52. Will
CHAPTER 52
WILL
“ D amn, what a day,” I mutter to the other coaches as the bus pulls into the parking lot of Springside High around midnight after the Championship.
“Yeah, I’m freaking beat,” Theo agrees. The bus comes to a stop, and the boys rise from their seats, eager to move around after sitting still for the last few hours.
“All right, guys. Grab all your stuff and you’re free to head out. But listen, I know it’s late and y’all want to celebrate tonight, but let me just say, please be safe. Just make good choices, okay?” I say, and all the players chorus back with “Yes, sir.”
I nod before motioning for them to get off. Looking out at the parking lot, it looks like pretty much all of the parents whose children aren’t able to drive are already here, and I breathe out a sigh of relief that I should get to leave shortly.
My phone vibrates and I turn it over to see Hannah’s name on my screen.
HANNAH: Just made it home. Are you coming over tonight? I know it’s late so no pressure if you’d rather go home and come over tomorrow that’s fine.
WILL: Do you really think I’m gonna be sleeping without you after everything that happened tonight? I’ll be there in twenty.
HANNAH: Sounds good. I’m about to ride out to the barn and double check the horses are good, but I should be back home by the time you get here.
WILL: Okay, be safe. If you want to wait until I get there, I’ll go with you.
HANNAH: Thank you, but the sooner this gets done the sooner we can go to bed… See you soon.
I slide my phone in my pocket and turn back to my assistant coaches. “All right, guys. You can all go on home. I’ll double check everything gets locked up, and I’ll text you in a day or two. I’m sure the school will do some ceremonies to celebrate the win, but I’ll do something for just y’all once everything gets settled down. Thank again for everything.”
They all nod in agreement, clapping me on the back and saying good night before heading to their cars and leaving me alone.
After grabbing the trophy and locking it in my office, I double-check that all the players were picked up before jumping in my truck and heading to Falling Oaks.
I make the drive pretty quickly, smiling as I pull up to the house when I see her pull up on the ATV from checking on the horses with Leroy sitting in the passenger seat. Making my way over, I drop a kiss on her lips before leaning over and patting Leroy on the head.
“I swear, this damn pig,” I tease, shaking my head before wrapping my arm around her shoulder and leading her inside. Leroy scampers off the vehicle, and Ruby runs over from where she was frolicking beside her pen to join us inside. “What are you gonna do when she’s not a little calf anymore?” I ask, and Hannah just shrugs.
“I don’t know, but I guess we’ll figure something out. Leroy over here taught her all his tricks, didn’t ya, buddy?” she coos, opening the front door to let them in before leaning down and sitting her boots on the porch.
Straightening to her full height, she smiles before asking, “So, Mr. State Champion, how are ya feeling? Has it set in yet? You know you’re probably gonna get all sorts of job offers and opportunities after this right?”
I reach out, pulling her body to mine and threading my fingers through her hair. I drop a gentle kiss to her lips before I admit, “Yeah, maybe. But you know I don’t give a shit about any of that. The title’s cool and all, but the best part of tonight wasn’t the game. It was hearing you finally admit that you’re in love with me.”
“Did I say that? I don’t remember,” she teases, and I growl, scooping her up and throwing her over my shoulder and I lead us to her bedroom.
She giggles, bumping my back with her fists as she tries to get me to put her down. “I’ll put you down as soon as you admit that you love me,” I tell her. “And get ready, because I’ve waited seven years to hear you say those words, and now that I have I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of them.
The room goes silent as I hold her up above the bed, and she pulls back in my arms to look at me. “I love you, Will Thompson. I loved you seven years ago when I was too scared to admit it even to myself. I’m pretty sure I’ve loved you every day since, but I’m definitely in love with you now. I know there’ll be days when I’m a pain in your ass and you get on my damn nerves, but I don’t want to spend another day without you.”
My heart races at the words, and I sit her on the bed, dropping my mouth to hers as I kiss her, feeling like I’ll never get enough.
“I love you too, Hannah. This life with you is everything I’ve ever wanted, and I hope you mean it when you say you’re in this for the long haul because I’m never letting you go again,” I tell her, kissing her again and running my hands under her sweater to feel her bare skin. After a moment, I pull it off as she reaches for my coach’s pullover.
We become a flurry of hands, both of us desperate to feel the other until we’re both stripped bare, and she’s reaching out her legs to wrap them around my hips.
I move to help her, leaning down and lining up with her entrance and slowly pushing inside her. “I’m never gonna get enough of you, you know,” I murmur, kissing her lips before rocking my hips into her gently.
All of the other times we’ve had sex, it’s been wild and passionate, but tonight, I want to take this slow and savor every minute with her naked in front of me.
She groans, reaching up to pull me down for another kiss and wrapping her legs around me tighter. “You’re so damn tight, baby,” I murmur, pushing in and out of her slowly.
“Faster, please,” she begs, but I ignore her, reaching down to tease her clit in the way that I’ve learned drives her wild.
“Come on, baby. You’re gonna come for me, and then when we’re done, we’re gonna go to bed because we have the rest of our lives for this right here,” I tell her, feeling her pussy starting to spasm around my cock as she comes.
“Yes, you feel so good. Don’t stop,” she begs. I pump my hip harder, feeling myself follow her over the edge and filling her with my cum.
We both lie still for a moment, basking in the feeling of having the other close. After a few minutes, I pull back, smiling at the sight of her pussy leaking with my cum. “You know, I don’t think that’ll ever get old.”
She rolls my eyes at my statement, before murmuring, “Okay, as wonderful as that was, I need a shower.”
I thread my arms under her legs and carry her bridal style into the bathroom, sitting her on the counter while I get the shower ready. As we wait for the water to heat up, I walk over to her, pulling her into my arms and kissing her again.
“I’m pretty sure this has been the most perfect day ever,” she whispers, and I tighten my grip around her.
“Yeah, you’re right. But now we can spend the rest of our lives trying to beat it,” I say, kissing her forehead.
“You’re on,” she agrees, before pulling back. “I love you, Will.”
“I love you too, Han. Now, let’s get this shower over with so we can go to bed. I have a feeling tomorrow will be a busy one. And you know, we’ve gotta go by and drop the news on your grandfather. I’m sure the STS will probably beat us to it, but still.”
She laughs at that. “You’re right. I also need to take Merle for a ride tomorrow afternoon, and I need some help getting the tractor to start after the last cold front so we can set some hay out for the cows. Oh, and the latch on the barn still needs fixing from where you busted in there last week.”
I shake my head at her with a smile. “Don’t tell me you just want me around for the farm help.”
“You know, it is a perk,” she teases. “But the sex is pretty good too.”
She stands, scurrying away from me and laughing at her joke. I chase after her, swatting her ass playfully before pulling her to me and planting a kiss on her lips.
“Life with you won’t ever be boring, will it?” I ask, causing her to giggle.
“Not even a little bit.”
“Knock, knock,” Hannah calls out the next morning as we stand in front of her gramps room at the nursing home.
She enters ahead of me, yelling, “Hey, Gramps. How ya feeling today?”
“Oh, I can’t complain. I just…” he starts, pausing when he sees me entering the door behind her. “Well, I’ll be damned. The two of you actually worked it out.”
We both pause, trying not to laugh as he looks between us over and over again, like any second we’re gonna come up for some reason why I’m here that doesn’t have to do with a relationship.
“We did,” I tell him, grabbing Hannah and pulling her to me.
The old man throws up his hands and lets out a whoop of excitement, causing us both to laugh. “It’s about damn time,” Hannah’s gramps says.“Gladis showed me the blast about y’all in the STS last night after the game, but I’ve told her I don’t believe a damn thing those old ladies say. Looks like Miss Mabel might have gotten it right for once though, huh?”
“Yeah, I guess so,” I say with a laugh. Hannah and I chuckled when Huey sent me a screenshot of the gossip this morning as all the older ladies tried to figure out how we kept our relationship a secret from them.
“You know, I thought I was gonna have to resort to threatening to kick both of your asses if you didn’t stop acting so damn stubborn,” Mr. Scott says, winking at me.
“Gramps, you’re on a walker. Did you really think we’d be scared of you?” Hannah teases.
“Hush up, girl. We both know I wouldn’t have done it even if I could, but I felt like I had to do something. You need each other too dang much to let whatever it was keep you apart,” he says defensively.
“You’re right,” I tell him as we walk over to sit around the table beside him. We spend the next several minutes making small talk with him before one of the girls from the office knocks on the door.
“Oh, hey, Mia,” Hannah says with a wide smile. “How are you today?”
“Hey, Hannah,” the girl replies before turning to Mr. Scott. “Hey, Mr. Scott. We’re working on plans for the Christmas party this week, and I wanted to make sure you and Miss Gladis will be joining us?”
Hannah’s gramps nods. “We wouldn’t miss it. I’ve got my dirty Santa present ready to go too.” He thinks for a moment, before turning to Hannah. “You think Margaret could make us some desserts?”
“I’m sure she can. I’ll text her when I leave,” Hannah responds before turning to Mia. “I haven’t gotten a chance to thank you, but I just wanted to say thank you so much for all your help. I don’t know what magic you managed to work with the Medicaid gods, but I’m really grateful. I know you said you’d do what you could, but I never expected you to get my gramp’s care covered in full. It was a real lifesaver though.”
Mia’s eyes widen as she looks around awkwardly. Mr. Scott and I make eye contact, and he nods at me, indicating that it’s time for me to come clean.
“I’ll take this one,” I murmur to Mia, and I feel the immediate relief when she realizes she won’t have to try to explain. As she leaves, I turn to Hannah and decide to get this over with.
“Actually, Han, that was me. I didn’t want to tell you because I knew you’d freak out, so I asked for them to keep it vague for me. They couldn’t actually lie to you, but I figured if they just told you it had been taken care of, you’d assume it was his insurance or whatever.”
“Will Thompson, what in the hell were you thinking? That’s thousands of dollars!” she cries, her eyes widening in panic.
“Baby, don’t do this. I’ve saved up a lot of money by sharing that apartment with Seth these last few years, and I found the bills at your house one night while I was working on the fence. I knew you’d never ask for help, but we could all tell that you were stressed. So I took care of it and a few of the smaller miscellaneous ones I didn’t think you’d notice. And I’m sorry I kept it from you, but honestly, I’d do it again. I’m never gonna let you struggle with something if I have the power to fix it.”
Her eyes fill with tears at my declaration, and I worry I’ve said something wrong before she flings herself into my arms. “I don’t know what to say. I can’t believe you did that! I still think it’s too much.”
I just shrug, running my hand down her back, before turning back to her gramps. “So, are you and Gladis gonna have a wild time at this Christmas party?”
“Oh, you know we will,” he responds with a laugh. “I told Melvin I was coming for him again if there were games involved.”
“Gramps, you’ve gotta leave that poor man alone,” Hannah scolds before turning to me. “Melvin is the guy across the hall and he has a leg cast up to his thigh. For some reason, Gramps has a vendetta against the poor man.”
“Hey now, just because he had surgery doesn’t make him innocent,” Mr. Scott argues. “I caught him trying to cheat at bingo last week, and he tried to flirt with Gladis at breakfast yesterday when I was in physical therapy!”
“Okay, okay, my bad. I didn’t know about that,” Hannah says, holding up her hands in surrender, causing both of us to laugh.
“But enough about the nursing home drama. I know y’all have better things to do than listening to me running my mouth all damn day. But feel free to bring my granddaughter with you on your weekly visits, Will.”
Hannah’s eyes widen in surprise again. “What the hell? You two are just full of secrets. You visit him every week?”
“Yeah,” I tell her honestly. “Is that okay?”
“I’m absolutely in love with you,” she murmurs, and I feel another rush at her words.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing that,” I tell her honestly. “And I love you too.”
She leans in for me to press a kiss to her forehead, while her grandfather looks on with a smile.
“Okay, okay, you two have spent enough time in here today. Y’all go on so I can watch the NCIS marathon this morning. But I’m happy for you both,” he says truthfully before pulling Hannah into a long hug. He whispers something in her ear and she laughs before moving to stand.
I stand to shake his hand, but he grabs my arm and pulls me into a hug. “Just make her happy, okay, son?”
“I intend to,” I tell him honestly, before moving to the door and taking Hannah’s hand.
“Bye, Gramps. I love you,” she says, turning back to look at where he’s reaching for the remote.
“I love you too, my Hannah Banana,” he says with a wink before we make our way into the hall.
“You ready to go home? I’m pretty sure there’s a pig who could use a bath,” she says, causing me to groan at the prospect. But after a beat, I realize she’s referring to Falling Oaks as home for the both of us, and I smile, deciding it’s worth all the chaos that will definitely ensue from trying to give her wiggly pig a bath.
“Yep, let’s head home, Han,” I say, pulling her close and kissing her forehead. “But if he squeals the same way he did when you clipped his hooves, we’re gonna have to invest in some really good headphones because the little fucker is loud as hell.”