Ivy: behave
I snorted. God, I loved her responses.
Callum: how often have you thought about our kiss?
Ivy: we kissed?
Callum: IVY LEE EMERSON
Ivy: lolol only every other minute
Callum: hard same. Any chance I can sneak into your room tonight?
Ivy: You don’t want to go out with the team?
Callum: No, Ivy.
She wouldn’t have to share a room with Abe, and there was no way Henry would put the interns on the same floor as himand the coaches. I could probably sneak in, and no one would know. If she was up for it.
I need her up for this.
Callum: I mean, if we win and I play great, I think I deserve an award.
Ivy: And your award is…
Callum: You.
Ivy: I’ll think about it.
Callum: I’m really good at sneaking around—no one would see me.
She read the message but didn’t respond. I reread what I said, and my stomach twisted. I was an idiot. Why did I insinuate I slept around? Fuck. She could take that wrong. Really wrong. I scrubbed a hand over my face and panic typed.
Callum: Not in a ho kinda way, I meant like I used to slip into your room all the time and never got caught!
Ivy: first off, you weren’t sneaky about being a ho. That was public knowledge. And I know you’re good. You’re like a cat.
Callum: Can I be a jaguar? Or a lion? If I’m gonna be a feline, let me be a fierce one.
Ivy: okay I’m gonna do some homework and ignore you.
Callum: fair, but hey, you know…despite my reputation, you trust me, right?
Ivy: Heavy question for a text, Callum.
Callum: You haven’t answered me.
Ivy: how about… you play well today and sneak into my room later. Then we can chat.
Callum: Deal.
If I wasn’t motivated before, I was now. I needed Ivy to know that I’d never cheat on her or mess around with anyone while we were together. Hell, had we even talked about the fact we were exclusive? Had that come up?
I added that to the mental list of things to say to her. Even thinking about her wanting to date someone else caused a full-scale heart attack. No one else would know how to take care of her the way I did. Yeah, we’d talk and then I’d kiss her. It was a great plan.
We were tied.There were two minutes left on the clock, and holy shit, my adrenaline was high. It was second and goal, and Dean got sacked. If we managed a touchdown here, then Ohio would have one more shot to score. I’d make sure they didn’t.
I loved this moment, this sensation where every cell in my body was attuned to the present. The sound of the crowd, the feel of the grass under my cleats. How could I walk away from this? This was my life. Dean called a play up the middle. Their defense showed strain last quarter, and we took full advantage.
