Making a Play Page 20

  “Happy New Year, Ryker,” Nova said as she stepped in front of me. After my drunken behavior the Tuesday of Thanksgiving week she had kept her distance. She’d shown up at Nash’s place and been dressed to get attention. I’d had too many beers and made a comment about her not having on a bra. She’d thought that was an invitation and pressed against me before kissing me hard on the mouth. I’d been taken by surprise and slow due to the beer, but I’d gotten her off me, then taken her downstairs and sent her away. Telling her I was in love with Aurora and to please leave me alone. Move on with her life.

  She had. She’d started dating Brett Darby exclusively almost immediately. Everyone seemed to think I would care after what they’d seen at Nash’s, but they had all gotten the wrong idea that day. Everyone but Nash that is. He knew I’d sent her home, then gone inside his house to sleep it off in his bedroom. He’d found me there that night.

  “Happy New Year to you, too,” I said, not even attempting a smile. It wasn’t in me.

  She looked at Nash and Tallulah and said the same thing. Just when she was turning to go, I heard a voice say my name that caused my heart to stop. Literally the sound made it skip a beat. Afraid I had imagined it, I spun around so damn fast that if I had been drinking, I would have fallen on my ass.

  Green eyes, freckles, with red curls bound up by the scarf around her neck. Everything around me went silent. I felt like I was standing in one of my dreams.

  “Aurora.” I said her name, afraid I’d finally lost it and made her up. If I blinked, she’d be gone. I didn’t fucking blink.

  “Hello,” she said. It wasn’t as soft as she used to speak, and it was clearer . . . different.

  Her cheeks were flushed pink from the cold, and her perfect nose was equally pink. I stood there frozen, remembering it was my turn to say something.

  “You’re here,” I finally blurted out, my eyes burning from not blinking.

  She smiled then and nodded her head slightly as if my comment was funny. I finally blinked, and she didn’t vanish. I inhaled sharply; this was real.

  “Happy New Year,” she said, and again I noticed the difference in her voice. She was more confident with using it too. I wanted to grab her and hold her and reassure myself she was here, but I’d not heard from her or seen her in one month, two weeks, and a day.

  “You’re here,” I said it again, and then a hand slapped my back.

  “Get it together, man,” Nash said firmly beside me.

  He was right; I had to snap out of this. Seeing Aurora tonight was the last thing I’d expected. I’d even stopped letting myself think about seeing her again. That had only hurt. Wanting something that bad and knowing it was pointless.

  “You came back.” I said it more for my benefit than hers.

  “Yes. I did,” she replied with her new, clearer voice. Something was different. Then it hit me. It was dark out here. Not completely. I could clearly see her face, but reading lips with limited lighting was hard on her. She wasn’t as close as she used to be when she was reading my lips under the night sky.

  “I didn’t think you were coming back.” I was afraid to ask if she was leaving again. Hunter had said she wasn’t coming back. The one conversation we’d had about her when she hadn’t returned from North Carolina. I’d shut down completely then. It had taken me weeks to pull myself together. State had been my only focus, and deep down I’d known it was because it was my chance to be worthy in her father’s eyes. I’d thought winning might bring her back. In my head I wanted to believe it would. The man put so much importance on football, I had hoped by some chance he would let her come back. He’d decide I wasn’t lower than her. That maybe, by some small miracle, my skin color wouldn’t be an issue. But she hadn’t returned. It had been my dumb fantasy.

  “I wasn’t sure if I was,” she admitted. “But I . . . missed . . .” She stopped then. She didn’t say she missed me. I wanted her to say it. I also wanted her to tell me she hadn’t stayed away because of Denver. The memory of him made me remember why she had left.

  “Couldn’t have been me you missed,” I snapped, unable to stop myself. “Not when you had Denver.”

  Her brows scrunched as she frowned in what looked like confusion. I had been talking too fast. I was torn between guilt from speaking to her so harshly, even though she couldn’t hear my tone, and relief she hadn’t been able to read my lips clearly.

  “I wasn’t with Denver. I wasn’t in North Carolina. I left there the Saturday after Thanksgiving.”

  Okay . . . what? I stood there trying to make sense of what she was saying. Where the hell had she been? Hunter said she wasn’t coming back. He hadn’t said she also wasn’t staying in North Carolina.

  “Where have you been?” I asked, trying to speak slower. This was important. She hadn’t been with Denver. All this time I thought she’d stayed with him because he was easier, she loved him, her father was happier this way, she was happier—I’d thought a million things, and now none of those made sense. Her not returning to Lawton, to me, it was as fucking confusing as it had been that Saturday when she didn’t come back.

  “California,” she said simply.

  Her mother was in California. She hadn’t been able to move with her mother and her mom’s new man. That had been why she’d come here. So how had she decided to move there and why? Had what I’d felt for her been only one sided? Had I made all that up in my head?

  “With your mom?” I asked, hoping she’d explain all this and make me understand it. Make the past month of hell go away.

  “Yes and no. Didn’t Hunter tell you?” she asked me. I was still trying to get used to her voice. The difference was something else I was struggling to understand. Fuck, what if this was all a dream? I’d had several dreams she’d come back. This felt more real. I needed this to be real.

  “Hunter told me you weren’t coming back. That’s it.” I was realizing he was supposed to tell me more. My anger with him was tamped down, though, because Aurora was standing in front of me.

  She sighed and shook her head as if frustrated about that piece of knowledge. “I should have figured as much. He didn’t want to talk about you when I asked. I thought it was just because you were dating other girls.”

  Dating other girls? “What?” I hadn’t been able to even fucking flirt with other girls. Aurora had ruined me.

  She gave me a sad smile then. “It’s okay. I’ve had time to think about it all. Understand. I was new to things and naive. We had just met, barely had time to get to know each other when I had to go. We weren’t a couple. I’m not upset you were with other girls so soon.”

  Nothing coming out of her mouth was making any goddamn sense. “What?” was all I could say.

  Aurora’s smile was so damn sweet and genuine my knees felt weak. I wanted to grab her and tell her exactly how things had been for me since she’d left. But right now I needed her to tell me why the hell she’d been in California and was she going back?

  “It doesn’t matter,” she said, waving it off like it was no big deal. “I went to California to see a specialist my dad had found. I—” She paused, then moved her hair a bit from her left ear. The hair underneath was shaved or had been. It was growing back but very short. “I’ve had cochlear implants. I was scared to try, but after . . . after everything that happened with you . . . I wanted a different life. I wasn’t scared anymore. . . . You made me brave. You taught me to love who I was. That new things could be wonderful. You showed me that change wasn’t bad. It could be the best thing I never knew was waiting on me. Losing you was . . . hard. But I survived. It was you that I thought of when I needed reassurance.”

  I let her words sink in as the reality of what she was telling me started to all click into place. Her voice, her confidence. “You can hear me?” I asked, unsure exactly what this all meant.

  She nodded. “Yes. It’s not exactly like you hear, but yes, I can hear you.”

  I stood there, wanting to grab her and hold her and tell her she
was perfect the way she was. I hadn’t wanted to change her. I loved her. Whoever she was.

  “I was scared of a lot. That was just one of the things. But after . . . you. I decided I could handle anything if I survived losing you.”

  I moved then. Taking a step toward her, I studied her face, forgetting everyone around us. “Losing me? You left me.”

  She looked sad. “I . . . I felt more than you did. You were so different. Exciting, beautiful, fun, sweet, and I’d never met anyone like you. I fell too quickly. Got too attached. Thought it was more than it was.”

  I didn’t keep my distance then. I reached out and took her right hand in mine. “Aurora, I was—no, I AM in love with you. I didn’t need more than five minutes with you to fall in love. When you were gone, I knew it was love because it felt like you’d taken my heart with you. I don’t know what you’ve heard or what it is you’ve made up in your head about us. The week we had together—it was real for me. So fucking real I’ll never be who I was before you walked into my life.”

  Her mouth opened to say something, but the crowd’s cheers rose too loudly as the fireworks went off, lighting up the night sky. She jumped from the loud noise. Seeing her react to the sound did something to me I couldn’t explain. I let go of her hand to cover her ears with my hands. First needing to protect her. Then needing to feel her again. Bending, I lowered my mouth until it touched the only mouth I ever wanted to kiss.

  I didn’t care if her father was here. I didn’t give a flying fuck where her brother was. I would do anything I had to if they’d trust me with her. Allow me to love her. Be with her. When the fireworks ended, I pulled back slowly until her eyes fluttered open to meet my gaze. Then moved my hands from her ears to cup her face. I ran my thumbs over her high, freckled cheekbones. We weren’t alone, but it felt like it.

  There was no need to speak. The silent language we’d so easily found before was still there. She loved me. She hadn’t said it exactly, but I could see it.

  “Please don’t leave me again.” The desperation in my voice she could hear. Her eyes said as much.

  “I’m staying. Part of the negotiating with my father was I’d do the surgery. Then I would come back here after therapy, and he’d let me make my own choices. He would have to trust me.”

  I wasn’t sure I was getting this right. “You thought I had moved on. What choices did you think you were negotiating, if it wasn’t to date me?”

  The little grin that spread across her lips was so damn adorable I wanted to kiss her again. The need to hear what it was she had to say was the only thing that kept me from doing just that. “I said I understood it wasn’t enough time for you to feel anything serious for me. I didn’t say I wasn’t going to come back and do my best to change that.”

  My grin was as big as hers now. The idea of Aurora Maclay trying to seduce me, or whatever she’d been trying to do, was pretty damn sweet. “What exactly did you plan on doing?”

  She bit her bottom lip this time, and I decided she’d have won by just doing that. I was easy when it came to her. She had no idea how easy. “I had a few ideas. Starting with some more racy clothing than I normally wear. California has stores we don’t have here in Alabama. I took advantage of that.”

  I shook my head as I laughed. “You could have worn your brother’s clothes, and I’d have seen no one but you.”

  “Oh.” Her response came out in a soft whisper. A puff of breath.

  “I’m going to kiss you again. But first I need to make sure we are on the same page this time. I fell in love with you almost immediately. Every moment we were together, I loved you more. When you left, I was with no one. I was, in fact, a complete mess without you. I’m going to the University of Oklahoma this year. If you could do summer school and graduate early, then come join me, I might be able to actually enjoy my first year of college.”

  Her eyes went from happy to surprised to thoughtful while I was speaking. “I love you too. I didn’t know what I was feeling until I thought you had moved on, and it felt like my chest had exploded. And as for summer school . . . is that even possible? Or are you joking?”

  I bent down and placed my forehead on hers. Smelling her sweet breath and wrapping my arms around her, keeping us in our own little bubble. The rest of the world out. “I’m honestly not sure, but leaving you is going to be too damn hard now I know how it feels to be without you.”

  She reached up and touched my cheek with her small, cold hand. “Let’s just see how it goes. But you’re going to be great at Oklahoma with or without me there. We have our entire lives. Let’s not worry about the future but enjoy the right now.”

  I’d think about it and do my own research on it. I knew I wanted Aurora more than I wanted to play football. But she was right—we had the here and now to make memories.

  “Ryker!” Hunter’s voice broke into our happy little bubble, and right now he wasn’t on my good side. I lifted my head from Aurora’s but didn’t move away from her or let her go.

  My eyes met the steady gaze of her brother, who was standing to the left of us a few feet away. He walked closer, and his face was serious, like it always was.

  He stopped when he was close enough that he didn’t need to yell over the voices around us. “I’m sorry,” he said, and I was wondering if he was going to elaborate or if that simple apology was supposed to cover all the shit he’d had a hand in. Because if she thought I was dating other girls, there was only one person who could have told her that. I was glaring at him.

  “I thought she was better without you, because I didn’t think my dad would ever agree to her dating you. It was only going to cause her more pain and put a wall between her and Dad. I was wrong. I’ve always done what our father wanted. She hasn’t. I realized . . . I’m not as strong as Aurora. As for what’s best for her, I’ve watched you. You were different when she left. It wasn’t just my sister who was hurting. You were too. You make her happy, and she obviously does the same for you.”

  That’s it. He needed to see me suffer to be sure. I wanted to be furious with him for not telling me where she was. But I couldn’t. Because, like me, he was protecting her. He wanted her safe, and I couldn’t be mad at him for that. Loving Aurora was something that made you do things you normally wouldn’t do.

  “Okay,” I told him. “What about your dad? Any idea how I’m gonna overcome his issues?” I was careful how I spoke about him because of Aurora. He was a prejudiced bastard, but he was also her father.

  “He is okay with this,” Hunter said, pointing at the two of us. “He’s noticed your change too. He was wrong, and although I doubt he’ll ever admit that, he knows it.”

  I couldn’t help but think the way I’d played in the State game and how my name had made the papers, then the Oklahoma announcement when I’d committed to them, had had something to do with it. But whatever the reason, it didn’t matter. I loved his daughter, and eventually he’d forget skin color and see me for the man I am. Not just the athlete.

  I doubted this would go smoothly with him. He’d hear comments from other bigoted idiots in this town. I knew it would happen. Although Aurora didn’t care, I worried that he’d make it harder on us again. I’d do anything to make it easier for her. But Hunter was right about one thing: she was strong. She didn’t let others define her. A smile touched my face when I thought of her spunkiness. The girl looked like an angel, but she didn’t back down when faced with adversity.

  I gave Hunter a nod but said nothing more.

  “You going to bring her home?” he asked me then.

  “Yes,” I said, without asking her if that was what she wanted. I wasn’t ready to let her go. I doubted I would be anytime soon.

  “Bye and happy New Year,” Hunter said before turning and walking away.

  I noticed Nash and Tallulah were gone, as well as the others who had been around us. The crowd was thinning, and the town center was now littered with the remains of the celebration. I turned my attention back to the girl in my arms.<
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  “Can I keep you?” I asked her, wondering how late was too late for her dad.

  She laughed. “Until one, then you need to get me home. But there’s always tomorrow.”

  I pulled her against me and inhaled the coconut scent of her hair. She laid her head against my chest, and we stood there under the moonlight. My days of playing the field were done.

  Acknowledgments

  My editor, Jennifer Ung. She waited patiently while it took me longer than expected to finish this one. I am thankful to have her on my team. Also I want to mention Mara Anastas, Nicole Russo, Caitlin Sweeny, and the rest of the Simon Pulse team, for all their hard work in getting my books out there.

  My agent, Jane Dystel. Always has my back and I can trust she’ll support my decisions. Having an agent is like a marriage. I’m thankful I have the best.

  When I started writing, I never imagined having a group of readers come together for the sole purpose of supporting me. Abbi’s Army, led by Danielle Lagasse, Vicci Kaighan, and Jerilyn Martinez humbles me and gives me a place of refuge. They have built a community of readers that not only enjoy my books but build friendships and share other great books with one another.

  My family. Without their support I wouldn’t be here. My kids, who understand my deadlines and help around the house. My parents, who have supported me all along. Even when I decided to write steamier stuff. My friends, who don’t hate me because I can’t because my writing is taking over. They are my ultimate support group, and I love them dearly.

  My readers. I never expected to have so many of you. Thank you for reading my books. For loving them and telling others about them. Without you I wouldn’t be here. It’s that simple.

  About the Author

  ABBI GLINES Friday night games marked every important moment of Abbi Glines’s youth. She can remember her first kiss, her first heartbreak, and the first time her crush noticed her—and it all happened during or after a Friday night football game. Now Abbi writes books about football, field parties, and the drama that only happens in high school. She is the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Sea Breeze, Vincent Boys, Existence, and Rosemary Beach series. She lives on the gulf coast of Alabama with her family. She can be found with her MacBook on the beach, by her pool, and, of course, under the stadium lights on a Friday night.