Icould still taste Emmie on my lips. Which sounded crazy because five days had passed since I kissed her. We’d been so busy that all interactions were in the form of phone calls and text messages.
I FaceTimed her last night, and while it was nice seeing her, it wasn’t the same as being in person. The same as feeling her lips on mine.
Kissing Emmie was… There were no words to describe it. The amount of control it took not to take her back to my apartment and do unspeakable things to her. I really should be applauded for being a gentleman and driving her home afterward.
I always heard women talking about sparks when kissing someone—even in romcoms they talked about the infamous foot pop—but damn it to hell, I felt them.
I knew for a fact Emmie felt the same. The way her breath hitched when our lips met, her hands gripping my shirt with tight fists. When I pulled away, she was breathing just as hard as I was.
God, how I wanted to kiss her right now.
Shifting in my chair, I stifled a groan. Now wasnotthe time to be letting my thoughts wander in that direction. Getting a hard-on right before a game was a no-go. We were literally minutes away from hitting the field, and I didn’t need the front of my pants to be tented.
I brought my attention back to my phone, urging my dick to calm the fuck down. An onslaught of messages greeted me. Texts from my college buddies wishing me good luck even though it was only a preseason game.
Separate messages, as well as ones in the huge group chat I had with my brothers and the girls, were all along the same lines. My mom sent me football emojis followed by a you got this GIF.
Mila, Bryton, Trevor, and Tasha sent their own versions of good luck and go kill it messages in the group chat. But the sight of a video from Josie had me grinning. I turned the sound up as the faces of my nieces and nephew popped up.
“Good wuck, Uncle Maty.”Jayden grinned at the camera, his little teeth flashing.
“Kick butt!”Wrenley yelled, dancing across the screen, her lighter blonde hair pulled into two pigtails.
“WIN!”Kai screamed, her face inches from the phone. When it panned back, all three kids were dressed in the same charcoal gray and silver Titan jerseys I got them a few months ago for their birthdays.
At the sight, my chest pinched. I missed them so much.
Josie’s face appeared.“Good luck, Maty. Can’t wait to see you in a few weeks for the first real game of the season. You’ve got this!”
Over her shoulder, everyone—Mila, Bryton, Trevor, Tasha, Lydia, and my two brothers—huddled around the living room, the TV showing the announcers and sports casters talking.
“Good luck!”everyone yelled at the camera before the video stopped.
I took a shuddering breath. Being away from my family was hard. Harder than I anticipated when I first moved here. During football season, it wasn’t too bad because I was busy with games, but the ache of not seeing them never dissipated. They weren’t that far away, but with everyone's schedules, it made it hard to see each other as much as we used to.
I sent a thank you to the chat and then couldn’t help but send another one.
Me: If I win today, I expect a date and a kiss with all my girls.
I chuckled under my breath at myself. Even miles away, I couldn’t help but poke and prod my brothers a bit.
Just like I predicted, the chat got bombarded withfuck no’sfrom Wyatt, Landon, Trevor, and Bryton.
With the noise of the locker room growing, it was time for us to head to the field. Just as I was about to put my phone on the top shelf of my cubby, it buzzed, Emmie’s name flashing on top of the screen. I’ve never clicked on a message faster in my life.
Emmie: My coach has this saying before every competition, and I thought you could use it today.Walk out and own it.Show them how Titans do it.
I grinned at my phone, repeating the saying in my head.
Emmie: If you can…find me in the stands.
Every part of my body paused at the second message. She was here? I didn’t have time to reply as Coach called out, telling us to crowd together in the middle of the room.
I put my phone away, grabbed my helmet, and made my way toward the huddle. Hands reached out and smacked my shoulders and back in support as I moved forward.
Needing to focus on the game, I pushed the thoughts of Emmie to the back of my mind. Going into a game distracted was a recipe for disaster.
“Gentleman.” Coach Reggie’s voice boomed through the locker room. “This is our first preseason game of the year,and while it may be just that, we’re still going to play our best. We don’t half-ass things here, do we?”
