“But you can’t know that already, Blake! We’ve only –”
“OH YES I CAN! I CAN AND I DO! I DO KNOW THAT!” He’s holding my face and he has tears in his eyes. He stops shouting but his voice is husked with the intensity of his words. “I do know. Okay? I know. You’re the one. I don’t care that you’re shy and you don’t know what to do or how to do it. Neither do I. But we’re going to start now and we’re going to learn. We’re friends, you said. Friends don’t walk out on each other. Okay?”
Friends also don’t romp nakedly by the hot tub and make love all night and give each other multiple simultaneous orgasms that are so mind-blowingly good and beautiful, it just about changes your outlook on everything, I want to point out. But he already knows that. I can see it right there in his ocean-blue eyes that he knows that. “Okay.”
Blake kisses me again and I kiss him back. I can’t help it. I want to believe everything he says and pretend that everything’s going to be just as he says it is.
I whisper. I don’t want him to worry. “I’m on the pill, by the way.”
He doesn’t bother whispering. “I didn’t care if you were or weren’t. I’m all in, Skye. All of it. Everything. That’s also part of my rule.” He narrows his eyes at me. “By the way.”
Piper clears her throat. She’s giving us as much privacy as she can but she has other things on her mind. She tries to give Blake a stern reprimand. “Now that we have that all sorted out, Mr. Quarterback, there’s somewhere you need to be, and pronto. A Cowboys scout has his eye on you, apparently, and he is not going to be impressed by a QB1 who shows up late.”
Blake looks at his watch. “Shit.”
“Kick-off’s in fifteen minutes,” Piper says.
Blake holds my hand and won’t let me move. “I’m not playing football unless you’re there to watch me, Skye,” he says. “Will you come?”
“Of course she’ll come,” says Piper. “She’ll be right there next to me in the front row cheering you on.”
Blake’s still looking into my eyes. “And you’ll wait for me after the game? There are some things we need to talk about. A lot of things.”
Sometimes in life – although I’ve never done this until I met Blake Travis – you just have to go with it. You can’t let fear hold you back anymore and you have to be willing to get hurt to get to the good stuff. The real stuff. I decide he’s worth the risk. “Yes.”
He takes me in his arms. He’s looking at me like he did that very first time he saw me. With such sureness it hurts my heart. You.
Blake kisses my face. My cheeks. My lips. “Please don’t ever do that to me again.” His voice is low and husked with emotion. “Please don’t leave me. I love you, Skye. And I know what you’re thinking: you can’t love me, you don’t even know me. But I do. I know enough. And I’ll learn. Please let me try. Because the second I saw you, I knew you were for me. I’ve been looking and hoping for you for such a long time and then there you were. All golden and perfect and dazzling me with all that you are. And then when I heard your voice and you let me walk with you and be near you, I fell even harder if that’s possible. And then when you kissed me, everything made sense. Everything felt right. And real. Because you’re nirvana, baby. And now I’m ruined. Addicted. Obsessed. Call it whatever you want. I’m going to spend the rest of my life loving you and trying my hardest to make you love me back. Because I love you. That’s it: I love you. Please don’t leave me again, Skye, without at least giving me a chance to change your mind.”
My Blake is such a romantic. “Shh,” I say, kissing him. “I’m not going to leave you. I’m right here. I’m yours. And you’re mine.” How can it be any other way? He is mine. Letting him go just doesn’t make sense. Being apart from him is far more painful than trusting him. I want to try. I want to try with all my heart.
“Ahem.” Piper breaks our little bubble. We both look over at her. She’s got her hands on her hips but she’s smiling. Her eyes are shiny, like she’s crying too. “I hate to break this up, Travis, but you need to get to the stadium now and throw a bunch of touchdown-scoring passes.”
“She’s bossy as hell,” Blake mutters to me.
“She has three older brothers. And they’re all football players.”
“Well, that explains a lot,” Blake says.
“Kick-off’s in less than ten minutes, QB.” Piper’s clearly used to oversized male egos. She has one eyebrow raised. “Time to go.”
Blake drives us to the stadium, holding my hand the whole time. He insists we go with him through the players’ door and he orders some guy to get us two seats right behind the bench.
Blake plays a perfect game and the Longhorns win 21-6.
After the game, once the mobs of people have swarmed around their hero, and the scouts have secured their meetings with him, Blake comes to find me. Piper and I have been talking to some other girls. Piper met one of them at a party last night. Her name is Mia. She seems nice and is also a fine arts student, like me. It even turns out we have some classes together. We arrange to meet for coffee before our Tuesday class to talk about the projects we’re working on. And just like that, I have three friends.
One of those friends is walking towards me. He changed out of his football gear. He’s dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt that hugs the sculpted muscles of his shoulders, and he’s staring right at me like he’s on some kind of a mission. Of course I’m captivated by his rugged perfection, as always. But I notice, too, that his eyes are bloodshot. He had a late night, after all, and didn’t get much sleep. We were too busy proving his rule. But more than anything else, as he gets closer to me, he looks happy. He smiles at me and it’s so sweet and heartfelt I almost feel myself starting to cry again. When he leans in to kiss me, even with all these people watching, I let him. I kiss him back. “Skye. Will you do something for me?”
“Depends on what it is.”
He smiles. “Come home with me. I didn’t get to tell you the things I wanted to tell you this morning, before you bolted.”
“I already said I was sorry about that.” I blush, embarrassed now by my crazy behavior. Not the other crazy behaviour that involved getting down and dirty with the star quarterback. That, I don’t regret in the slightest and in fact can’t wait to do it again.
As if he’s reading my thoughts, he says, “See, I had some other plans I didn’t quite get to. Quite a few of them, actually.” He leans closer, whispering in my ear. “I’m suffering from withdrawal. I need you.”
I blush even more. “You just played three hours of football, Blake. Maybe you should rest.”
“Are you kidding me? I don’t want to rest. I want to get down on my knees and beg you to be with me. I want to kiss you and taste you and make sweet love to you, every second of every day for the rest of time.” Then he says, “I don’t want to be alone. I want you, Skye. I love you.”
His words sort of funnel themselves into the broken fissures of my heart. You know that saying about how cracks let the light in? Well, those cracks in my soul are flooding with light. His light.
So I say the most honest words I ever have. “I want you too, Blake Travis.”
Blake lifts me up like we’re crossing some kind of threshold and maybe we are.
Then he carefully places me in the passenger seat of his black Mustang and he takes me home.
It’s Friday afternoon. I’ve been working on my sculpture for weeks now, and it’s coming along even better than I expected. It’s been written up in the newspaper and there’s a buzz about it that has exceeded all my wildest expectations. If things continue to go this well, I might even be able to make my dream of becoming a professional artist a reality.
I miss him. It’s been six hours since I last saw Blake, and my heart hurts with longing. We’ve spent every night together since that very first day. It’s good that I can keep busy. It’s the only way I can bear to be apart from him. I’m so in love with Blake Travis it’s hard to think straight if I don’t immerse mys
elf in work. I’m on a ladder, blowtorch in hand. I’ve got my protective goggles on, cut-off jean shorts and a tank top. I’m soldering another piece of steel onto the sculpture, which, even though I’ve been given three months to complete, is almost finished.
I hear the door of the studio open, and there he is. His face lights up as soon as he sees me. Will I ever get used to how stunning he is? How perfect he is, for me and only me? He’s wearing a nice shirt and a blazer and his aviator sunglasses. His black hair is still wet from a shower. He’s carrying a bag, like a small suitcase. In his other hand is a gift-wrapped box.
I turn off my blowtorch and take off my goggles. Before I can climb down off the ladder he’s put down his bags and is lifting me into his arms. He kisses me and it’s so lusty and full of love I feel dizzy with happiness.
I’m dirty and my hair’s bunched into a messy bun with strands coming loose. “You look so fucking gorgeous I want to eat you alive,” he says. He puts me down so he can hand me the box. He slides his sunglasses up. “I have a present for you.”
“You don’t have to buy me presents, Blake.”
We’ve had this talk before and he cocks his eyebrow. “As I’ve already explained to you, I’ve got more money than I know how to spend. If I want to buy my girl presents, then that’s what I’m going to do.” Blake has not only landed three major endorsements that are worth more money than I can even think about, he’s also had offers from three NFL teams, for after he graduates. He’s still deciding which one to take. He wants me to come with him. So part of his decision depends on me and what I want to do. It’s a little daunting to think about a future with him, but he always makes it sound so easy, and so certain. “Open it.”
I unwrap the present and inside is a cute white baby doll sundress. “Blake. It’s so pretty.”
“Put it on. We have a plane to catch.”
I stare at him. “What? What plane?”
“Coach has given us the next two days off. We’ve had back-to-back games and practices for weeks and we’re undefeated so he wants us to rest for the weekend. I’m taking you to New York.”
“What? Blake. I can’t go to New York. I have to work.”
“Skye, you’ve been working non-stop for a month. Your scholarship has already been granted, you’ve got commissions for two more major sculptures and you’re almost done with this one two months ahead of schedule. You need a break. I’m not taking no for an answer, sweetheart.” He takes my blowtorch and my goggles and sets them aside.
“But … I’ve never even been out of Texas.”
“I know. It’s time you started seeing the world, baby. With me. We’re staying in a five-star hotel, we’re going to a couple of art exhibitions, fancy restaurants, a Giants game and I’m taking you shopping.”
I just stand there, staring at him. Luckily no one’s around because he starts peeling off my clothes so he can help me into my new dress.
And before I can protest further, he’s carrying me to his car.
We catch our flight to New York and I’m nervous. But Blake holds my hand the entire way. From the first class cabin, we gaze out at the city skyline as our plane descends into New York City at sunset. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.
We check in to our hotel room which happens to be a penthouse with views out over Manhattan. Blake has been a little bit quiet ever since we arrived and I go to him. I touch his hair and kiss his lips. “Everything okay?”
“I have another gift for you,” he says, his blue eyes sparkling with love and something else. Almost like he’s nervous. He takes a little box out of his pocket and he gets down on one knee. “Skye. I know it’s only been a month. And I know we’re still young. But I’ve never been more sure about anything. You’re mine and I’m yours and that’s never going to change for me. I love you.” He opens the box and inside is the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen. It’s two tiny gold bands held together by a row of delicate, glinting diamonds. “I want to marry you. It doesn’t have to be now. You can wear the ring on a different finger or save it until you’re ready. I’m ready. Whenever you want me, I’m ready. Will you marry me, Skye?”
Even though Blake and I have been practically inseparable from the second our eyes met in that stadium, and even though he makes sweet, scorching-hot love to me every chance we get, I still haven’t told him I love him. I’ve been scared. Of losing him. I’ve been scared that he’ll leave me. It’s that lingering fear which is so much a part of me. It’s hard to say the words, only because I’ve never said them. Maybe a long time ago, when I was too young to remember.
Blake tells me he loves me about a hundred times a day.
But now, with his eyes glimmering and the world at our feet, I don’t feel scared anymore. For the first time in my life, I only feel strong. And so full of love for him I just can’t hold it in anymore. I let him take my hand and I help him slide the ring onto my left ring finger, where it belongs. “I think we should go to Dallas after you graduate. Since the Cowboys’ offer is the best one and since it’s the team you’ve been dying to play for your whole life. I can keep studying and we’ll be together. I’ll marry you as soon as you want, Blake Travis. I’m yours and you’re mine. I love you.”
“You do?” he says quietly.
“Of course I do.” I lean in to touch my lips against his. It feels so good to finally say it. He starts peeling my dress off and he carries me to the bed. Blake lays me down and takes off my panties. His mouth is on my breasts as he sheds his own clothes. God, I love you too much, baby, he murmurs against my skin. You break my heart, I love you so much. Blake’s mouth is voracious. He suckles on my nipples until I’m wet and squirming with need. Then he kisses a line down my stomach and pushes my thighs open. Mine, he growls. He feasts on me with his greedy mouth and pushes his tongue into me, teasing my clit until I come in a warm rush of pleasure. Then he climbs onto me and gives me another gift. The best one I know. He pushes my knees up and he slides his huge, hot, silky-wet cock into my tight, slippery pussy, rooting out pleasure with each driving thrust. I wrap my legs around him to try to take him deeper, until his thick length fills me inexorably. Our hands link and he thrusts deeper, possessively, gliding in and out of me with languid skill. His rock-hard cock is relentless, until I’m gasping his name, my hands gripping him with the intensity of my ecstasy. You’re so beautiful, Skye, so perfect to me. I’ll never have enough of you. Never. I’ll never stop loving you.
I come hard, my body clenching in juicy bursts, tugging at his thick cock until he spills his hot seed deep inside me. He growls my name against my sweat-misted neck. The ripples continue for a long time and Blake keeps thrusting in a lazy rhythm as he kisses me and murmurs his sweet words, prolonging the bliss, until we come again. And again.
We don’t end up exploring much of the city’s sights. We’re too insatiable, too in love to disengage. We order room service and feast on each other the entire weekend. We finally make it to the top of the Empire State Building just a couple of hours before our plane is due to depart. We make plans to return to New York on our very next free weekend.
When we get back to Austin, I decide to invite Piper over to dinner. I haven’t spent much time – any, in fact – at the dorm and I miss her. The only time we get to spend together is watching the football games.
She arrives and gives me a huge hug. “I can’t believe you only spent one night in our dorm room before moving in with the star quarterback,” she laughs. “Good thing I haven’t had a chance to get lonely since I’ve been so busy studying.”
She takes one look at my finger and squeals, grabbing my hand.
“You’re engaged?”
I smile. “We haven’t set a date. We’re going to wait a while and just take our time.”
She hugs me again, then Blake. She’s giddy with excitement.
Blake’s cooking dinner for us. He likes to cook and is good at it. “You girls should go sit in the hot tub if you want. I’ll let you know when dinner’s rea
dy.”
We do, and she fills me in on all the dorm and football groupie gossip.
After a while, we step out of the hot tub and walk over to where the towels are stacked in a covered rack. Blake is walking out of the house. He’s not alone.
“Guess who’s home,” Blake says, ecstatic. “My brother Ethan. He just got back.”
Ethan looks a lot like Blake but he’s an inch or so taller. He’s just as muscular, but lean. Hard-looking. His dark hair is cut short, military-style. He’s wearing jeans and a t-shirt but his silver dog tags are still hanging around his neck. His skin is deeply tanned and he has a lot of ink. Like his brother, he’s outrageously handsome, but his gray eyes are spooked and haunted-looking. I guess it’s not hard to figure out why. From what Blake described, he’s seen more combat than anyone should.
“Ethan, this is Skye. And her friend Piper.”
Ethan’s eyes lock on Piper and she blushes. The pink of her cheeks somehow enhances the bright golden-copper color of her long, thick hair. Her bikini, it has to be said, is on the skimpy side. Ethan seems lost for words. Blake slings his arm around Ethan’s shoulders, breaking Ethan’s trance. “We’ll let you girls get dressed and meet you inside. Dinner’s ready.”
That was the night everything changed for Piper.
It turns out that Blake isn’t the only Travis brother with a rule.
But that’s a story for Piper to tell you herself …
Blake ended up taking the Dallas Cowboys’ offer and is now their starting quarterback. The stadium is amazing. Watching him play there is beyond a dream come true. It’s a dream I never even could have imagined. It’s about a million times better than anything I could have imagined. He loves playing for the Cowboys. It’s been his favorite team since he was a little boy. He’s so in his element on that field it’s just a joy to watch him. So far this season they’re undefeated. As far as his pay check goes, it’s more money that I ever expected to see in about twelve lifetimes.
SCORE (Travis Brothers Book 1) Page 6