Stadium of Lights: A Second Chance Sports Romance (30 page)

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“
I
was wondering something
,” I said, squeezed onto the small bed with her.
I have to get her to come to my place from now on,
I thought as I tried to get comfortable.

“What’s up?”

“This isn’t easy for me to say, so if it comes out sounding weird…”

“Oh, geez, Jake. Spill it. Don’t tease me like that.”

“I thought you liked it when I tease you,” I joked.

“I will officially kill you if you don’t say what’s on your mind.”

I took a deep breath. It wasn’t an easy thing for me to ask because I had never asked it of anyone before. I didn’t know how Claire would react, either, knowing she didn’t like football or sports in general. “Okay. I wanted to know—”

“Jake, just say it!”

“Okay!” I chuckled, clearing my throat. “I wanted to know if you would be my girlfriend. You and me, together. And I also wanted to know if you would come as my guest to the championship game. I would love to know you were in the stands, cheering me on. I’ve never had that before, you know? And I want it to be you. That’s what I wanted to say.”

Tears filled her eyes, and I expected her to kiss me or hug me or something like that. Instead, she got out of bed. I got a nice look at her ass when she did.

“Wait. What are you doing? Did I say something wrong?”

She went through her dresser. “I was just about to pack this up when you knocked on my door.” From the drawer, she pulled a yellow Michigan Wolverines T-shirt and ball cap, both with our football mascot on the front.

“I thought I’d be prepared, just in case,” she said with a big smile.

“So yes?”

“Yes, stupid. To both.”

I took her by the waist and pulled her back onto the bed, squeezing her as tight as I could. She giggled helplessly, but I cut off her laughter with a kiss. I couldn’t get enough of her juicy lips. I had never been happier in my life. For once, somebody wanted me not just because I played football, but for who I was. I knew she wouldn’t care if I ended up injured, or if I never played for the NFL. She would still love me for me. And I knew I loved her for her.

“Are you happy?” I asked.

“I’ve never been happier.”

“I’m glad, baby,” I said, feeling myself stir again. It brought up a question that had been plaguing me. “Okay, I have to ask. Why did you randomly have a box of condoms in your bag?”

She gave me a wry smirk. “My mom bought them for us. Awkward, huh?”

And there went that idea. Curiosity killed the boner.

I
was so nervous
, I could hardly stand it. Why he had insisted on having me go with him to the Draft, I would never know. And I’d never know why I’d agreed. Sure, the energy in the jam-packed arena was electric. Sure, it was thrilling to watch dreams come true right and left. I watched on the giant screen behind the stage as mothers collapsed in tears at the sound of their sons’ names. I watched footage of cheering fans in one city after another. It was easy to get swept up in the mania.

I just wondered if anybody around me would mind if I puked on my shoes. Maybe theirs, too.

It was the perfect punctuation at the end of a whirlwind semester. The Championship game—my first college football game, and my last as a student—had been about the most thrilling day of my life. Watching my man out there on the field, and knowing he was my man. Rushing the field with the rest of the school’s fans when we won. Seeking him out in the crowd, leaping into his arms. That total wave of joy. I finally understood the big deal about football and what it meant to win a championship, though it wouldn’t have meant half as much if it hadn’t been for him. I was so proud.

And even more proud as I stood backstage at the Draft. I was the only person he’d brought along. It hadn’t been easy for him, balancing his excitement over being drafted and his feelings toward his mother. She was excited, too—extremely excited, and already planning the house she would buy and the car she would drive. All it did was make him resentful. I did what I could to stay out of it while encouraging him to stand up for himself. He would support her for the rest of her life, but it didn’t mean he had to be happy about it. The very fact that he didn’t invite her to join him in Chicago spoke volumes. Still, I had the feeling they’d reach a middle ground someday. He tried to hide his heart, but it was in there. Why else would he agree to take care of her once his career took off?

I wished I could hold his hand, but he was clear on the other side of the stage, in the wings. I could see him standing there between two men in suits., deep in conversation. He looked calm, relaxed, happy. Rumor had it he would be picked up by Indianapolis, but damned if he would tell me anything. He wanted to keep me in suspense. There were a few other men his age back there. Any one of them could be called instead of him. I would have bitten my nails if I had any left to bite.

He looked so good in his dark blue suit, sexy as hell. Sure, a football uniform was sexy. There may have been one or two times when I’d asked him to wear it for me off-field. Still, there was something about the way he wore that suit that sent my hormones into an uproar and made my toes curl in the fancy heels I’d bought just for the occasion.

The whole process was painfully slow. We’d been there for most of the day, and still they were going on with the picking process. It was a huge ceremony and totally silly. Couldn’t they simply have posted the names to a sheet and been done with it? No, there had to be a drawn-out process for each player, while their loved ones worried themselves into nervous hypertension. I paced a few steps back and forth, taking deep breaths.

It wasn’t the Draft that got to me as much as the uncertainty behind it. Where would Jake go? How far would we be from each other?

Would he want me to go with him?

My stomach dropped at the thought that he might not ask. Things had been beyond wonderful for us ever since we made our relationship official. His teammates had welcomed me with open arms once they figured out how serious Jake was about me. I’d even taken him home over Spring Break, and my mother had just about fainted when she got her first look at him while my dad and brother had peppered him with football talk. He’d fit right in.

Sure, it hadn’t all been champagne and roses. We’d experienced the same growing pains all couples do, thanks to the fact that we were both so stubborn. It didn’t help that none of the girls on campus seemed to care that he was taken, either. More than once had I come close to slapping a girl who couldn’t keep her hands to herself. He never tried to encourage it, and I’d gotten used to seeing the way his cheeks reddened whenever his old player past caught up with him. On the whole, it was something I was willing to put up with if it meant having him in bed with me at the end of the day.

Finding somebody like him was a dream come true. What if the dream came to an end because he was going on to bigger and better things? It had been an unspoken question between us in the days leading up to the event. Excitement for him and a sense of dread duked it out inside my stomach. I took another deep breath, willing myself to hang on to my lunch.

It looked like they were ready. Good thing I’d chewed off all of my nails or otherwise they’d dig into my palms as I stood there, waiting to find out where the love of my life was going. Sure, I was young. I hadn’t exactly slept around or played the field or whatever the current euphemism was. But I knew. He was The One. Did he think the same about me? I wanted it to be over already so I’d know, no matter what the outcome. Waiting was surely worse than rejection. Rejection, I’d dealt with.

The league commissioner stepped up to the microphone, announcing that Indianapolis was next. I ran my palms over the front of my brand-new dress, thinking only afterward that the sweat from them might show up. Wouldn’t that look good on camera? Assuming he even wanted me out there with him when they called his name.

What had happened to me? I used to be more sure of myself. But then I hadn’t been in love, either. Love made everything different. I wouldn’t have changed a thing.

Finally, finally, it was time to announce the name of the draftee. “Jake Jennings, Center.”

I jumped up and down, screaming, pumping my fists. His handsome face broke out in a smile from ear to ear, and he shook hands with a few of those around him before stepping out onstage wearing a team cap. I could just imagine the hearts breaking over America as he flashed another bright smile.

Tears rolled down my cheeks as he shook hands with the commissioner, then accepted his jersey. He held it up proudly, flashes going off right and left as photographers captured the moment. I couldn’t have been happier for him, no matter what he wanted from me when it was all over.

Instead of going back the way he came, Jake walked across the stage to where I stood. I held out my arms, throwing them around his neck as he lifted me off the floor.

“I knew it, I knew it.” I was laughing, crying, a total mess. I saw cameramen around us, recording our moment for the world to see. So that was what I had to look forward to if he wanted us to stay together. A life in front of the camera. I would get used to it, if that was what it took.

His heart thudded heavy in his chest, resonating through me as he held me close. I heard him laughing, though there may have been tears in there, too. Then, he said three little words that changed my life.

“Come with me?”

“Come with you?”

“Yes, Claire. I want you to come with me. I can’t do with this without you.”

My heart stopped for a second there as I processed what he’d just said. I hadn’t imagined it. He wanted me with him. The world could start turning again. Everything was as it should be. He wanted me. There was no question in my mind as to the answer.

“Where else would I go?” I laughed as he put me back on my feet, then took my face in his hands and kissed me.

He touched his forehead to mine. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Stagehands guided us through the hall and out into the lobby, where teams of reporters were waiting to get their first impression from Indianapolis’s newest Center. I took a step back, letting him soak in the limelight, watching as his sexy profile stood out against the lights from the cameras surrounding him. He deserved it.

And when it was all over, we’d start the rest of our lives together. I could hardly wait.

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