“In fact,” she cut in again, “it’s probably only a little more than you’d make if you got a real job.”
“A real job? Football is a real job!” If had a dollar for every time I had heard that line before, I wouldn’t need to play professionally, I could just live off my piles of collected dollars.
“Yeah, I know, I meant a normal job. You have a degree in engineering, did you get that just to hang it up on the wall?” I was very proud of my engineering degree, but I didn’t really say that to anyone. There weren’t a lot of football players with degrees in the first place, let alone in something like engineering,
Sometimes it paid to not look smart around football players.
“I’m confused, it sounds like you’re trying to persuade me to give up, is that what you’re doing?”
“Maybe I am! Why do you want this?”
“I thought you were supposed to be supporting me, or, at the very least, not getting in my way.”
“I’m just asking questions, Drake.”
I sat back in my chair, looking up at the ceiling for a bit. Why was Lily acting like this? “I like playing football, Lily.”
“Everyone likes doing something, but liking something isn’t enough to do it professionally. What if you stop liking it tomorrow?”
“I won’t do that. I’ve been playing football since I was 8!”
“And I’ve been doodling in notebooks since I was 8 too, and I don’t call myself a professional doodler!”
“That’s not the same thing at all. Don’t trivialize what I’ve accomplished.”
That quieted her down a bit. We ate the rest of our delicious meal in silence, and after I paid the bill, we headed back out into the chilly New England evening. It was summer time, but still not the warm weather I was used to down south.
We walked back toward the car, the only two people on our side of the street, and I turned to say something to Lily when I realized she wasn’t there anymore.
I stopped and turned around, and she was 10 feet back, staring at me. I hurried back to her. “Is everything alright?”
“What do you want, Drake? Why are you here? Just tell me the truth.”
This again! I don’t know why she kept on asking me the same question over and over again! “I just…I-“
“Yes, Drake, tell me the truth, let it ou-“
“I just want to show them I’m good enough!” I growled, almost at a yell. I thought Lily would shrink back, or maybe even run away, but she held her ground, her eyes never tearing away from mine.
“I want to make the team,” I continued, “because no one believed in me. Because they let little shit get in the way of seeing how great I am. Because I’ve worked hard for this and I want it more than anything else. Because I just…I just want them to know I’m good enough.”
I felt the tears come forward, and I tried to wipe them away so Lily wouldn’t see them, but I knew already that she had. “I just,” I said, softer now, “I just want to show them I’m good enough, that I’m a valuable member of the team. I want…I want them to want me around.”
And then, the next thing I knew, Lily had jumped into my arms and I was kissing her.
CHAPTER 13 - LILY
I was in Drake Rollins’ arms, and he was kissing me.
Shit. How did this happen? How had I let this happen?
I didn’t really have time to think about that at the moment, because, hey, I was in a gorgeous man’s arms, and, even better, he was kissing me with more passion than I’d ever experienced.
I opened my mouth and let our tongues dance together for a few all-too-brief moments before I pulled away. Drake kissed me a couple more times, a soft brush of his lips against mine as we separated.
“Whoa,” I said first, opening my eyes and looking down, still in Drake’s arms and still wondering how I got there.
“You said it.”
I took my hands from around Drake’s neck and held them up. “How exactly did that just happen?”
Drake grinned, that smarmy yet oh-so-sexy grin that sent me to different planes of existence. “You found me irresistible and finally stopped trying to deny it.” I laughed, and he continued when I’d finished. “I would be surprised, but you know, I’ve seen it before. All too many times if you ask me.”
“Oh yeah?” I said, still laughing. “This kind of thing happen to you often?”
He pulled me in again, and I licked my lips. “Way more than I would like to admit, actually.”
“Uh huh. Shut up, Drake.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. Just kis-“ and I didn’t even finish the word before Drake’s lips were on mine again and I was swept away by his scent and his touch and his tongue and the feeling of floating above the ground.