“I was just thinking. All good, I promise.”
Zane’s brows crease until I laugh, squeezing his arm. “I’m going to change. What should I wear?”
“Wear whatever you want. You always look amazing.”
My heart jolts but I don’t let myself react externally. This is new. The compliments. The lack of control. I’m still not sure I’m ready for any of this, but I want to try.
With a quick nod so he doesn’t hear the emotion caught in my throat, I walk away, stripping the tee over my head the second I’m in the spare room. While I may besleepingnext to Zane, I opted to keep my things separate so I could ensure some level of privacy, like getting dressed without being watched.
“Actually, wear something frumpy,” Zane calls out and I snort. “That way, you won’t have to worry about me ogling your body.” He groans before continuing on, mumbling his words. “And I won’t have to worry about anyone else doing the same.”
A buzz runs through me, and I smile to myself while my reality saddens me. I knew I was broken from the events of my past,but I didn’t realize how much I’d let it affect me. The old me never would have let someone else control what I wore and yet, for years, I accepted it from Nathan. And never once questioned him.
With a weight pulling me down, I dress in a conservative sweater and a skirt. Not frumpy, but also not revealing. “How’s this?” I say softly, walking back into the hallway to find Zane’s face in his phone.
“Hang on.” His fingers bounce around the screen for a few more seconds before he lifts his gaze, and the smile he bestows melts away my nerves, sending my pulse rocketing. “Beautiful as always, B. How would you like to come to our practice on Friday?” His question throws me off guard and I pause, my heart jumping.
“Really?”
“Yep. I just got the okay.”
“Uh. I don’t know.” I want to. I’d love to go, but that seems like a girlfriend thing to do, and it’s too soon to open that can of worms. In public. All it would take is one person sneaking a photo of me, and Nathan seeing—
“It’s a closed session, if that helps with your decision. No media.”
“Oh.”It does.“Okay. Thanks. I’d love to see you in action. But are you sure?”
My question makes me jolt and I’m once again thrown by the person I’ve become. But like always, Zane instantly puts me at ease.
“Fuck, yeah, I’m sure. I’d love nothing more than to have you there.”
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Blair
Zane’s still asleep when I wake the next morning, and I bite back a groan as I wriggle out of his hold. No matter how far away I am when we first go to sleep, at some point during the night, we end up like this—wrapped around each other, legs tangled, making it difficult to determine where I end and he begins.
Yesterday, he was the one to extract himself from me after his alarm went off, and though it woke me, I was still in a half dreamlike state and couldn’t move to help him. Instead, I let him lift me gently and reposition me on my side of the bed, his palms warming my skin, his deep breaths making me melt.
This morning, it’s my turn. But unlike me, Zane makes it known that my movements have woken him.
“Don’t go,” he whines. “My alarm hasn’t gone off yet.”
I allow him to pull me back into his rock-hard chest, and hold my breath, knowing his delicious scent is about to attack me. Other than these little moments in bed—when both of us pretend the rest of the world, along with all of our problems, nolonger exist—Zane kept his word about not touching me. Even though it kills him, he’s respecting my wishes and I’m grateful for that.
“Mmm.” He buries his face in my neck and groans, his raspy voice rumbling in my ear, sending a shiver down my spine. “You smell good.”
I smile at our similar thinking but before I can respond, a light buzzing permeates the air before Zane’s alarm blares. I like that he has a little pre-alarm alarm. It makes me less jumpy when I hear it.
“Dammit.” He groans again, this time out of annoyance. “I quit.”
“No, you don’t. You love football. And I love football players.”
“Ugh, don’t remind me. Isthatwhy you—”
“Don’t even finish that question, Fitzpatrick.” I roll over and glare his way. “Especially not when I’m wrapped up in your arms. Do you want me to freak out and decide this is all a mistake?” I’m joking, but the mention of Nathan does him no favors.
Zane clears his throat before rolling me onto my back and reaching over to silence his alarm. “Good morning, beautiful. When did you wake up?”
