It scares the hell out of me.
But freshman year taught me one thing. If I ignore this or run from it, I’m only gonna regret it. Things with Gabby are too special to ignore.
I clear my throat. “Poppy was wondering if you’d like to join us for breakfast.”
“Poppy?” Gabby sits up and smirks.
“Yes, Poppy.” My daughter makes grabby hands for me now, and I take her back. “She mentioned it just before you walked in here. She said, ‘I really like Gabby. Let’s invite her out for some French toast and coffee.’” I pat my daughter’s behind with one hand, hoping to keep her chill while Gabby and I talk. Fortunately, she seems content to lie on my chest and chew on her fist.
My beautiful neighbor gives me the biggest smile I’ve seen from her in a while. But then her lips turn down and she looks away. “I figured you’d be running for the hills this morning. You guys are known for hit-and-runs.”
Ouch.
She shakes her head. “And then my brother goes all Neanderthal on you when he’s not exactly the paragon of committed relationships.”
She’s not wrong about her brother, but who am I to criticize how he lives his life?
“Ben’s just looking out for you, and I don’t blame him. If I had a sister, I’d be making damn sure whatever guy she was with treated her right.”
When she doesn’t say anything, I lift her chin to make her look at me. “I’m not running.”
Stormy hazel eyes stare into mine. They’re red-rimmed and wary, and I hate that she doesn’t trust me.
“I’m not running. And that’s what I told Ben.” And likely why we didn’t have an all-out brawl at the house, but she doesn’t need to know that.
After a minute, her head tilts toward my hand, and I stroke her soft skin.
“You promise you won’t run?” she asks slowly.
I nod, leaning closer where I graze my lips over hers. “I promise.”
“And Ben’s not going to try to kill you in your sleep?”
A half-laugh, half-groan escapes me. “Hopefully not. I think he’ll be cool.” Well, not cool exactly, but probably not murderous.
I think I’ve answered all of her doubts, but when I try to kiss her again, she leans back. “And there won’t be others?”
Because I’m a dumbass, it takes me a second to understand what she’s asking.
Other women.
That’s an easy question to answer considering she’s dominated my thoughts all semester.You haven’t stopped thinking about her since freshman year. You were just too chickenshit to do anything about it.
“No one else.”
That gets me a small smile, and I swoop in and kiss her before she can come to her senses. I have zero experience with serious relationships, but if this is what she wants, if I’m what she wants, then I’m game.
I tangle my hand in her damp hair.
“I’ll be honest about a few things, though.” I pull back to wrangle my daughter, who has decided to crawl up my head. “For the next few weeks, I need to keep football as my focus. How I play for the rest of the season will determine the rest of my life and Poppy’s. I can’t fuck that up. So I need to keep the non-football parts as drama free as possible. Seeing how I also have a kid, that’s probably asking a lot, but I need to try. If you’re on board with that, then I’d like to see where this goes.” I give her my best smile and bring Poppy’s face right next to mine. Hopefully she can’t turn us away. My kid’s mug is pretty cute. “What do you say? Ya want a two-for-one? We’re kind of a package deal.”
Gabby glances between us and rolls her eyes at my shameless use of my daughter, who I must admit is my best weapon. “You play dirty.”
You have no idea how dirty I like it.
But then she nods.
“Yeah?” My heart races in my chest.
