“Football playing place?” Will asks and doubles over in laughter.
“You know what I mean.”
“Do you know anything about football?” he asks, delighted with me, and I glare at him.
“Of course I do.”
“What position do I play?” he asks.
“Is this a quiz?”
“A little one.”
“You’re the quarterback.”
“Who do I throw the ball to?” He ushers me out of the elevator and then leans against a wall and crosses his arms over his chest.
“Another guy in a blue and green uniform.” I respond confidently. “Usually,” I add, earning a glare from him.
“I’m going to torture you for that.”
“I hope so, babe.” I grin at him and his face sobers. “What?”
“Why can you call me babe, but I can’t call you that?” he asks.
Good point. I frown and shrug. “I guess babe doesn’t sound like baby to me. It sounds more grown up, maybe? I don’t know. It doesn’t weird me out, though.”
“Okay, so noted. Come on.”
He takes my hand again and pulls me down a long hall and through an enormous set of double doors that open up to a tunnel that leads up to the football field. All of the stadium lights are on. It’s empty.
“How…?”
“I called ahead while you were in the restroom at the restaurant and asked someone to turn the lights on for me.” He continues pulling me out on the field and stops, right in the center of the fifty-yard line.
“Wow,” I whisper and look around the stadium. “How many people can this seat?” I ask.
“Sixty-seven thousand,” he states like it’s no big thing, and I stare at him with an open mouth and wide eyes.
“Holy shit.”
“We sell out every weekend.”
I knew that. Yet, being here, right here, in the middle of the field, looking around at the empty stadium seats, at the enormity of this place, just about knocks me on my ass.
In fact, I just sit, right there, on the turf.
“Are you okay?” he asks, his brow creasing with worry and joins me on the ground.
I’m speechless as I gaze around the stadium, and it occurs to me that this could have been me, on stage, singing in front of sixty-seven thousand people, rather than small little clubs around Seattle, or reception halls full of wedding guests. If Leo hadn’t made the decision to go without me, I would have been singing in places just like this one.
“Meg?” Will’s worried voice pulls me out of my trance and I shrug.
“You must not get stage fright either,” I murmur.
“Only during the play-offs,” he replies and pushes my hair back over my shoulder. I love how he’s always touching me.
“You’re a lot to take in, you know?” I ask him.
He smiles shyly, and frowns for a second, looking down at this hands. “I can be, yeah. But remember, this is just what I do. It’s only part of who I am.”
“It’s important to you,” I remind him and he nods.
“Very. I’ve played football for as long as I can remember.” He takes one of my hands in his and plays with my fingers. “Football got me through school, Meg. I knew I had to get good grades and stay out of trouble if I wanted to stay on the team. And I did. I wanted the camaraderie with the guys. I had some really smart coaches who pushed me and taught me. It earned me a scholarship to college, and I worked my ass off there too.”
He takes a deep breath and looks up, his eyes taking in the stadium, the scoreboard, the ads. “This is all I ever wanted, and I was lucky enough to get here.”
“This isn’t luck,” I state firmly and his gaze whips to mine, surprised. “Will, this is the result of you working your ass off and earning it. I may not know everything there is to know about football, but I know that it’s not easy, and I know that I’m so very proud of you. Not because of your contract, or the jersey you wear – which you look damn hot in, by the way – but because you’re doing what you always dreamed of. How many of us can say that?”
His eyes soften as he cups my cheek in his big hand and rubs his thumb across my lower lip. He leans toward me and brushes his magical lips over mine, and then sinks into me, pushing me back to lie on the turf. He runs that hand down my face, over my breast, and rests it on my hip as he continues to make love to my mouth, his tongue searching and dancing. Our breathing quickens, and dear God, I want him.
He pulls back and gazes down at me. “Someone’s probably watching us,” he murmurs. He kisses my forehead and then lies on his back beside me. We just lay here, breathing hard.
“I should tell you something,” I whisper.
“What?” I feel him look over at me, but I just look up at the black night sky above the brightly lit, empty stadium.
“I want to suck your dick in your car.”
“What?!” He pushes up on his elbow, leans over me, and makes me look him in the eye. “I don’t think I heard you right.”
“Your car makes me crazy, Will.” I lick my lips and grin. “All I’ve thought about since the other day is going down on you in your car.”
I’ve never seen anyone spring to their feet so quickly in my life. He pulls me to my feet as well and starts stalking back the way we came.
“Slow down! Will, your legs are longer than mine!” I’m practically running behind him, and he stops abruptly and turns back to me. He looks pissed, his eyes narrowed and on fire, mouth tight, jaw clenched. I take an involuntary step back. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like such a whore, I just…”