Chapter 14
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN
SILAS
By the time I get home, it’s just after dinner. I texted Brooke on my way from the airport to the field house. She should be at the house by now with some of her things. I told her to wait for me to help her, but she never replied.
Bo pulls his SUV into the driveway, and as soon as he parks, the front door opens, and Chelsea comes running out of the house.
“Yay! You’re home!” She leaps into his arms.
“Hey, Lucky. You miss me already? It’s only been a few hours.” He nuzzles her neck.
I grab my bag out of the back and walk toward the door, kinda wishing that my wife had met me at the door like Chelsea did.
But as soon as I walk in, I’m hit with the sweet smell of cupcakes.
I set my duffel bag by the door and turn the corner to see Brooke in the kitchen, bent down and pulling a muffin pan out of the oven.
She’s wearing a gray sweatshirt and little black shorts.
“Hi.” I walk over to her and slide my arms around her waist from behind, then place a soft kiss on her neck.
She shivers just enough for me to notice. “Hi,” she squeaks. “Did you have a good flight?”
I don’t let go of her as she sets the pan on the top of the stove. “Yeah, it was fine. I’m so happy to be home though. Did you get everything you needed from your dorm?”
She turns in my arms, but she doesn’t touch me. She’s not looking me in the eye either.
I’m not sure if she’s feeling awkward or shy now that we’re back and reality has set in.
“Um, yeah. Charlie helped me get a lot of my clothes and personal items. There are a few things I still need to grab, but nothing urgent. My roommates were definitely confused, but I just told them I would be staying with Charlie for a while. I guess I need to contact student housing and let them know, but I’m not really sure what to say.
And I think my dad prepaid for this semester, so I hope he can get that money back. ”
Her dad.
“How did the flight home go? Did he say anything to you about us?”
She laughs dryly. “He did. Surprisingly, he wasn’t angry. I think he’s just really shocked by the whole thing. Just like everyone, I suppose.”
I put my finger under her chin and lift to meet her eyes. “Are you okay?”
She bites her bottom lip and nods. “I am. It’s just now, we’re back, and I’m moving in. You leave in a few weeks for the combine. You’ll be training all the time. I just …” She pauses.
“Brooke, we have a lot to talk about for sure. But I still don’t regret anything that we did last night.”
“I can’t believe that was last night. It all feels like a whirlwind.” She shakes her head and looks away, making my hand fall.
“You’re telling me. I won a national championship yesterday and got married. If you had asked me last week if I thought any of this was possible, I would have said yes to the championship, but marrying you … only in my dreams.”
She finally breaks into a smile. “Stop. You didn’t think about marrying me.”
“Maybe not in the way we did, but I definitely wanted you. And if you need me to reassure you, I will happily do it. Right here. Right now.”
I take her ass in my hands and lift her, and she wraps her legs around my waist.
“Smells good in here,” Bo says as he and Chelsea walk in. “You make us cupcakes, Brooke?”
I keep her in my arms and walk us away from the stove, and then I set her on the island, but I stay between her legs.
“Yes, I did. I made the ones you like with the chocolate fudge swirls.” She turns her head to watch him take one out of the pan. “They just came out and need to cool before I frost them.”
“Bo, you’re gonna burn your hand.” Chelsea grabs a paper towel and hands it to him.
“It’s not that hot.” But he takes it anyway and covers the bottom as he peels back the wrapper. Then he takes a bite and nearly drops it. “Okay, maybe a little hot.” He holds his mouth open.
“Spit it out then, goof. Don’t burn your tongue.” Chelsea scoffs.
“I’m good,” he mumbles, then finishes chewing. “I’ll let it cool for a second before I take another bite though.”
Chelsea looks over at us and rolls her eyes.
“So, should we get a pizza or something? I’m getting hungry, and I can’t wait to shower.” He wraps an arm around Chelsea.
“I’m hungry too. I can call in an order while you shower first.” I pull out my phone.
He nods. “That works. Get whatever you guys want.” He drops his arm from Chelsea, but takes her by the hand. “You wanna come with me?”
“I literally can’t believe you just asked me that in front of them.” She covers her face with her free hand.
“Babe, I’m pretty sure they know we’ve seen each other naked.”
She hits him on the stomach as they start walking.
“And I think they have us beat on the shock factor.” Bo laughs and looks over at us. “Sorry, I couldn’t help it.”
“What can I say? I like to keep you all on your toes. Expect the unexpected and all that.” I hold out my arms.
They laugh as they walk toward his room.
I turn back to Brooke, and her eyes are focused on her wedding band.
“What kind of pizza should we get?” I ask her to try to bring her gaze to me.
“Doesn’t matter to me.” She starts twisting her band.
“Brooke …” I set my phone down and take her hands in mine and set them on my chest. “Let’s eat and visit with our friends for a while, and then we’ll go into my room and talk.”
She nods. “Okay. Sorry. I don’t mean to be weird. Am I being weird?”
“You seem like someone trying to make sense of everything that’s happened in the last twenty-four hours. And I get it. But we’ll do it together, okay?”
I take her face in my hands and kiss her. When she melts into me, I deepen the kiss. I want her to be here with me.
“Hey, lovebirds. What are we doing for dinner?” Charlie walks in, interrupting us.
Brooke clears her throat. “We’re gonna get a pizza.”
“That works. Do you want me to order?” She lifts her phone in her hand.
“I got it. Just tell me what everyone wants.” I grab my phone from the counter.
“Maybe just a cheese, veggie, and whatever you boys want. I assume my brother went to Noelle’s since Chelsea is here?”
“Yeah, I guess. He told us he would see us later, but that was it.” I tap on the app and place the pizza order.
“I figured.” She takes a bottle of water out of the fridge, then turns to face us.
Brooke’s hands are resting beside her now, but I’m still between her legs.
“So, how are you guys feeling about everything?” She studies us.
“I feel great.” I smile widely. “A little sore still from the game and pretty tired, but I got to come home to this.” I wrap my arms around Brooke’s shoulders and tug her in tight.
Charlie has a smile on her face. “Good. And, B, how are you feeling?”
What’s she doing? I’m sure they talked about it before I got home.
“I’m good,” she says quietly.
“Awesome. Maybe you guys should go try to figure out where Brooke can put her things.” She gestures toward my room. “I’ll call y’all when the pizza gets here.”
“Sounds like a great idea,” I say, lifting Brooke off the counter, but I keep her in my arms, so she wraps around me again.
When we get to my room, I see her bags sitting neatly in front of my small dresser. Not sure how we’re going to fit everything in here, but I’ll toss out all my clothes just so she can have space.
“I wasn’t really sure where to put my bags. I’ve never really been in your room before.”
“Yeah, I guess you haven’t. But this is fine for now. I just need to clear out the drawers. I don’t have a ton of stuff. And only a few things in the closet.” I set her down on my bed. “I can always run to Target and get some bins for under the bed, too, if we need them.”
“Silas, is this … is this okay, really?”
I kneel down in front of her and push her legs apart so I can fit between them, then run my hands up her thighs. “Brooke, this is more than okay. Yeah, so we did this in a very unconventional way, but my feelings for you are real. Like I’ve already told you, I have zero regrets.”
“But what if us trying to make this into something real is a mistake? You have a lot going on, and I feel like, I don’t know, that timing is just not the best. I’m in school, and I have my own goals.
” She takes a deep breath in. “I don’t want to hold you back or anything.
And I wouldn’t want to be a distraction for you either. ”
“Cupcake, you might be a distraction, but not in the way you’re thinking.
Yes, I have a lot to prepare for, but as far as I’m concerned, having you by my side through it all will just make everything better.
” I lift a hand to her face and brush her cheek with my thumb. “Are you having doubts about this?”
“Honestly, I just don’t know. Yes, I wanted to have fun and do some things out of my comfort zone, but maybe getting married was taking it too far.” She laughs, but there’s no humor in it. “I mean, I didn’t even know you had feelings for me.”
“Really? You didn’t? I’d try to be near you whenever you were here.
The night of Noelle’s party wasn’t the first time we’d fallen asleep on the couch together.
” I raise my brows. “The kiss at the basketball game? Well, that was just a golden opportunity, and I took it. And the first person I looked for after the game yesterday wasn’t my family; it was you.
I wanted to celebrate the win with you.”
“You did?” She smiles sweetly.
“Hell yeah, I did. I think about you all the time. I’ll do anything to show you how I feel about you.”
“We haven’t really been on an official date. Maybe we should just get an annulment or something, then date and try to do this the right way.”
Fuck. That.
I shake my head. “Nah, I’m not gonna do that.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not getting this marriage annulled.”
“Silas, I’m not saying we would go our separate ways necessarily. I just mean that we could start fresh without the pressure of being married.”
“I don’t feel pressured. You do?” Shit.