Page 129 of Tangled with the Tight End

“Really?”

“Yes. I’ll even pick up sandwiches from the deli for lunch. Are you coming home for lunch?”

“I am now,” Cass says. “I’d leave right this minute if you needed me to.”

“No. I sound worse than I am. I just need …” I take a deep breath. “I kissed Declan.”

“You WHAT?” Cass’s voice is loud enough I could almost hear it without my phone to my ear—from across town in her office to me here in my car.

“Well, technically, he kissed me. But then I kissed him too. And … yeah. We kissed.”

“And now you’re rambling and fleeing the scene?”

“Basically.”

“I’m coming home. I’ll get us breakfast burritos. You just drive home. I’ll meet you there.”

“You don’t have to do that, Cass. I’m fine.”

“I’ll see you at home in about a half hour.”

I know better than to fight with my sister when she’s got an idea lodged in her head. She’s an office manager for a realty office. They love her. If she wants to leave for an early lunch or even take a spontaneous day off, they’ll accommodate.

So, I just say, “See you at home.”

When our front door opens a little over a half hour later, I’m curled on the couch, my knees drawn up to my chest, staring out the front window. It’s the same position I’ve been in since I walked in the door.

My thoughts have been running laps, passing the same landmarks as they circle: our kisses … his jersey … Darlene’s reaction … Snow walking in … Declan standing in his doorway watching me drive away.

My emotions swell and fall with each pass: blissful, embarrassed, confused, dejected.

Cass holds the paper bag from the deli up high in the air. “Breakfast burritos secured.”

Then she looks at me and sighs, lowering the bag. “Oh. Win.”

“It’s not as bad as I look.”

“You’re wearing Declan’s jersey?” She wags her brows as she walks toward the couch and plops down across from me.

“He gave it to me to sleep in.”

Cass sets the burrito bag on the coffee table, reaches out and lays her hand on my knee. “You look beautiful. And I’m not saying a thing about how quickly you went from oblivious to super-fan to making out with the tight end. Not. A. Word.”

“Beautiful,” I mutter, Declan’s face flashing in my mind. He thinks I’m beautiful.

I look at Cass. “Thanks for not mentioning my transformation. Good job not mentioning a thing.”

She laughs. “I mean, it’s pretty incredible. I did not see this coming.”

Cass just stares at me like she’s witnessed an alien abduction. Me loving football and understanding the sport is possibly more incredible than little green men invading our planet. And yet. Here we are.

“So … ?” she asks, taking a burrito out of the bag and handing it to me.

“So … it was raining and we lit a fire and we were talking … and he kissed me.”

I can’t help the smile that takes over my face.

Cass smiles softly, unwrapping her burrito and taking a bite. “And that obviously went well,” she says with a nudge of her foot to my knee.