“You know what they say about people who assume things.” I smile.
When we get back to the table, I see that Maverick has joined us and is talking to Paul and Misty. Misty looks over to me, questioning. I shrug, smiling. She still glares at Jagger though. My sister isn’t going to let him off the hook easily. Honestly, I’m not sure that I am either, but I am willing to try, and I truly believe him when he says he loves me, and that he’s mine. Only time will tell though.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Jo
2 weeks later
“Babe, don’t you think it’s ridiculous that you keep going back to your room for things?”
I unravel the towel I wrapped around my wet hair and look at him. “Why is it ridiculous? It’s not like I’m sleeping in my bed anymore. My clothes are in there and these closets are tiny.”
“Did you rip up my jersey?” He looks horrified as he looks down at what I’m wearing.
“I didn’t rip it up, I . . . distressed it a bit.”
“Distressed it a bit,” he repeats. “Coach is going to fucking kill me.”
“This isn’t a game jersey.” I look down with a frown. “Oh my God, is it a game jersey?”
“It doesn’t matter.” He chuckles, shaking his head. “I have other game jerseys. Luckily we only have two more weeks before the season is over.”
“And then the pros will be waiting,” I say.
“We’ll see.”
It’s something we’ve discussed a lot. The question isn’t whether or not he’ll get an offer. The question is whether or not he’ll take it. He’s been thinking about the toll it would take on his body and is trying to weigh out his options. Maybe he’ll go pro for a year or two and retire early. Maybe he’ll pass up on the offer. I personally think he’ll take a contract, but I definitely don’t see him staying in the game too long. Not with the kind of awareness he has about his body and what it can withstand. I finish tying up the bottom of the jersey. It hits me at my thighs and it’s too loose, so I make sure to tighten the knot by my abdomen.
“Where exactly are you going to be sitting?” Jagger’s eyes heat as he looks at me.
“I think first row, right behind the bench.”
“So when I run back to the sideline, I’ll be able to see you.” He walks over slowly, flexing his large hand against my waist and tucking his thumb underneath the front of the jersey. “Some would say you’re a distraction.”
“Hm.” I crane my neck and he rewards me with a kiss.
“Have you told your mom about our living arrangement?” He pulls away, but keeps rubbing his thumb against my stomach.
“No.” I shiver.
“My parents are going to be at the game.”
“So are mine,” I say, biting my lip as his thumb moves dangerously close to the waistband of the shorts I’m wearing.
“I want to tell them about us.”
“Hm.”
“I’m serious.” He takes his hand away altogether and I want to argue, but the seriousness in his eyes keeps my lust at bay.
“Let’s tell them.”
“Everything,” he says, then adds, “Well, maybe not everything, but definitely our living arrangement and definitely about our relationship.”
“Okay.” I nod. “We’ll tell them after the game. They keep talking about going to lunch anyway, as if they know we’re going to win this game for sure.”
“We are.”
I laugh. “So sure of yourself.”
“I have to be, baby.” He kisses the tip of my nose. “Besides, we’re playing Duke. No way I’m letting Lawrence score.”
“You don’t even play defense.” I raise an eyebrow at him.
“No, but all my boys are gunning for him.” He winks, stepping away to keep getting ready.
“Be nice, Jagger.”
“Nice?” He blinks. “I’ve never claimed to be nice.”
“You know what I mean.” I shoot him a look. “Don’t hurt him.”
“It’s football, baby, not bowling.” He grabs his bag and walks over to me, bringing an arm around me to grab my ass as he pulls me into a long, seductive kiss. When he pulls away, I’m left wanting more. He knows it too. He smirks. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” I say as he walks away.
“What?” He freezes and turns around, dropping a hand and bringing the bag to the floor with a thump.
“I said I love you too.” I start laughing when he charges me, lifting me up so that my legs are around his waist as he buries his head in my neck.
“Say it again,” he murmurs against me.
“I love you, Jagger. I really, really love you.”
He pulls away and brings one of my hands up to his chest, against his rapidly beating heart. “You have no idea the things you make me feel.”
“Yeah?” I smile.
“No idea.”
I grind against his hard cock. “I have some idea.”
“God.” He groans, throwing his head back. “I can’t do this right now, but tonight . . . ” He looks at me again, heated expression on his face. “Tonight, it’s on.”
He makes good on his word. Lawrence is sacked four times and Jagger scores two touchdowns. Another one-hander that will absolutely be on the ESPN highlight reel.
“That’s my boy,” Mildred screams beside me. “Yeah, baby!”
I smile so hard my cheeks hurt. No one has said anything about me wearing his jersey, even though it’s clearly too big for me despite my makeshift alterations. When the game is over, Jagger jogs over to us and jumps up to scale the short wall between us. There are a few photographers there, clicking and getting it on film. His mom reaches forward and gives him a kiss on the cheek as his dad and mine fist bump him. Then he looks over at me, those troublemaker eyes of his making it clear what he’s about to do. My heart stops as he moves and leans in, grabbing me by the nape of my neck and pulling me in for a kiss. It’s not a chaste kiss, either. I taste the salt of his sweat as he shoves his tongue into my mouth and deepens the kiss. Everyone around us falls completely silent. Maybe it’s shock, or maybe it’s the fact that my heart is beating so uncontrollably that Jagger’s mouth on mine is the only thing I can concentrate on. When he pulls away, he gives me one of his lazy, lopsided smiles, and hops off the wall, picking his helmet back up and running in the direction of the lockers.
It takes me a long moment to pull away from the railing and take a deep breath, my body still buzzing from the kiss.
“What. The hell. Was that?” my mother asks, breaking the silence. “Since when?”
“How long has this been going on?” Mildred adds.
“You have a lot of explaining to do,” Dad says.
Roberto is the only one laughing, not a low laugh either, he’s full-out laughing as if this is the funniest thing that’s ever happened. “That kid. That fucking kid,” he says, still laughing. “He always did say you were the most beautiful girl in the world.”
My attention snaps to him. “Really?”
“Really.” He smiles wide. “Damn, Henry, I guess you’re not going to get rid of us after all.”
My dad laughs. “I still have to give him a stern talk, you know. I have to at least pretend to be threatening.”
Our parents chatter the entire way out of the stadium, and the entire ride to the restaurant, and then while we take our seats they’re still talking about Jagger and me and asking questions, but they’re talking so much and so fast that I don’t even think they want an answer from me. When Jagger gets there, everyone in the restaurant starts clapping for him. I shake my head and laugh at the look on his face as he looks around and waves at them. He walks over to us, says hi to everyone, and gives me a chaste kiss on the lips before taking the seat beside me.
“You have a lot of explaining to do,” Dad says, looking between us.
Jagger chuckles, taking my hand in his. “In that case, pass the wine.”
We tell our parents about our living arrangement, whic
h makes my mother irate. I’m about to accuse her of being judgmental when she tells me she would have been okay with it, but she doesn’t like that I kept it from her. We tell them it happened gradually, though I’m not sure that’s the case. Jagger barged into my life and infiltrated my thoughts and senses, I don’t think there was anything gradual about it. By the end of lunch, our mothers are planning our wedding and I want to hide under a rock.
“I knew this would happen,” I say to Jagger.
“What? You thought they’d be this happy about us?”
“I had a feeling.” I bite my lip, frowning.
“What?” He searches my eyes. “What’s wrong?”
“If we break up . . . ” I start.
“Nope.”
I laugh. “If we do though, it’ll be a disaster.”
“Do you really think I’m stupid enough to let you go?” he asks, with a rawness in his voice I haven’t heard. “I love you, Josephine, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I have a million questions about my future, but you’re not one of them.”
“Good.” I smile. “Because I don’t know what I’m going to do after graduation, but I know I want to go wherever you are.”
He brings a hand to cup my face and kisses me again, a tender kiss that makes my pulse race.
“Enough with the kissing,” Dad says. “I haven’t even threatened you yet.”
Jagger pulls away with a laugh. “You don’t have to threaten me. I know I don’t deserve your daughter, but I absolutely plan on making it so that she never questions her choices.”
The entire table erupts with excitement and I can’t help but laugh. I don’t remember the last time I felt this happy, if ever.
Epilogue
Jagger
“Last game of the season.” Coach’s words take my attention from the laces I’m tying.
“Last game.” I try for a smile, but I’m not sure I achieve it. Coach takes pity on me and
taps my shoulder before walking away.
Last game. Those are loaded words. Last game means I’m free to do whatever I want now, officially sign with an agent, get signed by a team, or not. It also means a lot of us will never see the field again. Not like this anyway. Not where we are the stars and all eyes are on all of us at all times. Players are already getting offers from sponsors, from shoes to cars. I heard Lawrence got a good deal with a big company. He’s a quarterback though. Those perks are usually reserved for them.
According to Luis, the agent I’m signing with, a lot of teams have been talking about me behind closed doors, saying they’d be lucky to have me on their roster. According to ESPN, there are more than a handful of places I’d fit in. I would love to say I haven’t given it any thought, but the truth is that it’s the only thing I think about these days.
That and Jo, but Jo is a sure thing and I’m not worried about her. If she wasn’t a sure thing she’d be the only thing on my mind.
“Big day.” Jordan walks over with a shit-eating grin on his face. “You ready?”
“I’m always ready.”
“Really? Cause you look like you’re about to throw up.” He chuckles. “Don’t tell me
you’re having second thoughts about this.”
“Never. I just want to make sure we beat the fuck out of Duke so that the aftermath is
that much sweeter.”
“I’m with you on that.” That’s Tucker, who’s walking over now, helmet in hand. “The
entire defensive line is on notice. We’re not letting Pretty Boy make any complete passes today.”
“Good.” I feel myself smile now.
This is the last time we’ll ever play against Duke as the team stands today, and the fact that we get to kick his ass on this day makes me feel twenty times better about it being our final game. Even with that thought and the celebration we have planned for after the fact, the locker room is quiet, the sound of uncertainty and sadness spreading. The only ones who don’t seem as affected are the freshman and red shirts, but that’s to be expected. I can’t blame them for reeling in the opportunity that us being gone will provide for them.
“Coach wants to huddle now,” Brett says, jogging over.
The four of us head to the middle of the locker room and stand around Coach, who’s holding an iPad and waiting for us to settle down. He starts giving us one of his heartfelt speeches and goes around naming every player and commending them on one thing he loves about them. He does this every season, but I find my throat tightening today because this is the last time I’m ever going to be on the field with these guys. It’s the last time a lot of us will be on the field at all. We huddle, arms around each other as Tucker, the team captain, says some more words that make us emotional, and then we’re off, running to the field. I make sure to enjoy the cheers, the boos, and everything in between. I take it all in. It’s the last time I’ll feel this kind of love. I’ve spoken to enough wide receivers in the NFL to know this. Going pro comes with a different kind of responsibility, but none feels like this. These guys and this field will always be my home, regardless of where we end up.
We end up beating Duke 56-24. After the game, when everyone is high-fiving the other team and saying kind words to them, I think about keeping it short with Lawrence, but he pulls me into an unexpected side hug and pats me on the back.
“I’m looking forward to seeing you out in the field in the future,” he says. “I know I fucked up our friendship and don’t deserve your grace, but there’s no bad blood on my part.”
“It’s not my grace that should concern you.” I pull away from him. “You ruined a girl’s senior year. She had to give up her sport because of you. If that shit doesn’t weigh on your conscience, I don’t know what will.”
“I know.” He swallows. “That’s something I will forever be indebted to her for.”
“She put you behind her. You don’t owe her shit. Do better, bro.” I cast him one last hard look before turning to my teammates and jogging toward the sidelines, where my parents and Jo’s are. Jo, Misty, Mitchell, and Mav are also there. My teammates run over to where the cheerleaders are, each grabbing a whiteboard that the cheerleaders helped write, and jog over to where I am. After I climb up and say hi to my parents and hers and my brothers, I pull myself up completely until I’m standing right beside Josephine, who throws her arms around me. I’m sweaty, but she doesn’t care.
“That game was crazy,” she says against my neck. “You did so good, baby.”
“Since it’s my last game here, I figured I’d make it memorable.” I pull away from her and take a step back. Her brows pull in. “We’re supposed to pack up our shit and move out of our house by the end of the week, but I can’t imagine not living with you. I don’t want to wake up and miss you.” I get down on one knee and stick my hand behind my back, where Mitch drops the ring box into my hand; when I pull it around me, Jo gasps, her hands covering her mouth. “I know we haven’t been together long, but when you know, you know. Josephine Marie Canó, will you marry me?”
“Oh my God.” She laughs, then wipes tears from her face as she nods frantically. “Yes.”
I slide the ring onto her finger and stand up, cupping her face with both hands and brushing her tears away with my thumbs.
“I love you, Jagger,” she whispers against my lips. “This was so unexpected and perfect.”
Our family starts cheering for us as we kiss and I realize that even if we hadn’t just royally kicked ass this game, I would have won, because there’s no competing with Jo.
“Hey, over here!” someone yells from the field. I pull away with a laugh. I’d forgotten about them already. We look over to see my teammates waving signs that spell out, “Will You Marry Me?”
“She said yes,” I shout out.
“Dammit, Jag, she was supposed to look at us first,” Jordan yells back. “Did she say yes?”
We laugh. I nod. “She said yes!”
My teammates break out into a dance and start shout
ing congratulations as our families throw their arms around us.
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Also by Claire Contreras
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The Sinful King
The Naughty Princess
Fables & Other Lies
Half Truths
Twisted Circles
Because You’re Mine
There’s No Light in Darkness
The Consequence of Falling
The Trouble With Love
Then There Was You
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Paper Hearts
Elastic Hearts
The Heartbreaker Page 19