“Thank you,” I whispered. I worried if I said anything more, I’d truly lose it, so instead of saying anything else, I angled my head upward. Understanding what I wanted, Mateo dipped his head and kissed me.
I let my thoughts dissolve one by one until there was nothing left but the warmth of his mouth on mine. The future could wait. The pressure could wait. All that mattered in this moment was him.
19
MATEO
“I’m sorry you guys lost the game yesterday,” Emmie said as she stood at the island, chopping basil for dinner.
“We had to get one loss under our belt before the season started,” I said with a shrug, stirring cream into the sauce pan on the stove. A loss stung no matter the time of season. After all, losing was part of the game.
“Is it true Jennings is leaving for another team?”
I glanced over at her with a raised eyebrow, a little thrown that she knew that.
“Yes, I know football and what's going on,” Emmie shot back. “Just because I’m a figure skater doesn’t mean I don’t know other sports.”
“Oh, I know you know other sports, I’m just impressed you’ve heard the rumors.” I leaned back against the counter, arms crossed. “Jennings has been pretty tight-lipped about it.”
“You think he’ll really leave?”
I shrugged. “I wouldn’t be surprised. He hates being on the team and only playing a short amount of time per game.Not sure if he’ll be a starter anywhere else, but there are teams that need a quarterback.”
“I take it you guys don’t get along.” Emmie turned around to face me, resting her back on the island counter to mirror my pose.
“We are…cordial.” It was a lie, but at least I was doing what I needed to on my end. Even when he made digs at me after the game yesterday, likeIwas the one who caused us to lose. I wasn’t the one that gave up three touchdowns and fumbled the ball multiple times.
“Yeah, that’s the biggest lie I’ve ever heard in my life,” Emmie scoffed. “When someone says they’recordial, it means they hate each other.”
“I’ve tried to be his friend, but he has a chip on his shoulder that he won’t let go of.” I couldn’t truly fault him for being upset at losing his starting position. Working your whole life to be a professional football player wasn’t easy, so it must have been hard having someone new come in and take that away from you. That didn’t excuse being a dick to everyone, though.
“Want me to fuck him up?” She punched her fist into her palm.
I smiled before schooling my features. “I would appreciate that. I can have you come to the locker room with me as my bodyguard.”
Her own lips twitched as she fought to keep a straight face. “I’ll be the best bodyguard you’ve ever seen.”
“I have no doubt about that.” For such a small thing, she could be a little scary. “How about you? Must have an enemy or two in the figure skating world.”
“There is one actually. You’d be surprised at how cutthroat it is.”
“Oh, spill the tea.” I grinned at her expression. “What? Justcause I’m a guy, I can’t get the gossip? I want to know which bitch we need to hate.”
Emmie shook her head. “You and Erin would be menaces together.”
“That’s because no one touches my girl.” Those words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them. I could have taken it back or said something else to gloss over them, but I stopped myself before I could do either.
I wanted Emmie to know I liked her. That this wasn’t just some fling—or at least I hoped it wasn’t. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t trying to run away from what was standing in front of me.
Emmie’s cheeks turned the cutest shade of red. My words lingered in the space between us. She looked as though she didn’t quite know what to do with them.
“The sauce is going to burn.” She gestured to the stove. I gave her a smile, hoping she could see I wasn’t upset at her changing the subject before I turned around to continue making dinner for us.
Like other things, I wasn’t about to press her to react or say something. I’d let her work out what my words meant and go from there.
“Can you grab the pasta from the cabinet over there?” I asked, gesturing my head toward said cabinet.
When she came back with spaghetti noodles, I did what I did best—broke the tension with humor.
