This Love of Mine (Raine Series #1)

CHAPTER 12

Madison

"I'm twenty four." I tried to keep my face composed as I answered and by the look on her face, I could tell she was disappointed. I was gonna let it go for a bit, but she got real quiet and I didn't want to scare her off. "I'm just teasin' sweetheart, I'm only eighteen." I let out a loud laugh and the worry that was etched in her face slowly dissipated.

"Why would you do that?" She squealed, as she play punched my leg.

When her flesh touched my leg, electricity started flowing through me. There was somethin' there, and I could tell she could feel it too. She let her hand linger on my leg for a few seconds and my breath hitched in my throat. My eyes landed on her small balled up hand and that's when I noticed the bruises that wrapped around her wrists.

"KJ, I know it ain't my business, but what happened here sweetheart?" I slid my finger around the dark ring that looked like a bracelet, and she hastily jerked away.

"Nothin', now think of a better question."

I couldn't tell if she was upset with me or not, but I didn't want to push her away, so I continued on to my next question. "So how old are you pretty girl?" I smiled briefly at her, hoping to put her back into a comfortable place.

"Uh, I just turned seventeen not too long ago." Her voice was just above a whisper.

"Look at you, gettin' all old." I was relieved when she laughed out loud.

"Shut up, you're one to talk, Mr. Eighteen Year Old." She tilted her head to the side, exposing one of the most beautiful smiles I think I had ever seen. It made her whole face light up, and I liked seeing a flicker of her burnt out light, exposed.

"I know, god I'm close to retirement age." We both shared a laugh before she started back in on the inquisition.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Even in the dark of night, I could see the anticipation written all over her face about what I was gonna answer.

"No." I could have elaborated, but if she really wanted to know more, I'm sure she would ask.

"Oh."

When she didn't say more than that, I started in on my question. "How long are you stayin' with your grandparents?"

She looked back at me and the light from the moon lit up her face, making my lips yearn to feel what hers would feel like. I leaned in towards her ear knowing I now had her full attention. I wanted to go in for the kill, I really did, but the better part of me convinced myself otherwise. "Are you gonna answer?" I whispered.

Her expression turned solemn and I almost regretted asking her, but then she started to speak. "I'm gonna be here for quite some time. You know it's getting pretty late, I think maybe I should start heading back."

My heart dropped. I didn't want our time together to end. It was nice hanging out with somebody. Especially someone who didn't expect anything from you, or who just wanted to sleep with you. It was refreshing. She was refreshing.

"I'm sorry, KJ. I didn't mean to pry."

"No, it's okay. I'm just starting to get real tired. I had to take some pain medicine earlier and it's starting to kick my ass. I had fun though. It was real nice gettin' to know ya, Madison."

"Well at least you left out the disdain this time when you said my name." I smiled down at her and then stood. I brushed my hands on my pants just before reaching out to take her hand and help her up. She stared at me questioningly, but reached for my hands. When I pulled her up, she stumbled forward, catching herself as she placed her hands against my chest. I watched, as her eyes grew large once she saw the closeness of our bodies to one another.

I wrapped my calloused hands around hers and gently pushed her back a little bit. I could feel her body humming, just as mine was, but I couldn't do anything about it. I wanted this girl, in more ways than one, but I didn't want to be another person in her life to disappoint her when I left. I'm pretty sure this girl has had enough disappointment to last her for quite awhile.

"Where did your name come from?" Her voice was heavenly and when she spoke in a low tone like that, it was all I could hear.

"It was my mother's maiden name. They thought they were having a girl, but kept it even when they found out I was a boy."

We smiled at one another out there in the middle of an open grass field, the tension building between us. I couldn't tear my eyes away from hers and when I knew I needed to let her go, I needed a promise of tomorrow. I knew it was selfish of me, but if I only had two days left being this close to her, I wanted to take full advantage of it.

"Do you need me to walk you down the hill?" I asked.

"No, I think I'll be okay. Will I get to see you again?"

I wasn't expecting her to ask, let alone actually spend time with her, but it was definitely a good surprise. "Sure. What are you doin' tomorrow around noon?" I let a sly smile touch my lips, wondering if she would remember my favorite time of day.

"Noon should work. Whatcha wanna do at your favorite time of day?"

"Let's meet up here again and we can pick up where we are leavin' it for tonight?"

"That's sounds good. I'll see you tomorrow Madison Raine." She stood on her tiptoes and gently pressed her moist lips to my cheek. I let my eyes flutter shut as the need to touch her grew to epic proportions. When she pulled away, my eyes were glossed over in a daze. I smiled and turned to walk away. If I didn't walk away now, I knew I wasn't ever going to be able to.

"Tomorrow." I shouted.

I slowly started walking backwards as I watched her perfect figure disappear into the night. When I could no longer see her, I turned and ran all the way back to the house. And I thought the next two days were going to be some of the most boring days of my life. Boy, was I wrong.

When I reached the unlit porch, I remained quiet as to not wake my grandparents. All the lights were off inside the house and out, so I assumed I was good as gold.

When the front porch light flipped on, I almost had a heart attack as I caught sight of my grandfather's half asleep pajama covered body sitting in the chair at the end of the porch.

"Sir, I-"

"I thought I made myself clear when I said to stay out of that family's business. Did I not?"

"No Sir, you did."

"So ya mind explainin' to me what the heck you were thinkin', or is that just it, you weren't?"

I could see the anger in his eyes and I wasn't going to let him ruin one of the best nights I have had with a girl. "Its not what you think, Sir."

"No? Because how I see it, you didn't think you had to listen to me, and you went searchin' for that poor girl. She doesn't need people like you comin' and goin' in and out of her life."

"It's not like that Grandpa, I mean Sir. I was just up there smokin' when she came up to where I was. We just talked. Honest to god, I was goin' to walk away, but she heard me and asked me to stay." The last part was kind of a lie, but I was eighteen and didn't need to answer to anyone. "And what do you mean, people like me?" Now I was starting to get pissed.

"Ah boy, I just meant people who have no plans of ever makin' a life here. She is here for good now. She has school to finish and I reckon she won't be movin' anytime soon. You on the other hand, are leavin' in two days for Arizona and who knows when you'll be back."

My head shot up in shock, how did he know that I was leavin'? What the hell. The only people I had told were Glenn. "How did you find out?" I muttered.

"Sit, Madison. NOW!" I did as I was told, not wanting to add fuel to the fire by disobeying him. "Son, I know I'm old, but I ain't dumb or blind. I have been goin' to every one of your games since you were old enough to start playin'. When I saw those scouts at your last game, I knew you were goin' to find somethin' that suited you better than this ranch. I've known since you graduated, boy. I heard your buddy Glenn talking about it to that one little lady you was dating not too long ago. Y'all may not be together anymore, but she has a bit of a trap on her. So Arizona State huh?"

I could see the sadness creeping into his expression. I didn't want to hurt him, but this was something I needed to do, for me. "Yes, Sir. Arizona State is where I'm gonna be playin' ball. I'm due to report to training camp in about two weeks. I needed the extra time to pack up the house and get everything ready to go."

"Hmm." Was all he managed to choke out.

I didn't expect a longer response. Hell, I didn't even expect him to be happy for me, but I didn't so much as even get a congratulations. I stood up from my chair and headed for the door. "Goodnight, Sir."

"Goodnight Madison."