Whisper Me and Roar: A Second Chance Romance

by Bri Stone

  “I’ll take their glasses from them.”

  Jim laughs under his breath at me. “Okay. I’m just saying. But, hey, your girlfriend is meeting the family—that’s awesome. I always knew you guys would be perfect.” Jim smiles.

  “You told me she could do better when you met her.”

  Even though I’m full, I stick around for dinner and we do a bit of catching up. We see less of each other this semester, it seems. But after a long night, we retreat to our rooms to get a good night’s sleep before morning practice.

  I call Melinda as I promised, but she is half asleep and I know she probably exhausted herself studying. Her sleepy, sweet voice rings in my ears for a good while and I fall asleep thinking about her, but that’s nothing new. I’m excited to bring her home to my family, to show them the woman that I adore. The woman that I see a future with when I think about Christmas morning years from now; with my kids climbing in the bed to beg to open their presents, I imagine she is right there with me. I picture her everywhere with me because it’s impossible not to. Melinda is woven into whatever plan my life has, and I see us together.

  I see forever.

  PETE

  * * *

  I didn’t need to plan for anything since the farm was so close by. But thinking about it made me want to plan a road trip with Melinda, just us and my old truck. She could bring all her croutons to snack on.

  Once I submit some assignments and go to my last lecture, I have Friday afternoon free. Melinda has lab and discussion until eight, so I plan to pick her up afterward as usual.

  But now, a heat wave made practice almost unbearable under all the pads, even though we were in half wear. Coach had us running drills for the past few hours, and final stretch came up just as the sun was starting to set. It always made the green turf of the field glow and the stands disappear under the gold rays. Looking out at the team, we’re like blobs under the wrath of the sun, with coach playing advocate as he calls out plays. When we close out the practice the sub-teams have their meetings. Being the captain of the D-line, I always lead them with the special teams’ coach for defense. There isn’t much news to cover since we are mid-season and coming up on one of our lesser opponents.

  “Hey, we’ve got a new play for next game.” Jim catches up to me in the locker room after we shower.

  I nod, “Thanks.” And hold my towel in one hand as I take the mock-up with the other. It doesn’t make much sense as usual, but a few hours with it will be fine.

  “No problem. Do you need the other ones?” Jim starts getting dressed, as I do.

  I fasten up my jeans, “No I’ve got those memorized.” I look at him before I tug my shirt over my head and he gives me that same look of his, that it’s no big deal. It’s just how our relationship has been.

  “You got the new plays, Bull?” Daniel appears in our corner of lockers, wet from his hair down with the same old blue towel he’s had since freshman year that no longer fits in any way.

  “Yeah.” I comb back my hair with my fingers and pat some cologne on.

  “Are you headed to get Melinda?” Daniels asks.

  “Yeah, we’re headed for the farm tomorrow morning.” I smile to myself.

  “I got a flight to Austin tomorrow but I’ll be back before the game.”

  “Why go at all?” Daniel asks Jim.

  “You know my parents hate coming down here,” Jim answers as he sits on the bench to lace up his Air Maxes.

  Daniel plays annoying when he stands in front of him to take his towel off. Jim glares at him, “I am not above punching you in the dick.”

  Daniel laughs and starts getting dressed. “I need to go to the clinic, I’ll meet you guys at home.”

  We’re all dressed and ready to go as both Jim and I ask Daniel, “Why?”

  He sighs and scratches back his sandy brown hair, his expression growing with worry as he shifts on his feet and laughs once, but I don’t think he finds it funny. “I think this girl I hooked up with gave me gonorrhea.”

  Jim and I walk off wondering why we are friends with him.

  I drive Melinda to her apartment so she can get packed for the week. I was so glad she said she would come because I not only wanted her to meet my family, but I would miss her if I was away from her for more than a day. Maybe it is just the beginning of the relationship that makes me feel that way, but I know it will never go away.

  “You always listen to this.” Melinda scoots closer to me in the front bench and changes the station. I chuckle and throw my arm around her shoulder for a second, and then go back to the shift since it’s a stick.

  “You hungry?” I ask her. I focus on the road as I turn down the street.

  “A little. I haven’t eaten all day.”

  “That’s no good.” We park and I let her out of my side. She jumps down the step with ease.

  “Maybe not, but I’ve gained fifteen pounds since we’ve been together.”

  She reaches in the back for her bag and I take a good look at her body in the most respectful way possible. But damn—her jeans are made for her, the white shirt she has on has loose sleeves but the body is fitted to her. She turns and my eyes do another ground to toe before I meet her face.

  “Fifteen pounds where?” I grin. She rolls her eyes and walks on into the building. “Rolling your eyes is exercise, that might help.” I laugh behind her.

  Inside her apartment, she throws her bag down and heads for the bedroom. I stick around in the living room, I haven’t been in her bedroom yet because she hasn’t invited me or anything like that.

  “Pete—”

  “Yeah.” My voice booms through the apartment.

  “Come here.”

  I follow the sound of her voice to her room. The door has beads hanging from the doorframe, and the inside is painted a dark red, it’s almost black. Her bed is piled high with pillows and her comforter is bright pink and several inches thick. It matches the pink rug, and fur throw over a pink bag chair… every little decoration here and there is pink.

  “Melinda, I had no idea you were such a girl.” I turn and find her in her closet, damn near hanging off the top rack. “What are you doing?” I reach for her waist but fall short and get her hips.

  “Um,” she squeaks, “I was trying to get my luggage—and what do you mean?” She concentrates on hanging on to the rack.

  “Okay, first, come down from there. You’ve got a whole giant in your apartment and you’re trying to fly. Hang on.” I lift her from her hips in one swoop and bring her down to me.

  Holding her waist, I turn her to face me as I laugh. “Which one did you want?” I look up at three different suitcases, all in shades of pink. She points to the one she wants and I bring a mini-sized suitcase down.

  “Thanks. And you were saying?” She grabs it and moves to her fluffy cotton-candy bed.

  “Um, everything is pink.” I find a safe spot on the side of the bed to sit on.

  Melinda unzips the bag, “Yeah, you have some things that are probably pink too.” Her eyes hood as she looks at me. Maybe I blush a little as I smile.

  “Not really, it’s more of a light tan.” I chuckle but do apologize for implying only girls can like the color pink.

  Her giggle shifts the mood as she moves around her room. Packing some things from the drawer, and then the closet as she tells me about her day. According to her, it mostly sucked. I pull the plays from my pocket as I listen to her. It’s mostly things I’ve seen before, just backward or mixed up. When I think I’ve remembered it, I go right back to the beginning. I know I won’t get to look at it before every run of it because I won’t understand it in time to actually run the play. Even if I told the coaches, it would change everything. The scouts would have to know too, and my talent scout.

  “Pete—”

  “Hmm?”

  “I was asking… never mind. What’s that?” She sits behind me on her knees and looks over my shoulder.

  Her chin rests on me and the soft planes of her chest
make the tension in my back relax. I sigh, “A new play I have to memorize.”

  “I thought you just look at the plays as they’re called? I really thought I was starting to understand football.” She sits back on her heels and looks at me. I turn to the side to answer her, but her pout is so cute I kiss her instead before.

  “No, you don’t have to. I just like to look at it before, so I can understand.” I say quietly. I haven’t officially told her but she’s smart, and I’m sure she’s picked up on a few things.

  “Oh.” She takes the paper from me, turns it over and then swings her leg over onto my lap so it’s on both ours. My hands go to her waist as I hold her to me.

  “What do you see when you look at it?” Her brown eyes fix on me.

  I swallow back some tightness in my throat and my mouth goes dry a little, just like in grade school when I ever had to read in front of the class or had to take tests alone in the counselor’s office. But it’s a little different because it’s Melinda. And she doesn’t look at me like other people did because she isn’t other people at all.

  “The Xs will kind of look like arrows, but I know what they are because I have seen them so many times. Problem is the arrows don’t go the way they’re supposed to go, and the Os just look so much like the Xs, it gets everything mixed together.” I barely recognize my voice, but Melinda doesn’t take notice.

  Her hand goes to my shoulder as she leans closer to me. I wish she would tell me all about her, too, but she seems perfect anyway.

  “Have you tried looking at it backward? Or upside down?”

  I shake my head.

  “Try it.”

  I lament but take it from her anyway. I’ve tried pretty much everything at this point. But it does look better upside down, things look like they’re going the right way, at least.

  “That’s better—thanks, sweetness.” My smile comes easier as I kiss her softly. Her hand curls behind my ear as she pulls away.

  “You’re welcome. I know it won’t help all the time. But my freshman year I helped kids at a summer camp I used to volunteer at, and it seemed to help.”

  “You helping kids?” I set the paper down and shift her on my lip to have her legs on either side of me.

  “Shut up.” She nudges me, then wraps her arms around my neck. Her eyes search mine and I feel so vulnerable with her, it’s unnerving but I like it somehow.

  “I’ll tell my sister—” I pause. “Phoebe is dyslexic too, it’s why my parents put our bedrooms together at first.”

  “Really? Is that why she became a model?”

  “I don’t think she would like to read much regardless.” I laugh and it cues her to, “but mostly, yeah. She doesn’t have to do much of it unless there is a contract. And her lawyers do all that anyway.”

  “So how did you get through engineering? it must have been hard?”

  “I don’t know, honestly. A lot of studying. And it got to a point where it was basically the same numbers. I don’t see things out of sequence sometimes, but I—”

  “Forget numbers a lot?”

  “Yeah.” I sigh.

  Our eyes just fix on each other as I breathe her in. That light oil and berries scent of one of her perfumes and feel the weight of her softness on me. I just… I clutch her tighter and think I don’t ever want to let her go.

  “Thank you.” I finally say.

  “For what? Not dumping you?” She giggles. I think her sense of humor is my least favorite thing about her.

  “I take it back.” I lean in for a kiss as I laugh and her giggles grow until I muffle them with my kiss.

  Her lips latch between mine and I meet her tongue almost immediately, her sweetness pouring into me and the ties of her soul meeting mine. I get so lost in it I roll her over onto her luggage and deepen the kiss. Her hands in my hair, my hand on her hip and the other cupping her soft cheek. Our lips drive until the need for air brings me away.

  Her brown eyes gloss over as they open up to meet mine and I smile at her. The smile she returns me warms me up, makes me feel like the sun shining in through the window.

  “I can tell you anything, and that’s important to me,” I tell her. I watch her face soften and she tightens her arms around my waist.

  “You can.”

  “And if you’ve got some things to tell me, you know you can.” I wiggle my brows. Her smile is small but I feel the unsureness behind it.

  “Okay, Pete.”

  PETE

  * * *

  The open road has us pulling up to the farm in about thirty minutes. We still would have arrived earlier, if Melinda hadn’t been freaking out about what to wear. I know she was frustrated but I was more flattered that she wanted everything to be perfect.

  As I help her out of the truck, I take in her beauty under the mid-day sun. The dress of choice she went crazy over ended up being white lace with short straps, stopping at her knees to show off her gorgeous legs. The curls of her hair are weighed down with—I forget what she called it, and her lips slightly glossy. I’ve seen this farm almost every day for twenty-two years, the front porch of my house has always been ordinary until today. Walking up to the front door with Melinda clutching my hand.

  “Relax, it’s just my parents here right now. My sisters come in closer to Thanksgiving.” I lean down to kiss her forehead and smile.

  “Okay. What if they don’t like me?” She asks, almost to herself.

  I sigh and turn the keys in my hand as I turn to face her. My hands go to her shoulders as I turn her to face me. I tilt her chin up and her eyes meet mine, wide with worry as she blinks up at me.

  “You know, it kind of makes me glad you worry so much about my parents liking you.” My lips tilt in a smile.

  “I always knew you were odd.” Her eyes narrow.

  I laugh, “Yeah. But you shouldn’t worry. All that matters is that I like you, and they’ll respect that.”

  “Okay.” She relents. I hold her chin and give her a soft kiss before I let her go and open up the door.

  Everything looks the same and I’m glad to smell something baking in the kitchen.

  “Living room, and dining room.” I point on either side of the wide entrance.

  “Really? I thought it was the kitchen.”

  “Glad to hear you aren’t so nervous anymore.” I tug Melinda to me by her fingers and she laughs once.

  I take her into the wide living room, pushing the big barn door aside. We stand in the center of the white carpet between the big taupe couches my dad made himself because he wanted the whole family to be able to sit on them. The fireplace splits the room in half, the mantle littered with photos and baubles. Every corner of the room has got something in it.

  “It’s so nice.” Melinda looks over some photos, and I hope there isn’t anything embarrassing of me.

  “Your sisters are so pretty.” She giggles.

  “Yeah, I beat up a lot of guys growing up,” I say proudly. When I was ten I looked fifteen, so it made it easy to defend my big sisters sometimes.

  “That’s so sweet.” She meets me by the entryway where I stood looking at her.

  I shrug and tug the ends of her curls. “You think?” I huff.

  “Yeah, I do. I think… you’re the sweetest guy I’ve ever met. And you make me feel so special all the time—I know I’ve been pretty reluctant, but I am glad to meet your family.” Her voice is so soft but it doesn’t waver.

  “It’s just how I am, but you are special, Melinda. So, you ready to meet my creators?”

  “I guess, maybe I can ask them why you’re so odd.” She nudges her body to me and I grin as I take her hand and lead the way.

  The wide hallway rounds off to the end of the kitchen and we’re greeted with my mom and dad huddled under the island cabinet. Usually, it just holds some pots and pans.

  “Hey.” I leave Melinda standing by the archway as I peer around the cabinet. “What in the hell are you doing?” Momma is looking under the cabinet as dad crouches down wi
th her.

  “Oh, we didn’t hear you come in.” Dad shakes me hello the way he always does, hand on my shoulder, and I hug Momma too. “One of the bunnies got in last night,” Dad explains.

  I laugh at the timing. “Okay, well, Melinda is here.” I walk over with a smile and bring her forward.

  I had imagined it so many times but the real thing feels incredible. I just want my parents to love her like I do because she’s my girl.

  “Well, hello, it’s great to finally meet you, Miss Melinda,” Dad speaks first and takes Melinda by surprise by hugging her, and she hugs him back with a slight laugh.

  “It’s so nice to meet you too, Mr. Buchanan.”

  “Oh please, it’s Peter.”

  And I realize I forgot to tell her.

  “Really?” Melinda asks.

  “Yes, I’m the first. Bull here is the second.” Dad still holds her hands before he steps away and Momma wraps her in another hug.

  “I’m so happy to meet you.” Momma holds Melinda by her arms as she stares at her, Melinda looks on with a wide smile and I can see the tension flooding from her. “And you are so, so beautiful. My goodness!”

  “Thank you so much.” Melinda giggles and Momma finally releases her.

  “Wow Pete,” Momma pinches me, “she is so pretty.” She looks up at me and makes no attempt to whisper.

  I laugh and step back to hold Melinda’s hand, “Well thanks, but I didn’t make her that way or anything.”

  “Oh yeah—nothing like the girlfriend you made out of hay when you were little.” Momma embarrasses me first, no surprise there.

  “And so, it begins.” I wrap my arm around Melinda’s waist.

  “Aw, you’re blushing.” Momma hugs my side and dad just shrugs in apology.

  “Well, we’ve got lunch made. Unless you want to help find the rabbit, it’s hopping in here somewhere.” Dad says.

  “I’m starving.”

  “We ate before we left,” Melinda says up to me, and her eyes twitch as if she remembers who she’s talking to.

  “Great, I made chicken fried steak from the last game harvest. And banana pudding.”