CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
My rage hadn’t subsided when I woke early the next morning to the shrill ringing of my phone.
“Emma? It’s Liv.”
“Oh, hey Liv.” Clearing my throat I rolled over to see it was only 7 a.m.
“Sorry to call you so early. I’m just really stuck and I need a favor.”
I rolled my eyes. This surely couldn’t be good.
“You see, my pain in the ass boss has just moved up the date for story submissions for the new documentary series the network is producing—you know the one?”
In true Liv style, she barrelled on, not waiting for me to respond.
“So now I need to pull together the whole proposal in only two days and it’s impossible! God, sometimes I really hate Harry.”
I sighed, sitting up further in bed. “Let me guess, you want me to meet you out at the stadium to scout for shoot locations.”
“Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! That would be amazing, Em. Thank you so much.”
“Hang on, I haven’t said yes yet.”
“Oh but you will, because you’re wonderful and my favorite and you’ve never let me down.”
I couldn’t help but giggle—Liv had that effect on people—at the total positivity in her voice. I think that’s what made her such a great reporter…she was fierce, but not in an overbearing way. Even while she was hounding you for things you just didn’t want to give her, when her determination was showing like a badge on her chest, she was just so
likeable
.
“I’m sorry, I really don’t think I can. I just don’t have time in my schedule today.”
Or in other words…
my schedule’s totally clear, I just don’t want to chance running into Will until I can trust myself not to kick him in the balls
.
“Oh come on Em, you have to. Please? I’ll be so quick, one hour of your time—two at the max. I wouldn’t ask, but this is so important to me.”
If it wasn’t for the fact that she’d had my back all those weeks ago and that her story pitch was so important to her I more than likely would have said no. But knowing how desperate she was to produce this documentary concept she’d been working on for months, I couldn’t let it all fall apart at the last minute just because a certain quarterback had been a douche.
Olivia was a rare find in the sports journalism world, determined to make it to the top in an industry dominated by males. She knew the NFL inside out and was a diligent reporter who worked tirelessly, but never tried to be
one of the boys
on camera or off. And while she was quite beautiful, striking in fact, I’d also never seen her use anything more than her trademark megawatt smile or the odd sassy comment to get what she wanted. If there was any way that girl was making it to the top, it was through talent and hard work alone.
I made this weird whimper of frustration into the phone and she knew she had me.
“Oh, thank you so much Em. I owe you big time. Can you meet me there in an hour?”
#
An hour and ten minutes later, my cab door was pulled open with a flourish as Liv leaned over, shoving a wad of cash at the driver.
“You’re the best. Seriously, a total lifesaver,” she said as she all but dragged me from the cab. “This is Justin. He’ll be my camera man
when
I land the series,” she said with a wink.
“Of that I have no doubts.” I laughed, taking Justin’s extended hand.
“So I basically want to see everything, but specifically we need to get a few shots from the locker room, plenty of camera angles on the field and we need to check out the weight room, recovery and medical rooms.”
I had called ahead to one of the team managers to get a sense of the training schedule for today, to see what areas were off limits and when. The coaching staff was pretty flexible, but it always paid to work around them as much as possible. That and I was prepared to do practically whatever I needed to avoid Will.
“The team’s on the field now, so let’s start indoors,” I said, leading them toward the facilities entrance.
We worked our way through the weight and training area, Liv and Justin discussing this camera angle and that until they were satisfied they had everything they needed.
After checking to make sure it was empty, we went into the locker room where Liv really hit her stride, getting worked up over all the different interview segments she wanted to capture in the gritty space where so much of the off-field action took place.
I checked my watch, shocked that we’d been there for close to forty-five minutes. “Liv, do you have everything you need here? The team’s due back any second, and we need to get out.”
“Yes, sorry. I think we’re good.” She clutched her hands together and did a little jig. “This is going to be perfect! Okay, just the medical room and then we’re done inside.”
“Fine, but be quick. We seriously need to clear out.”
I led them to the door of the small medical room, pushing it open at the same time I realized there were voices coming from inside.
“Oh, I’m sor –”
My eyes landed on Will’s face, distorted in pain before I noticed the giant, and I mean
giant
, needle that was being pulled from his leg.
At the sound of my voice, both he and the doctor looked up, the doctor frowning when he registered we weren’t part of the playing team.
I pulled the door shut and froze, my eyes meeting the shocked faces of both Liv and Justin.
“Opps.” Liv gave me an apologetic smile before saying to Justin. “We can do without that room, don’t you think?”
Hearing raised voices coming from the other side of the door, I cringed. “Let’s just get out of here.” I pushed both of them ahead of me, desperate to get as far away from Will as possible.
We were halfway across the locker room when I heard the door open and a second later, Will’s voice calling my name. Both Liv and Justin stopped and turned, causing me to fall into them in my rush to get out. Justin frowned at me in confusion, as if to say,
why aren’t you turning around? It’s the New York Warriors’ quarterback calling your name
. Whereas Liv, who was the only person outside the office who had made the connection that it was me in the TMZ photos, was looking at me with wide eyes, clearly eager to see what came next.
“Guys, I mean it, let’s get out of here.” I shoved past them, stalking toward the door.
“Emma! I said wait. Jesus, can you just hang on a minute. Aw, fuck!” I paused as I heard the pain in his voice, turning to see him hunched over his crutches.
“Jensen you’re doing damage. Would you stop moving?” The doctor latched onto his arm, pulling him upright.
Ignoring him, Will looked at me. “Emma just wait, I need to talk to you.”
I shook my head, a strangled sound coming out. “Now you need to talk to me, huh?”
“Yeah, I do.”
I marched toward him, every step bringing out the anger that had been bubbling just under the surface since last night.
“You had your opportunity to talk, Will, and you chose not to so no, you
can’t
talk to me right now.”
I went to walk back out but at that very moment the doors swung open, the room filling with the sound of forty or so sweaty men clamoring in with helmets and padding and booming voices. This was fast making its way up the charts as one of my all-time
I
-
wish-I-was-anywhere-but-here
moments.
“For fuck’s sake!” Will’s thundering voice and the clatter of one of his crutches hitting a wall brought the room to a standstill. He breathed heavily, his face morphing in pain as he hopped around trying to find his balance again, shoving the doctor away in frustration.
“
Please
, can I just talk to you, just for a minute?”
“Fine. Talk.” I crossed my arms over my chest and waited.
He looked around uncertainly at the numerous sets of eyes I knew were staring at him from over my shoulder. “Can we go in—”
“No. Say what you need to say now. I’m busy.”
Wow, I really was angry with him. The normal Emma would never have the guts to speak like that, especially with an audience of half-strangers looking on.
Will sucked in a breath, scratching the back of his neck. “Fine. If it has to be here, then so be it.” He squared his shoulders and stared down at me. “I don’t care about how the club or Hayes or anyone else feels about us. I couldn’t give a shit, in fact, but that’s all I’ve ever heard from you.” He paused before awkwardly hopping closer to me, so close that when he leaned down I felt the heat of his skin. “I want to know how
you
feel about us.”
I froze, suddenly wishing that I’d agreed to go somewhere more private to have this conversation. “Will…”
“Just tell me the truth.”
I shook my head, my voice barely more than a whisper. “Isn’t it obvious?”
He straightened up, shaking his head. “Not to me it isn’t. How could it be? You’ve pushed me away practically every chance you got. I never had a hope of knowing what was going on in your head the way you yo-yoed around. Hell, the first time we slept together, you practically ran from my bed the second we’d finished.”
Well this was embarrassing.
Will tore his eyes from mine. “Could everyone who is not Emma or me just get the fuck out of here?”
I heard the sound of feet shuffling mixed with the click, click, click of Liv’s shoes as Will continued to glare over my shoulder. When the room fell completely quiet, his gaze dropped to mine again.
“So?” He searched my eyes, his voice quiet. “Will you tell me how you feel?”
I stared at him for the longest time, my heart and my head filled with everything that had happened—all the good, all the bad and all the things that had forced a wedge between us. It filled up my lungs and my chest and continued rising, until I felt like I was going to drown in it.
But then Will bit his lip and I saw the vulnerability in his eyes, the way he was literally holding his breath as he waited for my response. And in that moment I realized it would be okay if he knew how I felt, in fact it would be preferable. Because even if things didn’t work out, even if I got my heart broken all over again in the process, I owed it to myself and to him to be honest.
My chin fell to my chest as all the air left my body, my voice barely a whisper. “I love you, all right? So much that sometimes it feels like I’m drowning now that it’s all over.”
Will didn’t say anything for so long I was worried he hadn’t heard me, or worse, he had and now was wishing he’d never asked.
But then his hand brushed under my chin, pulling my gaze up to his and he smiled. A soft, gentle smile that made my heart skip a beat. “That’s what I was hoping you’d say.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“Well…well what about you? I mean, how do you feel?”
His hand cupped the side of my face, warm fingers wrapping around my neck. “Do you remember that first day I took you out for lunch?” I nodded, frowning at him. “I thought you were just about the prettiest thing I’d ever seen then.”
“Oh.”
“And do you remember me giving you a ride back from the club the next week?”
“Um, Yeah.”
“Well I pretty much adored you after your little speech about my quarterbacking skills.”
“You did?”
“Yep. And when I danced with you at the fundraiser?” He shook his head, smiling at the memory. “You’ve fucking
owned
me ever since then. I’ve never wanted anyone like I want you, Emma. In fact I’m pretty sure I started falling in love with you the moment I laid eyes on you.”
He reached out and wrapped a hand around my waist, pulling me to him. “I’m going to kiss you now, and this time it’ll be the last first kiss. I’ll never be in a room with you again without being able to kiss you or
touch
you. No more false starts, no more hiding, or lying, no more pushing me away.” He smiled and looked down at where he was leaning on his crutch. “If I keep training like this, I’ll be dead before we even get to the playoffs.”
And then he did kiss me, slowly, with the press of his teeth against my lips as the smile spread wide across his face. My hands latched onto his neck, pulling him as close to me as possible. If it weren’t for his bad knee I probably would have climbed onto him right then and there.
“Yo, Jensen!” The familiar sound of Buck’s voice echoed in the empty room.
Will pulled away from me reluctantly. “Yeah?”
“You about done sortin’ out your love life in there? Your boys need a shower.”
Will looked down at me. “You wanna get out of here?”
I grinned. “Absolutely.”
EPILOGUE
Will
We lay on our backs staring up at the ring on Emma’s finger. Pride filled my chest as I watched the way it shone down at us. “Fuck, that’s a nice ring.”
A burst of laughter came from her. “It looks ridiculous.”
“You’re right, hand it back.”
Letting the enormous piece of metal fall from her finger into the palm of my hand I said, “I’ll buy you one that fits.”
Her eyes bulged, sparkling as she punched my bicep. “Don’t say things you don’t mean.”
Pulling her up to sit on my hips I trailed my hands up and down the smooth skin of her waist. “What if I do mean it?”
The sparkle in her eyes dimmed, her teeth worrying her bottom lip as she looked at me curiously. “Don’t joke,” she whispered.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
We’d been going back and forth like this for a few weeks now, me testing the waters with various not-so-subtle comments about the future and her batting them away with her usual easy avoidance. It didn’t faze me though. I was just glad to have her finally living in my apartment—it had taken months to convince her to take that step. My eyes dipped down from her face to her breasts, where they ultimately landed any time she was topless. Those boobs brought me to my knees on a daily basis.