her privacy like that. Besides, maybe it’s a fate kind of thing. If we ever cross paths again, I won’t let her go so easily a second time.”
“You think that will happen?” Foster asks, furrowing his brow. It’s almost as if his mind is somewhere else, as if the question is about more than me and my dream girl.
“I don’t know, but I’d like to think so. She’s the only woman I’ve ever met who’s made me want to know everything about her, to spend every minute with her, and that was all within a handful of hours.”
“What happens if you meet someone?” Knox asks.
“Yeah, you never know when someone is going to enter your life that changes things,” Landry agrees, glancing over his shoulder where his wife is now getting her turn with Camden.
“I won’t.” There is conviction in my tone. “Guys, I’m telling you… she’s my dream girl. We have so much in common. The things we want out of life, weddings, kids, music, food, all of it. And we’re compatible in other ways, too. As in no one in my past exists before her.”
“I met a girl like that once,” Knox says, his voice smug. “I married her.”
“Same,” Landry agrees.
“Yeah, so if I’m lucky, I’ll get to see her again, and when I do, I’ll make damn sure to get her name.”
“And until then?” Baker asks.
“He gets through the day,” Foster answers for me.
There’s something there with him. He keeps dropping these subtle hints, but none of us press him. Foster is one of those people who won’t open up until he’s ready. He knows we’re here for him when he is.
“He’s right,” I agree. “I just have to keep going through the motions. But if that day ever comes, I’ll make sure she understands that in one night, she changed something inside me.
She made me fall for her, and while I can’t say that it’s love I’m feeling, I know I want to get to know her better.
I want more of her time and her laughter.
I want it all, and I can be patient when I need to be. ”
“If you need help learning the play, we've got you.” Landry nods.
I laugh. “Thanks, man.” I’m not going to tell him I don’t need his help, because honestly, I don’t know.
I could be dreaming, living in a fantasy land where my dream girl comes back to me.
The chances of us meeting again are slim to none, but I have hope.
The kind of chemistry we shared is once in a lifetime.
Surely, the universe will bring that back to me, right?
Back to us? It sounds out of reach even to my own ears, but I’m not giving up hope.
Not yet. I told Bellamy that if I ever met my dream girl, I’d hold on tight.
My grip was loose the first time around.
The second, I’ll be sure she knows my intentions.
I just hope I get the chance. In the meantime, maybe I should take Landry up on his offer and learn the play. I don’t know much about being in a relationship, nothing really, except for the fact that I want one with her.
With my dream girl.