I nod. “I did, but everyone can have some.”
“Hey, I thought they were mine.” He peers over my shoulder.
“They are, but you won’t eat all twelve.” I put my hand on his chest. “You’re still in training.”
“Okay, I guess I’ll share with everyone.” He places a kiss on my forehead.
“What do we want for dinner?” Bo pulls out his phone. “Let me see if Chelsea’s on her way. Casey went to pick up Noelle.”
“I figured.” Charlie pulls out her phone. “You looking for a cheat meal or a good meal? I can run out and get something if you want anything specific. I don’t mind.”
“You don’t need to include us,” Silas picks me up in his arms—and my water bottle. “I’m just gonna go lay my wife down and have my favorite meal. We’ll see you all later.”
“Silas!” I cover my face with my hands. It’s one thing for me to be brazen ornaughtywhen I’m talking with my future sister-in-law, but I’ll never get over Silas’s bravado when he’s around his friends. He’s unabashedly proud to share our love with the world.
Our love…
Is that where we’re headed?
He laughs and walks us toward the bedroom, and when we get to the edge of the bed, he lowers me to the mattress, then hovers over me, looking me in the eyes.
“You know, I was raised to finish my meals, so I don’t care if your legs are shaking; we’re not stopping until I say so.” He kisses one side of my mouth, then the other.
“Okay,” I whisper.
We don’t see anyone the rest of the night.
CHAPTER
TWENTY
SILAS
The first weekafter the combine was pretty great. Brooke and I spent as much time together as we could when we weren’t in class. It was awesome. But this week has been a different story.
She hasn’t said it, but I feel like she’s fallen in love with me—or at least pretty damn close to it. It’s safe to say that I’m in love with her.
Head over ass.
But I want my declaration to her to come naturally. I want it to feel right for both of us. I don’t even care if she says it back. I just want the timing to be right. She did agree to give me until the draft, and we’re just two weeks shy now.
My class schedule hasn’t let up, and even after the draft, I’ll have close to a month before I graduate. So, between school and meetings with my coaches here at Walker and my agent, that hasn’t left much time for Brooke and me to spend together this week. And it sucks.
Her dad came down to see her today and took her out to lunch. She invited me to join them in an effort to show her dadthat we really do care about each other, but I just couldn’t make it work since they were going while I was in class. Then I had an appointment right after class and went to a car dealership after that.
I bought a truck to make it easier for me and Brooke to get around. With everyone’s schedules and personal lives, it’s just not as easy to catch rides.
It’s nothing fancy, but it’s nice, and it will be good for us for now.
I thought she would be home by now, but she’s not here. In fact, no one is in the house, which always feels kind of odd when it’s so quiet in here. Not that we’re loud and rowdy, but someone is usually hanging around.
When I walk into the bedroom, there’s a moving box sitting on the bed–more stuff of Brooke’s from her dorm. Inside, there’s an Alexa, some books, a stuffed animal, and a cowboy hat that I’ve seen her wear a few times. It looks like it’s getting a little smooshed by the books, and I don’t want it to bend the brim, so I lift it out of the box and smack it a few times against my thigh to see if I can loosen the crease from the book.
I glance back into the box to see if anything else needs to be taken out and see a manila envelope with the wordsArbuckle Annulmentwritten in the center.
What the fuck?
My hands are shaking as I reach for the envelope—this stupid envelope that I can’t believe exists at all.
