The opposing team breaks through first since they are the visitors on our field. As they are announced over the speakers, they come barreling through the sign behind the cheerleaders, running towards the sidelines. The guys begin chanting and yelling behind our sign. "You ready for this," Adalynn asks stretching slightly to loosen up.
"As I'll ever be," I respond. "On three?" She nods and I begin to count. "One, two, three," and we take off into our round off back-handsprings across the field. Three back-handsprings in and the team tears through the barricade; running across the field behind us. Once we reach center field, we finish off and mount. The stands are echoing loudly with feet banging against the metal and shouts welcoming the team.
Turning around to make my way to the sidelines next to the football players, I'm blocked by shoulder pads and tight pants. My eyes skim their way up from cleats to yellow, tight pants painted on one amazing set of legs all the way up to a black jersey plastered with the number four across the front. My breathing picks up as I take in the sight before me. My new favorite view is now a football uniform, at least on one specific person. Once I reach his face a knowing smirk takes hold on one side of his mouth. "If I have to watch you do that again, I may take you back to the locker room and have my way with you."
I bite my lip as the dirty thoughts enter my once pure mind. The things he does to me. I'm trying to come up with something to say when Adalynn begins tugging me backwards. "Leave my cheerleader alone Breyson. You already hog her enough. You need to learn to share."
He never breaks eye contact as I walk backwards. "Kinzleigh Baker is something I'll never share. All I can say is you better get used to it." I finally remember where we are. I hate when he does this to me. The way he makes me forget there are other people around besides the two of us. It's like we're in the middle of a time tunnel, just me looking at him and everything around is blurred.
"Breyson, get your ass on the field and leave the cheerleaders alone. You can do that when you win us a ballgame," coach calls out across the field and I begin running to where I'm supposed to be. Great, first game of the season and we're already causing a scene.
"Sure thing coach," Breyson says as he sprints backwards taking his place in the center of the field for the coin toss. He finally turns around, breaking the hold he has on me and I can finally concentrate on what I'm doing.
With one minute left in the game we are down by seven points. The team looks worn out. I'm on edge at how close the game is. Both teams are playing hard. We have the ball and if we don't run it down the field we will lose the game. The team is huddled at the sixty yard line. "Come on Breyson, run the ball babe!" I really didn't think he could hear me until he pops up from the huddle.
Removing his helmet, he is sporting a major grin. Winking at me, he kisses his index and middle finger, then holds it up at me and pulls his helmet back in place. I guess I've learned that everyone has a weak spot. My weak spot is said blue eyed boy marked with a number four and Abercrombie across the back. One kiss is like getting a dose of speed.
Braxton takes the hike and as he acts like he is going to run with it he passes to Breyson in the opening. Everyone is screaming for him to run the ball as he intercepts the pass. Cradling the ball in the crook of his arm, he takes off down the field, weaving in and out of the bodies layered in white and red jerseys. Right as he gets to the fifteen yard line, a player from the other team grabs his waist but he never lets up, dragging the player along with him. He has some amazing legs. The other player finally begins to weaken him. As he comes down to the ground, he extends his left hand out with the ball in hand touching it in the end zone. Touchdown!
Everyone jumps up and down cheering. All we need now is an extra point to tie the game and go into overtime. The crowd huddles around him in joy, patting him on the helmet. The team lines up and the kicker kicks the ball. At the exact second the ball flies through the goal, the buzzer sounds. We're now tied at twenty eight.
We were able to hold the other team from getting another touchdown and at the end the pass was faked and Braxton got a touchdown putting us up by six points when the timer ran out. Jumping up and down, I lean in to hug Adalynn when I feel arms wrap around my waist, turning me around.
What I see before me is Breyson, sweaty and all male, pick me up and kiss me. "We won," he says. He looks so happy as he twirls me in a circle. Do I care that he is dripping in sweat, with his hair standing up all over the place? Heck no. This is possibly the sexiest I have ever seen him. Everything else around me fades away as he kisses me again; the crowd, the players, the cheerleaders. Nothing exists but the two of us.
On reflex, I wrap my legs around him and deepen the kiss. If this is what it feels like when two hearts collide, I want more; to exist completely and irrevocably intertwined with another. His kiss is slowly becoming the air my lungs need to breathe, the blood my heart needs to pump and the food my body needs to survive. He is becoming my lifeline. What scares me is when you cut off your lifeline everything begins to die, piece by piece and leaves you a lifeless corpse, a vegetative state of a person no longer able to function in the world as before.
He breaks the kiss, placing his forehead to mine. "You're my entire world girl. I don't know what you're doing to me but I can no longer survive without it. You better get used to me because you're stuck with me as long as you allow it. Those deep green eyes are hypnotic, placing me in a trance each time you look at me. They are the first thing I think about when I awaken and the last thing I see before I go to bed. You've caught the uncatchable."
Setting me down, the last bit of the wall around my heart just shattered. I can't fight it anymore. I'm falling for Breyson Abercrombie. Like it or not, I might as well accept it because what's done is done. The heart has decided what it wants and has begun a war with my brain. My heart is quickly winning the battle, but I'm not sure it will win the war.
Grabbing his face in my hands, I close my eyes and softly kiss his lips. "This feeling scares me," I whisper honestly. "I don't want to fall for you. I don't want to be this vulnerable."
"I know beautiful girl. Meet me at the truck. Don't make any plans okay?" Nodding, I release him and watch as he picks up his helmet and takes off in a sprint towards the field house.
"Y'all have it bad for each other, you know that right?" Adalynn comes up behind me and wraps her arms around my neck, linking her arms out in front of me, resting her chin on her upper arm beside my face.
"That's what scares me. I don't want to love him. I don't want to love anyone, but I don't know how to stop it from happening." I just stare in the direction he disappeared in.
"Girl, you better grab a hold of it and run; never letting go. Most people aren't that lucky. Trust me, I know this personally. I had something similar once and I'd give anything to have it back. I didn't have the option like you do," she says exasperatedly.
I turn around and look at her. "What happened?"
She zones out as she begins to speak. "I was stubborn like you; thought I was too young to be in love. I wanted to hold on to myself to avoid getting hurt and he left for college. By the time I realized what an idiot I was, I went after him only to find he had moved on with someone else. He replaced me and it was too late. He got tired of waiting around for me to come to my senses and found someone that gave him what he wanted. Don't make the same mistake I did. You'll regret it someday. It may not be now, but someday you will." She attempts to smile but I know it's just a cover. "Come on, let's go."
Everyone is clearing the parking lot as I stand beside Breyson's truck, patiently waiting on him to emerge. After what I assume is about fifteen minutes, he slowly walks through the parking lot with some of the other players. The closer he gets, the stronger I can smell the sweet aroma I've come to memorize, entering my nasal passage. "See you later man." Breyson bumps fists with a guy I'm not familiar with. I am still new and it's a big school.
Pinning me to the bed of the truck between his arms, he lays one on me. The mixture o
f his taste and smell has me under a spell. Without thought, I roll my head back exposing my neck for him to continue touching me with his soft lips. I moan slightly as my eyes close and he chuckles. "You ready to go beautiful? What time do I need to have you home?"
"Please don't stop. You're torturing me." I open my eyes to look at him, now slightly amused. "I think mom said no later than two and that's only if I'm with you. It seems you have impressed them with your parent wooing ability. If I didn't know any better I would say you were a professional. Should I be worried?" I raise my brow in question trying to hide my smile, waiting on his response.
"I'll have you know I've never wooed anyone's parents but yours. I'm just a likable guy I guess." He opens the passenger door, helping me inside. "It's time for me to be alone with my woman."
We pull into a subdivision titled Lake Serene by the marker at the entrance. It's not too far from my subdivision. "Where are we going?"
"To my house." My eyes go wide. He did not say anything about going to his house. I'm not ready to meet his parents yet.
"Breyson, I don't know. Can we go somewhere else?" I begin twirling my hair nervously as he turns down various roads within the subdivision.
Taking my hand, he kisses the back lightly. "Relax. My parents are on call at the hospital this weekend. I doubt my brothers will be home and my sister always stays at a friend's when my parents work over night on the weekend. Why don't you want to meet my parents?" He now looks worried.
I relax considerably at the information that his parents won't be there. I'm not used to this whole dating thing. It still freaks me out a little. I need baby steps. He has to understand that. I would never push him to meet my parents if he wasn't ready. Shrugging my shoulders, I'm not sure what to say. I don't want him to be offended. "I will at some point. I just need to go one step at a time right now. Meeting your parents is a big deal."
He drops my hand and stares ahead at the road in thought. I feel like he's mad at me, though I don't know why. It's not that I said I would never meet them, just not right now. I don't understand why this is a big deal. "Are you mad at me?"
Pulling into a driveway, he shuts off the engine and exhales. "Come here baby." I make my way over the center console, straddling his lap. Running his fingers through my loose curls, he pulls me down to kiss my forehead, followed by my nose, and then stops on my lips. "I could never be mad at you for wanting to take it slow. Going in no regrets, yeah?"
His voice is so soft spoken. If I once had a heart of steel you would never know it, because it's completely turned to mush. I still haven't decided I like all these feelings constantly being thrown at me. It has me on an emotional overload. "I'm just overwhelmed with everything. You have to remember; I've never dated anyone, let alone felt this way about someone. I've never had to worry about making someone else happy. This is all new to me. All I'm asking for is patience."
"I get it baby. It's new for me too. I've never wanted another girl to meet my family so I haven't brought them around. Something is just different about you. I always want more and that's completely new territory for me. We'll work through it together okay?" I nod and a surge hits me. I want to kiss him. I want to kiss him in a way I have never wanted to kiss him before. I can't explain it. My chest feels like it's being weighed down with a cement block. I feel like I'm at the onset of a panic attack without the panic.
On impulse, I grab the back of his head and pull him to me. Clenching his lips in mine, I slip my tongue in the open space. It's like something else has taken over my body. I can't get enough. I crave his taste, the feel of his hands on my body, and the passion I can feel when we connect. It's a hunger that can't be satiated, a thirst that can't be quenched. He returns at full force and everything feels like it is on fire from the heat radiating off my skin from my internal core.
I begin to rock slightly as I feel the bulge beneath me harden. He grabs my waist, pressing me against it harder. He runs his hands up the back of my shirt. As fast as things get heated, it comes to a screeching halt and he pulls away from me. His chest heaves up and down and he closes his eyes. "Dammit! We've got to stop. I can't control myself around you and I'm trying really hard. You make me so hard, I could explode. I want to bury myself deep inside you, but I want to do this right. You're not some quick lay Kinzleigh. I want it to mean something. I want you to feel different than the girls I used to waste time with."
"I do feel different Breyson. Stop putting me on a pedestal. I want this just as much as you do. I'm telling you it's okay."
He shakes his head. "I won't budge on this Kinzleigh. I'm not going to fuck you. I want to do something I've never done before. I don't want just your body, but mind, body, heart and soul. I want all of you. I want to make love to you, but you're not ready for that yet. When you are, I'll allow myself to have you again." He kisses me softly and opens the door of the truck.
"To think you call me stubborn is absurd." He sets me on my feet and I begin aligning my now twisted skirt. I should have brought a change of clothes.
"I'm not stubborn; I just know what I want. I've had a lot of time away from you to think. I've experienced having you and then losing you and I will avoid a repeat at all costs. You deserve the best and you're going to get the best. The way to ensure you get it is to make myself wait. I need to go without sex. I want you to experience with me what I get to experience with you, knowing you've never given yourself to anyone else. Naturally, I can't give you that but I can give you the next best thing." He kisses me on the cheek. "Let's go get a blanket and go out by the lake."
He spreads out the large blanket across the grass and sits, motioning for me to sit beside him. The sky is clear with nothing but the moonlight and stars shining brightly. He lays back and turns on his side, propping his weight of his upper body on his elbow, resting his head in his palm. With the other hand he pats the blanket for me to lay back as well. Without hesitation I do as he asks, mirroring his position. "You really do look beautiful." He kisses me softly, not giving me a chance to respond and lays flat, pulling me in his arm. "I'm really glad things worked out the way they did."
Laying my head on his shoulder, I drape my arm across his stomach in complete satisfaction. I could lay like this all night. "Me too." I close my eyes. "You smell really good. What kind of cologne do you wear?" Definitely a smell I'll never forget for as long as I live.
"Polo black by Ralph Lauren." Mental note: buy a bottle for pillow snuggling. My dreams are already consumed with him, might as well be my senses as well.
He begins lightly rubbing his fingertips up and down my arm, causing goosebumps to rise. I could go to sleep like this and sleep all night. I've never been one interested in sleeping outside, but I think if I was in his arms I could sleep anywhere. He makes me feel so protected. "Breyson."
I close my eyes with him looking up at the dark sky. "Yeah?"
"What does your tattoo mean? I mean, why did you pick that one?" Everything goes completely silent and he stops rubbing my arm. Maybe I overstepped my boundary. He may not want me to know. I'm about to tell him to forget I asked when he starts rubbing my arm again.
"As you know Ryland is my cousin right?" He pauses and I nod against his shoulder so he knows I'm listening. "Well he had an older brother Beau that was four years older than us. Even with the age difference, we were all close until he went off to college. He was dating this girl named Macie he met on campus at orientation. He was completely in love with her. I guess you could compare it to one of those love at first sight kind of deals. He even came home over Christmas going on and on about how she was the one he was going to marry."
He clears his throat and I can tell it really bothers him to talk about it, but I know personally that when someone is actually talking about something that is difficult, to listen because it probably won't happen again. I just lay there, waiting for him to continue.
"We all thought he was crazy, but that's how Beau was. He was full throttle, balls to the walls, all the time. He ma
de a decision and that was how it was. He didn't care what anyone thought. One night we got a call from my Aunt Susan, hysterical on the phone that he was in a car accident. We all rushed to the hospital but he had too much internal bleeding. He died shortly after the ambulance brought him in. One of the guys from his fraternity said that he saw her at a restaurant with another guy and when he called to tell Beau, he went ballistic and ran out of the house party drunk before anyone could stop him. He came around a curve in his mustang going too fast and wrapped the car around a tree. Macie didn't even come to the funeral. The girl was practically family; claiming she loved him and didn't even show up when she was the cause of his death. That seems pretty heartless to me. It just seems if that is what love does to people, I didn't want any part of it. I vowed right then I would never let someone break me. Never would I allow myself to care about someone that much. I was fourteen then and I never have, until I met you."
He turns on his side and pulls me as close to him as possible. I continue looking at the sky. I will not cry, I will not cry I chant before a tear falls free and then another. I hate how emotional I've become. I feel like a stupid little girl.
He grabs my waist and rolls me over to look at him. I close my eyes, trying to control the tears. If I look at him, I won't be able to hold myself together. "Look at me." Keeping my eyes closed, I shake my head. "Kinzleigh." His voice is stern as he says my name.
Opening my eyes, I can't hold it in anymore. The dam broke and the tears fall freely. I'm crying for the pain he's been through because I know how it feels. I am crying at the way he's scared to let someone in because of watching someone else get hurt, knowing I feel the same way and I cry because we're so undeniably perfect for each other it has to be wrong.
"I was wrong Kinzleigh. Everyone is breakable. I see that now. The best thing we can hope for is that we find someone that won't break us. I didn't know that until I had to leave you." Please stop. I can't take anymore. I don't want him to be right even though I know deep down he is.
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