I can’t believe I forgot.
“Thrown off?” he asks me with raised eyebrows.
I carefully fold my napkin over my lap.
Dylan leans back on his elbows. “You don’t have to answer me. I know.”
His dimples are on full display, and I resist the urge to kiss one.
I smile at him. “I was just surprised. No one’s given me breakfast in bed before.”
Dylan sits up and reaches for a piece of bacon. “A surprise you deserve. But I’m sorry I’m late. Joaquin was running behind.”
“That’s okay.” I sneak a look at him snarfing down his bacon. “This was really sweet of you.”
“How was your nap?”
I dreamed about being in bed with Dylan. Actually, I dreamed about being in a multitude of places with Dylan. The shower, the couch, the floor, and the bed just for good measure. Not once was what we were doing G-rated.
“Great.”
His eyes brighten. “Good dreams?”
I take a bite of my French toast and roll my eyes. “Uh-huh.”
His gaze shifts to my mouth as he grabs a slice of bacon.
I smile as he shoves it into his mouth. “You must be starving.”
“Comes with being a professional athlete. You should see me eat during the season. This is nothing.”
“Will you tell me what it’s like?” I ask him as I dig into my French toast.
“What? Playing?”
“Yeah. It must be quite a rush to be the quarterback of a professional team.”
Dylan’s mouth is so filled with food he can’t answer me for a minute. When he does, his answer surprises me.
“It’s not the fame or the fortune that’s the rush,” he says. “Those things can be nice, and I’m incredibly grateful every day. But all the fame gets tiring. People harassing you, everybody wants a piece of you—here, there, everywhere. What I love are the games. They’re my escape, frankly.”
I wrinkle my brow. “What do you mean your escape?”
“I mean that until I met you, I was starting to think I’d never be comfortable anywhere other than on the football field. And that scared the hell out of me.”
I stop eating and stare at him. “So you feel alone and scared sometimes even though you have everything?”
“Jasalie, everybody feels alone and scared sometimes,” he says. “And no one has everything. Not really. Everyone’s always reaching for more.”
I take a sip of juice. My head is racing with questions. I’ve never been around someone so successful, so together, and here he is telling me it doesn’t change your life.
Dylan’s watching me closely. “It’s amazing,” he says. “Having your dream. Don’t misunderstand me. I just have more dreams in me than being a football player. Before this weekend, I haven’t hung out and relaxed like this since before the season started.”
“Isn’t that what you guys do all the time when you’re not on the football field?”
“We have a lot of time off when we’re not practicing. But it feels like I’m always either studying tape, procrastinating from studying tape, or trying to get some sleep. Quarterbacks have to watch a lot of film.”
“But the season’s over. You must have free time now.”
