‘You are not!’ Her voice rose and she pulled out of my grasp and took a few steps back.
Heaving a heavy sigh, I thrust my hands into my pockets to stop them from reaching out and grabbing hold of her again. ‘Okay, I’ll bite… why don’t I love you?’
Her arms flapped around. ‘Because… ‘cause…’
‘Well?’
‘You’re Oliver-Motherfucking-Blake!’ she cried, throwing her hands in the air. ‘That’s why you don’t love me.’
I frowned. ‘I don’t love you because of my name?’
She ran her fingers through her hair, ruffling the blonde ends. Fuck, she was adorable.
‘No. Because you’re you, and I’m me.’ She waved a hand down her body. ‘You’re the hot footballer and I’m the lump of a woman who actually forgot to put shoes on her feet this morning. Yeah, I’mthatmuch of a mess that I left my flat, and it took me a whole flight of stairs before I realised I only had socks on.That’swhy you can’t love me.’
I stiffened at her words. They were flippant but carried a heavy weight. I inched closer, needing to be in her orbit. ‘Actually, that’s why I do.’ My voice lowered, thick with warning. ‘And if you ever refer to yourself as a lump again, we are going to have words.’
She swallowed. ‘Words?’
Another step closer. Her scent engulfed me, warming me to my core. ‘Yes, words. I’m going to tear every stitch of clothing from your body and explain in excruciating detail why every inch of your skin is perfect. Why every part of your body makes me crave you, but more than that, I’ll showyou how that beautiful brain of yours makes me believe that for the first time in years, I’m worth more than my ability to kick a fucking ball. But you’re right, I love you isn’t the right word.’
I took another step forward. Fallon was too dazed to do much more than stare at me. I took advantage of her stupor and slipped an arm around her waist, pressing our bodies together. With my other hand, I wrapped my palm gently around her throat so I could feel her pulse throb under my touch and feel the air leave her lungs in tiny pants. She blinked several times, but didn’t pull away. I tilted her head back so I could stare down at her.
‘Love is a word you’ve heard for years out of the mouths of people who have claimed to feel it—in the same breath they use to tear you down. So I can say I love you until you finally throw that damn coffee machine away-’
‘Never,’ she breathed.
The corners of my mouth lifted. ‘But that won’t get it through to you that I mean it. Fallon, you crashed into my life, literally, and brought something I’d never realised I’d been without.’
She half-heartedly rolled her eyes. ‘Chaos?’
‘Colour.’ My face lost all amusement. Ineededher to get it. To fully understand. ‘In two months, you’ve made me feel more emotions than I know how to deal with. You splattered my entire world with your colour, saturating every dark corner that had started to consume me. You made me want to be better, not for anyone else but for myself. You made me believe I’m worth something. Like who I am as a person is enough.’
‘You are enough.’ Her eyes burned with sincerity.
My grip on her waist tightened. ‘I think I’m starting to believe that. Thanks to you.’
Her gaze darted all over my face. It took me a fewseconds to realise what she was searching for. My anger flared to life once more. She was waiting for the punchline. The admittance that it was a joke. That I was kidding and didn’t mean everything I’d just said. The urge to go back to her parent’s house and rip them to shreds for treating her like she was an afterthought, something to be ridiculed, was so strong my muscles started to tremble. Something I would have done if I didn’t have her in my arms right now—if I didn’t have the warmth of her body pressed up against mine. The feel of her pulse fluttering under my palm.
She opened her mouth to say something, ‘I didn’t-‘ I let go of my grip on her neck and pressed a finger to her parted lips.
‘You don’t have to believe me right now. But I’m gonna promise you something right now. Whenever your brain tells you that you’re not good enough, that you’re a failure, I’m gonna be there to tell it the truth.’
‘What’s the truth?’ Her voice was barely more than a whisper as she stared up at me in wonder.
‘That the strongest woman I know, has more tenacity, more fucking love to give than I can fathom. That she’s the most beautiful person I’ve ever met, and I’ve met a lot of people… I mean, have you seen some of the guys on the team… damn…’
She hit her hand weakly against my chest, sniffing.
‘I’ll tell you that ever since I met you, you made me want to believe in stuffed donkeys and magic. You made me think that if I try really fucking hard, every single day, I might be worthy of your love.’
‘You love me.’ She breathed the words like they didn’t quite fit right.
‘Unfailingly so, I’m afraid.’
‘Oliver…’ she chewed the inside of her cheek, unable to meet my gaze. ‘I got fired.’
The shame coating her voice made me pull her even closer. Rather than let the frustration get a hold of me, I smiled down at her. ‘I’m sorting it.’
