“New owner did the paperwork a while ago but needed some time to work out the logistics; otherwise he would have gone to your mom’s several months ago.”
I think about what she’s said. He was here a long time. I should have just adopted him myself and worked everything out later.
Disappointed, I don’t let it keep me from taking two dogs with me for a jog. Bianca is away with Dex this weekend, so it’s just me this time. Guess even she knew it would be better to keep her distance today.
My mind is lost in a mixture of thoughts as I make my way through the park. By the time I get back to Forever Grey, Suzette looks upset. Checking the clock, I see it’s past the usual time she locks up for the day.
I quickly help with the dogs and apologize for being gone so long. She brushes me off since it’s the first time I’ve made her wait.
Walking back home, I feel my phone buzz in my pocket. Pulling it out, I see it’s a text from Troy.
Troy: You’re dating a winner!
Troy:
I groan; he looks good. Sexy and sweaty and gorgeous.
Me: Congrats baby!!
Troy: I want your ass.
Me: You’re mean to it all the time.
Troy: Winner’s choice… I want your ass tonight.
Me: Uhhhh…
Troy: First time you’ve ever been speechless.
Me: More like terrified.
Troy: Can’t wait to see you. Wish you’d been here.
Me: Me too. Proud of you though.
Troy: Love you. I’ll see you soon.
12
One time I was late to practice and coach made me run laps. My dad was the coach. And he drove me to practice.
TROY
It’s such a high coming off the field and knowing we played a good game and won our opener. Doesn’t always end that way, but I’m damn glad it did today. My adrenaline is still pumping hard, and I can’t contain my excitement.
I’m also happy that my family was able to be here. This new tradition we’ve started of them coming to the first game of the season is one I’ll be sure to continue. But that didn’t stop me from wishing Juniper was here. She was the only thing missing today.
Tossing my phone into my locker, I hurry to shower and get dressed so I can get to my girl. First, we have to entertain my family a little longer before we get time to ourselves.
An hour later, I’m picking up Juniper to meet my family at the restaurant my dad picked. She throws herself into my arms after she flies down to the car. Catching her, we spin in circles as her feet wrap around my waist and she peppers my face with kisses, making me laugh, and soon she’s giggling too.
“Damn, I missed you,” she says with a relieved sigh when I place her back on her feet. “It felt like when you were a kid and someone told you not to look at something and then all you could think about was taking a peek at it. That’s how today was. It was torture!” she says, tilting her head back dramatically. I take the opportunity to press my lips to her exposed throat before helping her into the car.
“I missed you too,” I respond, placing my hand on her thigh. Looking at her, I can’t help but smile. She’s infectious. “What did you do today since you couldn’t be where you should have been,” I rib her.
She gives me an annoyed look before telling me that she went to Forever Grey like usual, but how sad she is that Brutus was adopted.
“He’s basically the reason we’re together.”
“Guess I owe him a lot then.” I smile at her before kissing her again. I just can’t keep my hands or lips off of her.
We arrive at the restaurant, and I pull my hat on low over my face. Taking Juniper’s hand, I guide us inside and to the table I requested in the back where my family is already sitting. Greetings and congratulations go back and forth as we settle into our seats.
Drinks and appetizers are ordered and brought out, and conversation quickly goes to today’s game.
“You were short on the pass to Brewer in the third. Could have gotten another score,” my dad criticizes like he always does after a game.
“Yeah, I know and Coach said the same,” I agree.
“So, do you throw or catch the ball? Or do you just do the piling up thing?” Juniper asks innocently, making everyone at the table go quiet. Stunned, I’m sure, by her question because everyone knows what position I play. And I don’t just mean my family.
I bite back a laugh so she doesn’t think I’m laughing at her and turn to look at her when I answer. “I’m the quarterback.”
“I don’t know what the means,” she whispers to me, leaning her head on my chest to cover her embarrassment.
I didn’t think about this. We keep this part of my life separate from our relationship because of her job. I never thought to have this conversation with her; I just kind of thought she knew.
Tilting her head up to look at me, I press a soft kiss to her lips. “It’s okay. You don’t have to know what that means. But do you want to know? Are you allowed to?” I question.
Her tongue licks at the corner of her mouth as she thinks for a second. Nodding her head, she answers, “I want to know.”
“The QB is like the leader of the team,” I start, but she interrupts me.
“You’re the head of your team?! How did I not know this?” she asks, sounding more distraught.
“I’m kind of wondering the same thing, sweetheart,” my dad says through a laugh, and I’m glad he’s making light of it too. I don’t want her to feel any worse than she might already.
“I’m so embarrassed,” she says in a breathy sigh, leaning her head into her hands. “Because of my show, I’m not allowed to know much about any sport. The players, how the game works. I have to keep myself in the dark about all of it as much as possible. I know to you all it probably sounds stupid and like such a silly job, but I love it. The problem is that I also love Troy,” she says, slowing her rambling. “I want to know what he does and be able to support him.”
“You do support me. You don’t have to know everything to do that,” I try to reason with her.
“I feel terrible. This was supposed to be your day and your celebration with your family, and I’m making it about me and my lack of knowledge. We can talk about this another time.” She scoots her chair back. “Excuse me. I’m going to use the restroom.” She stands and I let her go, knowing she needs a minute to herself.
When I turn back to the table, my family is staring at me. “What?”
“Troy, she is a great balance for you, son,” I hear my dad say, and it surprises me how much he supports my relationship with Juniper, or me dating at all for that matter. He tends to frown on anything that takes my focus from the game.
“She really is,” I agree. “It’s funny. Our jobs are the complete opposite of one another—we are the complete opposite of one another—but it works.”
“Oh, I’ve listened to your podcast,” my mom says with a smirk. “I hear the chemistry you two have. I know how much you love certain parts of her.” I blush, knowing she’s talking about how much I love Juniper’s ass. I talk about it all the time.
The food arrives just before Juniper walks back to the table. We eat and continue on in light conversation. I’m so thankful my family moved on and didn’t put her on the spot any more after she returned.
* * *
“Aren’t you tired after a day like today?” she asks as we walk into the elevator to take us up to my place.
“I’ll be more tired tomorrow.” I shrug. “I’m still a little high on adrenaline. And I have a surprise for you.”
“What? Why for me? This is your day.”
“I’ve had this planned for a while, but things got a little hectic and I had to put it off a bit. But I can’t wait any longer,” I say as the doors open.
Unlocking the door to my apartment, we step inside and Brutus comes barreling at us. He’s all legs and floppy ears as he skids to a halt, sliding into Juniper’s legs.
She drops to her knees instantly, petting his head, which turns into him rolling to his back for a belly rub. “How did you… When did you… I can’t believe you’re the one who adopted him!”
“I did. For you,” I answer.
“Me?” she asks excitedly.
“Yeah, you. I know he’s your favorite, and I told you before we’ll figure out a way to walk him enough and keep him happy.”
“How long have you had him here?”
“A few days. I already have a great dog walker; her name is Beverly. She’s a retired veterinarian and walks dogs to keep active. She’s a sweetheart; you’ll love her.”
“Is he going to stay here?” she cautiously asks, not looking at me.
“Are you?” I counter.
That makes her head snap up then. “What are you asking?”
“Move in with us,” I say like a statement. Because it’s not a question; I want her here.
“You’re good,” she says with a smirk, standing to meet my eyes better. “You adopt the dog I wanted to make it hard for me to turn you down.”
“No, I—” I stop and close my mouth. “Okay, yeah, but when you say it like that, it sounds like I’m trying to manipulate you into moving in, and that’s not what was I going for.”
“Okay,” she says simply, dropping back down to Brutus, who I’m all of a sudden jealous of.
“Okay?”
“Yeah, okay. I’ll move in here.”
“That simple?”
“My lease is up in a couple weeks. Saves me the stress of signing a new one.”
“What were you going to do?”
“I was thinking about just gradually bringing my stuff over. Then, before you realized it, I would have had everything moved in already.”
She says it like it’s a completely normal thing to do. I bark out a loud laugh and pull her up by the waist to meet me. Her arms sling over my shoulders, one hand turning my hat around backward.
“Now tell me about you being this team leader.”
I groan and put my head on her shoulder. “Now?”
“Why not?” she laughs.
“Because you promised me winner’s choice,” I whine.
Her eyes go big, and her hands drop back to cover her butt. “Maybe I’ll renew my lease after all.”
Stepping into her, I grab her hands from over her butt and pull her into me. “Stop acting scared. We both know you like when I play with your ass,” I tease
She pulls away and runs for the bedroom, Brutus right behind her. When I walk into the room, she’s on the bed with Brutus lying like a shield in front of her. I quirk a brow at her in question. “I’m allowing him on the bed. First rule I’m implementing with moving in.”
“I don’t mind an audience,” I tell her, removing my hat and shirt.
She groans. “Second rule: I want you shirtless all the time.”
“Done,” I say, toeing off my shoes and pulling off my socks.
“Rule three: no using my toothbrush. That’s gross.”
I tilt my head to the side as I unzip my fly. “You never minded before.” I push my pants down, leaving my boxers on.
She puts a hand out in front of her, and at first, I think it’s to stop me from moving, but then I realize it’s so she can’t see my dick. “And always put the toilet seat down”
Chuckling, I pull off my boxers. “You done yet?”
She rolls her eyes with a sigh. “Yes.” She reaches down and pulls her shirt up and over her head. “I guess I’ll have sex with you now.” She flops back on the bed.
“I’m still taking your ass,” I say before crawling onto the bed and flipping her to her stomach. I smack her ass, hard, getting a yelp before I rub the sting away. “But we can work up to that.”
“Oh, thank God. I have to watch a game tomorrow, and it would’ve hurt so bad to sit on bleachers after that,” she says with her face in the pillow.
I smack her ass again. “I can still leave a sting, Ip. Better watch it.”
13
Alexa, do my cardio session for me.
JUNIPER
“You ready for your game today?” I ask Troy as I lie perpendicular to him on my back with my head on his stomach.
“I’m a little nervous about this one girl who’ll be there reporting today.”
Smiling, I turn to my stomach to look up at him, my fingers swirling around his chest. “Oh yeah? She makes your nervous?”
“I don’t care about what anyone else says about me for the most part, but this girl.” He pauses. Picking up my hand, he presses my fingertips to his lips and kisses them. “She has the power to make me look like a fool.” I feel the rumble in his chest.
Rolling my eyes and my body off of his at the same time, I move to get up. “I’m not going to make a fool of you.”
“You can’t promise that, Ip.” He sits up in bed, the sheet falling down his body. My eyes trace the small line of hair that trails down from his navel. I’ll never get used to being able to openly gawk at his body of perfection. “No one ever knows what’s going to come out of that pretty little mouth of yours,” he continues. “Not even you half the time.”
I open my mouth to defend myself, but he’s not wrong. Closing it, I just shrug indifferently. “I won’t try to on purpose.”
“What if you hurt my feelings?” he asks with a pout, sticking his bottom lip out.
“Right.” I pull the shirt I slept in off my body and toss it in the hamper on my way to the bathroom to shower. “Like you could be that wounded by my dumb comments.”
I’m in the shower with shampoo in my hair before Troy steps in with me. His arms circle my waist, and his lips press a kiss to my soapy shoulder.
“Nothing you say is dumb. You make people laugh, Ip. That means something.”
With a sigh, I lean back against him. “Maybe.”
“Regardless of what you say or what happens in the game today, I’m happy you’ll be there.”
“Me too,” I say with a relaxed smile on my face. Being here with Troy, in his arms, is my favorite place to be.
He’s been so amazing and understanding with me since the season began. Never giving me a hard time for not watching his games or knowing he can only say so much about them afterward. He’s incredible.
So, today, the fact that I finally get to go watch him play and see him on the field has me soaring with excitement and nerves. I get to not only be there for my job, but I get to be there to support my man. Something I’ve been dying to do for weeks.
We finish our showers and getting ready for the day to begin. Walking out to the bedroom to get dressed, I notice a shirt I’ve never seen before lying on my side of the bed. Picking it up, I notice his name on the back. I hold it up to my body, looking at myself in the mirror with a smile.
“You like it?” Troy asks me from the doorway.
“Is this for me?”
He nods, walking to me and taking the shirt from my hands, sliding it down over my body. Holding my hand, he spins me in a circle as his eyes take me in from head to toe. “Fuck, that’s hot.”
With a smirk, I say, “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, we’re doing stuff tonight with this on you,” he says, stepping into me and gripping my ass roughly in his hand.
“I’m starting to think you only keep me around for my ass. You know I’m up here, right?” I tease, circling my face with my hand to show where I mean.
Pecking my lips with a quick kiss that’s not enough, he pulls back with a smirk of his own. “Yep.”
We both finish with getting ourselves ready. Troy blends up a protein shake and grabs a bottle of water from the fridge before giving me a possessive kiss goodbye.
When the door clicks shut behind him, I lean back on the counter with a sigh. Brutus nuzzles up against me. “I love that man,” I tell him, and he whines. “Jealous? Don’t be. You’ll always be first in my heart. Just don’t tell him that, okay?”
I take Brutus for a quick walk before I gathe
r what I need for my show today and call a car to take me to the stadium.
When I arrive, I’m buzzing with emotions and nerves that I don’t usually have. I have all kinds of access to places I usually don’t. Typically, I have a press badge that gets me pretty far in, but this time Troy hooked me up with other passes that give me access to places I’ve never been able to go, like the family green room and the team gym.
I spend the next half hour wandering around and deciding where I want to record from. I need enough space away from other people to not have them interrupt me, but I also don’t want to offend them either. It’s a tightrope I walk every time I’m at a live game. One that doesn’t always bow in my favor.
Once I had been sitting next to some hockey player’s very protective and jealous girlfriend. When she got upset about something I said, she cursed at me. I responded by throwing popcorn at her. She didn’t take too kindly to that either and reciprocated by dumping her drink over my head. Let’s just say I haven’t gone to a live hockey game since.
Now, I try to keep to myself, allowing a good distance between the other spectators and me.
I get comfy in the space I found and get the laptop and mic hooked up to go live when the game starts. From where I’m sitting, I have a good view of the grass below and a big movie screen I watch on too. Nodding to myself, satisfied with my spot, I pull out my snacks and munch for the ten minutes I have before I need to go live.
My eyes scan everywhere to find Troy, but I don’t see him at first. Then, I look down at the shirt I’m wearing and back to where I’m looking and realize it doesn’t match. Moving my eyes to the other side, I spot him. Or rather, I read his name on his back. I bite my lip and smile as I watch him excitedly.
Starting my show, I give my welcome to the listeners and talk about everything that’s happening.
Soon, everyone clears off the grass, and the biggest flag I’ve ever seen is carried out. The anthem is sung by a girl I don’t know, but her voice sends goosebumps up and down my arms as I stand and listen to her sing about our country’s freedom.
Mister Dimples Page 9
