Secret Tutor: A Football Romance Story

by Amber Heart

  Chapter 18

  Tears slid down Rosalie’s face as she turned towards the house. Memories of the cotillion swept through her. She’d been so happy to be there with Eric, and the fact that they had teamed up against his mother’s archaic societal dreams was something that she would never forget. Pain stabbed through her heart. She needed to get out of there before Eric or anyone else came out of that house. She turned towards the open end of the street, shuffling along. It would be a few hours of walking before she got anywhere near the campus, but maybe she could hitch a ride. Rosalie was so lost in her own little world, that she almost didn’t see the horse in time. She jumped to the side, looking at the beautiful white horse, dressed to the nines in shining harness, pulling a beautifully polished carriage. The man on the driver’s box tipped his hat to her, and she smiled. It was really something to see a horse and carriage in today’s world, and it warmed her heart. She wanted to look over her shoulder to watch it, but that would bring Eric’s house into view, and she didn’t want to hurt herself more.

  “Rosalie! Wait! Come back!” The blood drained from her face. It was Eric. He was outside. She silently cursed herself for not sprinting down the road to get away from the house. Now he was outside and he saw her. She didn’t want to see him or talk to him. It would only make her cry to hear him say that she was getting tossed to the curb. She bit her lip to keep it from trembling. She kept walking, straightening her back and squaring her shoulders to give her a false positive look. Inside she was crushed, but outwardly, she looked like nothing phased her. Footsteps pounded the ground behind her, and she could tell that he was running. She winced, wishing that he would have never come outside. “Rosalie! Hey!” He finally caught up to her, because she didn’t want to embarrass herself by taking off like a bat out of hell. She took a deep breath and turned to him.

  “Hello, Eric. I’m sorry that I darkened your doorstep, but my soon to be ex best friend drove me to your front door and dumped me.” There. Now he knew that she hadn’t come on her own free will. A hurt look crossed his face, and she almost felt bad for what she’d said. It had been the truth, but the way she’d said it and the words she’d used could have been gentler.

  “What do you mean? I told Vanessa to bring you here. This is your birthday surprise.” Rosalie let out a breath that she hadn’t even known she was holding. Why was he being so nice to her when he was breaking up with her? None of this made any sense.

  “Your gift to me is to let me see you one last time while you break up with me? Thanks, but no thanks.” Rosalie started walking again.

  “What? Why would I break up with you?” Was he being serious? He was going to make her spell it out herself in front of him? Oh, he was such an ass. She gritted her teeth in anger.

  “You’ve been ignoring me and completely distant. That to me says that you’re in the process of dumping me. I haven’t heard from you, so that confirmed it for me. I didn’t know we were coming here, or I would have never gotten in the car. I can’t get over it if I have to see you. So if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to start my walk back to my dorm.” There. She’d managed to get it all out without crying or screaming loud enough for everyone in the neighborhood to hear her. The stunned look of shock on his face was even worth it, and she almost smiled when she turned around to head back down the street. He caught her arm before she’d even taken a step.

  “Rosalie, you’re being silly. I’m not distant. You called when I was half asleep, and then I realized that I’d forgot to make plans for your birthday. I haven’t been talking much because I didn’t want to accidentally ruin the surprise for you.” Her heart started to race, but she didn’t want to let herself hope. Could he be telling the truth? Had she been making it up in her head all along? Or was this the trick now?

  “Really? You weren’t thinking about getting rid of me?” She held her breath and searched his eyes. There was nothing but truth in them, but she didn’t want to jump in with both feet again. This time she’d be careful.

  “Of course! I wouldn’t have proposed to you if I didn’t want you to be in my future.”

  “But you only proposed to shut your mom up! And I didn’t even say yes! How could I know that you were going to ask again? I gave you six months to decide if you still wanted to, remember?” He started to pull her gently back towards his house, and Rosalie grudgingly put one foot in front of the other, back towards where Vanessa had so unceremoniously dumped her on her ass.

  “The way I did it, right there in front of her, was to shut her up, yes, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t mean it.” A warmth spread through her, starting in her core, then spreading slowly towards her fingers and toes, before returning back to her core. If this was true, then they could go back to how things were.

  “Really? So you weren’t getting tired of me and wanting to break up?” Her voice was soft, almost like she was hanging on to every word he said to make sure that it didn’t crush her spirit.

  “Of course. I swear it.” There was honesty in his face, and he looked at her with such intensity, almost like he was trying to mentally make her believe him. A small smile crept across her face. It was tentative at first, but soon it was back to her usual one hundred watt smile. Eric pulled her into a hug, and she could feel her walls cracking and tumbling down. She’d hastily erected a wall around her heart, and she’d been working on bricking a heavier duty one, but now it looked like that wall wasn’t even necessary.

  “I’m sorry. I guess I was just overreacting.” By this time, they were back in front of Eric’s house, and he was holding her hand.

  “It’s ok. I wasn’t exactly being forthcoming about it, either. But we can put that all behind us. Come on.” He handed her up into the carriage, and Rosalie settled down on the plush cushion. Eric climbed in after her, and signaled to the driver that they were ready to go. The man clucked to his horse, and the beautiful animal started to prance. Rosalie’s heart soared. She almost felt like Cinderella going to the ball. The two of them sat on opposite ends of the cushion, and Rosalie found herself wishing that Eric would hold her. As the carriage pulled out of the neighborhood, she spotted a rundown car with rust stains on it. She narrowed her eyes, recognizing it as Vanessa’s. The girl was looking out of the driver side window, waving enthusiastically and giving her the thumbs up sign. Rosalie grinned and winked at her friend, mouthing the word, ‘sorry’ to her friend. Vanessa just shrugged like it was no big deal, and then she was out of sight. Rosalie took a deep breath, gathering her courage. Eric was looking out the other side of the carriage, and she leaned up against him, nudging him subtly. He turned to look at her, and the smile he gave her melted her heart. This was why she loved him. The way that he could make her feel like she was on top of the world, even when she felt lost and unsure really meant the world to her.

  Eric put his arm around her, pulling her close. Something in her heart clicked. Like they were meant to be together, and she was home. He held her tight, and snaked his hand into hers. They leaned back, enjoying the ride. People turned to stare at the beautiful carriage that was coming by, and Eric started to wave to them like he was an ancient king in a parade. Everyone laughed and waved back to him. The horse took one last turn, then came to a stop with a snort. Rosalie had been looking out of Eric’s side, so she didn’t see where exactly they had stopped. Eric got to his feet, her hand still in his.

  “Well, my lady, this is where we get out. Let me help you.” She let him help her step down, then looked at where they were. A man in a tuxedo stood by the door, almost like one of those British soldiers that can’t move unless they have orders. As they neared the door, he sprang into action. Grabbing the handle, he swung the door open and bowed them in. Rosalie couldn’t suppress the giggle. It was almost like Eric was a king on his parade. He had deigned to eat here, so they bowed and scraped to let him in the door. Maybe his socially royal blood gave him some advantages that she didn’t know about. She wanted to comment on it, just to tease him, but h
er words were stolen by the scene in front of her. The floor was thick glass, and she could see fish swimming below them. Two of the walls were giant fish tanks, almost like you would see at an aquarium. The other two walls were beautiful mahogany, polished until it shone. The tables were small, in cozy little alcoves that promised privacy, and the lighting was low. It was meant for romantic rendezvous, that was for sure. Her heart began to flutter. This was very intimate in a way. A woman in an evening gown came to a silk covered podium. Eric gave her his name, and she went down the list she had. Checking him off, she had them follow her to one of the little alcoves.

  “Oh my goodness! This has to be the most expensive restaurant in the whole city!” Rosalie wasn’t sure he’d heard her at first, because the words had come out in no more than a whisper. She was still in shock over where they were.

  “Only the best for my girl.” A tear slid down her cheek and she quickly dashed it away, but not before Eric saw it. “Why are you crying?” Rosalie shook her head, as if she were saying she didn’t want to talk about it.

  “Thank you. For everything. There’s no way that I could every repay you for any of this.” Eric waved off her explanation. They sat together, enjoying the mood of the place. A man in a tux with a violin came over to their table and began to serenade them. Eric looked up at her and smiled, seeing the lights sparkle and dance in her eyes. The smile on her face was permanently placed, and nothing would take it off. That meant that he’d done what he had set out to do. He wanted to put her in a fantasy world where everything was perfect so he could propose to her again and give her the sweet and romantic proposal that she deserved. He still beat himself up about the way he’d blurted it out in front of his mom. Not because he’d asked Rosalie to marry him, but because he’d just blurted it out in anger. He’d wanted to make it more romantic and give her what he knew he should. The waitress arrived with the menus, and even though Rosalie dove in to look at the food, Eric was too busy staring at the beautiful woman in front of him.

  Chapter 19

  Rosalie was in awe. This place was wonderful. The way the place was laid out made her feel like she was a mermaid in the ocean, seeing the fish everywhere around her. It was a dream come true. She wanted to tell Eric that, but she was afraid he might laugh at her. Granted, a lot of girls had wished they were mermaids when they were younger, but she still wished it was true at her current age. This was as close as she was going to get, so she just reveled in it and planned to enjoy every minute of it. The man with the violin was a fairy tale touch. No one actually had this kind of thing happen to them. She was pretty sure that if she told Vanessa this little detail, she would laugh and say that Rosalie was making it up. This sort of romance only existed in teenage girls’ dreams and romantic movies that all women swooned over. She was making sure that she inventoried every single second to convert to long term memory later, and to record it in her journal. If it was written down, then maybe it wouldn’t feel like just a dream to her anymore.

  “Are you having a good time?” Eric’s voice jolted her out of her reverie. She snapped out of her dream world and back into reality. Her smile was blinding.

  “Is that even a question? This is the most amazing place I’ve ever been to! It’s just so beautiful! I feel like I’m in the ocean.” She bit her lip. She’d almost mentioned the mermaid part. She prayed that he wouldn’t pick up on that. He smiled at her, and she didn’t know if she was imagining it or if it was really happening, but he was looking at her in that way that all the men in romance movies look at the women they love. Her heart started to flutter, and it brought a little flush to her cheeks, making her eyes sparkle and her skin glow. Eric was blown away by how beautiful she was. The way that she looked at him like he was the only man in the world. That was something he’d never had before. Yes, girls had looked at him like he was the paycheck that would get them anything they wanted. He was used to that. It wasn’t what he’d wanted, though, and that was part of the reason why he’d never gotten close to the girls that his mother had paraded in front of him.

  “I wanted to do this for you. To make it right.” This was how the speech started, that much he knew, but he couldn’t remember the rest of it. Her beautiful eyes were looking at him in question now, and all the words he’d been rehearsing for the last week went right out of his head. He swallowed hard. His eyes met those of the waiter over Rosalie’s head. She was still looking at him askance. He gave a curt jerk of his head, that she would have never known was a signal, and the waiter disappeared.

  “What do you mean? There’s nothing to make right.” That was another thing about her. She was such an amazing person. Even if someone slighted her, she’d never bring it up. She’d forgive them wholeheartedly, and without question. Even though she’d thought he had abandoned her, had broken up with her by just stopping all communication, here she was, looking at him with such love in her eyes. He wanted that for the rest of his life. He’d known it before, but now it got to the point where he refused to live without it. He’d known that he loved her, and he’d wanted someone to look at him that way, at first it didn’t matter who. Now he knew he wanted her to look at him that way for the rest of his life. The waiter came by with two glasses of champagne. His eyes darted up at the tray, and he saw the sparkle of the ring in her glass. When they got their glasses, the waiter bowed and left, smirking a little at Eric and giving him an encouraging pat on the back.

  “I want you to know that I didn’t want to hurt you at all. I wasn’t breaking up with you, and I never want you to think that I would break up with you just by not speaking to you. I have enough honor in me that I would sit down with you face to face and talk about it.” Pain flashed across her face, and he realized that he was ripping open the wound that she was trying desperately to forget. He kicked himself mentally for doing that to her.

  “I’m sorry I ever thought that about you. I just hadn’t had a real relationship before, and I thought that maybe I had thrown myself into it too much and pushed you away.” The smile was gone from her face, and tears threatened. This was not working out the way he’d wanted it to at all.

  “Please don’t cry, Rosalie. There’s nothing that you’ve done wrong. Nothing at all.” She looked up at him, trying to force a smile.

  “Well, I think I made a mistake when I said you should wait for six months to decide if you really want to be with me.” Her gaze fell on the floor and her cheeks heated up. She was hinting that she wished that he wasn’t going to wait, and he could pick up on that. He grinned at her, but she didn’t see it. Well, that was something that they could be on the same page about.

  “Nonsense. I say we drink a toast to new beginnings.” He lifted his glass, and nudged hers closer to her. She picked it up without even looking in it. She raised the glass and took a sip, eyes going wide when the ring pressed up against her lips. He smiled as he watched her pull the glass away from her mouth. She looked at him, then at the ring, then back at him. Tears started to pour down her cheeks as he slid from his chair down onto a knee. He picked up her hand from where it lay in her lap.

  “Oh my god. This is really happening, isn’t it?” He was sure that the question was rhetorical, so he decided to launch right into the proposal. He didn’t know what to say, so there was no way that he could have practiced this, but he knew that he’d be able to speak right from the heart when the time came.

  “Rosalie. You’re different from any woman I’ve ever met. Even when I was playing the asshole and being as bad and horrible as I could be to you, you found good qualities in me that I never even knew were there. Or if I’d had an inkling, I’d buried it so no one else could see. Something about you drew out my secret, and when I blurted out the truth, I was sure that you would tell every person you knew. But you didn’t. You kept my secret, and if I’d asked you to, you would have taken it to your grave. That’s a kind of loyalty that I’ve never gotten from anyone in my life. You support me in anything I do, and again, that’s something I�
�ve never had. My own parents don’t even know my hopes and dreams like you do. I can’t talk to them the way I do with you. You’re there for me no matter what. You look at me like I’m the only man in the world, and I want to be that for you. You look at me like I can do anything. It makes me feel like I’m a better person than I really am, and I want to be what you deserve. I promise you that I will spend the rest of my life proving that to you, if only you’ll let me. So, Rosalie, what I’m saying is, I love you. Will you marry me?” The soft trickle of tears now gave way to a real flood. He had to scramble to get her a napkin to wipe her face with before she could answer him. She was nodding her head, however, and that gave him hope. He didn’t realize that he’d been holding his breath.

  “Of course I will! I look at you like you’re the only man in the world because you’re the only man in my world.” That simple phrase warmed his heart, and he was pretty sure that he was going to start crying himself soon. He took the ring from the glass, which wasn’t easy since he was on one knee and fishing it out with a fork. He quickly rinsed it in a glass of water, using the hem of his jacket to dry it off before slipping it on her finger. He held her hand for a moment or two more, locking this into his memory before he got up, used her hand to pull her to her feet, then wrapped her in his arms, kissing her long and slow, hoping to steal her breath away. Her arms came up and wrapped around him, pulling him closer into her softness. His eyes closed, and for a moment, he could forget where they were. He could forget that there were other people around, because in that moment, they were the only two people in the world. He could have forgotten all that, if it had been up to him, but the rest of the patrons of the restaurant were hell bent on ruining that for him. They started to clap and whoop, and both of them turned bright red as they pulled apart. The waiter stood by them, smiling. He couldn’t clap because he had a tray in his hands, which he then set down at the table.