I can’t believe I forgot.
“Thrown off?” he asks me with raised eyebrows.
I carefully fold my napkin over my lap.
Dylan leans back on his elbows. “You don’t have to answer me. I know.”
His dimples are on full display, and I resist the urge to kiss one.
I smile at him. “I was just surprised. No one’s given me breakfast in bed before.”
Dylan sits up and reaches for a piece of bacon. “A surprise you deserve. But I’m sorry I’m late. Joaquin was running behind.”
“That’s okay.” I sneak a look at him snarfing down his bacon. “This was really sweet of you.”
“How was your nap?”
I dreamed about being in bed with Dylan. Actually, I dreamed about being in a multitude of places with Dylan. The shower, the couch, the floor, and the bed just for good measure. Not once was what we were doing G-rated.
“Great.”
His eyes brighten. “Good dreams?”
I take a bite of my French toast and roll my eyes. “Uh-huh.”
His gaze shifts to my mouth as he grabs a slice of bacon.
I smile as he shoves it into his mouth. “You must be starving.”
“Comes with being a professional athlete. You should see me eat during the season. This is nothing.”
“Will you tell me what it’s like?” I ask him as I dig into my French toast.
“What? Playing?”
“Yeah. It must be quite a rush to be the quarterback of a professional team.”
Dylan’s mouth is so filled with food he can’t answer me for a minute. When he does, his answer surprises me.
“It’s not the fame or the fortune that’s the rush,” he says. “Those things can be nice, and I’m incredibly grateful every day. But all the fame gets tiring. People harassing you, everybody wants a piece of you—here, there, everywhere. What I love are the games. They’re my escape, frankly.”
I wrinkle my brow. “What do you mean your escape?”
“I mean that until I met you, I was starting to think I’d never be comfortable anywhere other than on the football field. And that scared the hell out of me.”
I stop eating and stare at him. “So you feel alone and scared sometimes even though you have everything?”
“Jasalie, everybody feels alone and scared sometimes,” he says. “And no one has everything. Not really. Everyone’s always reaching for more.”
I take a sip of juice. My head is racing with questions. I’ve never been around someone so successful, so together, and here he is telling me it doesn’t change your life.
Dylan’s watching me closely. “It’s amazing,” he says. “Having your dream. Don’t misunderstand me. I just have more dreams in me than being a football player. Before this weekend, I haven’t hung out and relaxed like this since before the season started.”
“Isn’t that what you guys do all the time when you’re not on the football field?”
“We have a lot of time off when we’re not practicing. But it feels like I’m always either studying tape, procrastinating from studying tape, or trying to get some sleep. Quarterbacks have to watch a lot of film.”
“But the season’s over. You must have free time now.”
“That’s what these days are about,” he agrees. “And I’m going to Montana to see my cousins soon. Brayden’s the only one who still lives there, a few towns over from where I grew up, and it’s his birthday.”
We eat for a bit, and I enjoy the food and the company. I’m starting to realize that Dylan seems to enjoy everything. Most people are so sarcastic and negative.
“What are you thinking?” he asks me.
I break my stare. “Only good things.” I suppress a yawn. “Sorry. I’m still waking up. Bill rousing me at the crack of dawn has me all thrown off.”
“Let’s lie down and rest together.” He’s already moving toward the top of the bed.
Against my better judgment, I agree. “Okay.”
I crawl up next to him, he hands me a pillow, and I fall asleep almost immediately.
Dylan
I wake up before Jasalie does. For a few minutes, I lie next to her and watch her sleep. She looks younger, more at peace. That whole “back off or I’ll make you” look is missing from her face when she’s asleep and relaxed. I swallow hard as I brush a stray hair off her flushed cheek. My heart’s in my throat suddenly.
I don’t know how the hell this is going to work between us. I wanted to get to know Jasalie so badly this weekend that I never stopped to think I could actually fall for her. The way she makes me feel—like I have no control over my desire to be with her—overwhelms me. I’ve dated too many women to count, and I’ve never come close to falling in love. I don’t know why, except that nobody I dated made me want to put her over football. The truth is, none of them even came close to meaning as much to me as football does. So every one of those relationships ended, some after a few hours, some a couple of weeks.
And except for one, all ended painlessly.
I suck in a breath, not wanting to go there right now.
I turn my attention back to happier things, specifically to the woman next to me. When I’m with Jasalie, I actually stop thinking about football. Not completely, and I can’t wait to get back onto the field this summer. It’s just that for the first time, I actually care about something—someone—other than the sport I’ve been obsessed with since I was five years old. And that fact is terrifying as much as it is exhilarating. This is uncharted territory for me, and for someone who’s used to making sure he always wins, I don’t want to screw this up.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Jasalie
“Jasalie.”
Someone is shaking my shoulder. I swat at him.
“Jasalie. Honey.” I force one eye open.
Dylan’s looking at me.
I smile at him, and in my sleepy state, I reach up and run my fingers through his hair. “You’re hot,” I say without thinking.
“Thanks, sweetheart.” He leans down and kisses me on the cheek. “I just woke up, too. We should get going.”
“Let me just check my messages.” I grab my cell phone. “Oh, crap.”
“What’s up?”
“Bill’s been trying to reach me for the past hour. I don’t know where Lilla disappeared to, but he couldn’t reach her, either. And she never texted me back, so there’s still one thing left to do.”
This sucks. Getting an earful from Bill isn’t something I want to deal with.
“What does he need you to do?” Dylan asks me.
“I have to check in with the foster home.”
I force the sentence out, trying to make it sound natural. Hopefully, Dylan won’t notice my hot face and the way I can’t look at him when I say it.
“What are you thinking about?” He reaches over and takes my hand.
His touch pulls me out of my past and into the present.
I make eye contact with him and suck in my breath.
When his mouth lands on mine, I lose my breath because I’m not expecting it. The first time, in the elevator, I was expecting it. This time’s almost better, though, and I think it’s the surprise element. I part my lips and let him in. He groans as he tastes me, licks me, and makes me feel like I’m going to lose my damn mind.
And my clothes. I want Dylan to tear my sweater and pants right off me. I want to bare my body and my soul to him, and I want him to take as much of me as he wants.
“I’m crazy for you.” His voice is as ragged as his breath, and he drags his mouth down my neck toward my breast. “So crazy for you, Jasalie.”
I don’t know that I’m going to make it to today’s event after all. I’m not sure I care, either.
Dylan pulls away. “Sorry. I guess this was a bad idea.”
I exhale. “No, it wasn’t.”
“You know,” he says. “Before you work and all. I don’t want to be the reason you don’t get your work done.”
> I nod. “Good idea. I’d like to avoid being yelled at by Bill in front of your entire team.”
“If he does that, I’ll say something to him,” Dylan says.
“Don’t you dare! I’ll kick your ass.”
“I know you can take care of yourself. But that guy’s a prick. Don’t you think so?”
Oh, Dylan, you have no idea. What would he say if he knew how Bill hit on us every other day? Although now that I think about it, Bill hasn’t flirted with me at all since the first team event. It must be the woman he’s dating. I wonder if the desert is like some sort of elixir.
“Of course he is,” I say. “But nothing like a little trip to Arizona to make him seem like less of a monster.”
I’m not sure how I’ll make it through work today; I can still taste Dylan in my mouth.
Dylan steps back so I can make my call and echoes what I’m feeling. “I’ll be thinking about this kiss all afternoon you know. Every time you pass me.”
“I’m glad I gave you something to think about, Mr. Wild.”
I smile and reach for my phone to call the foster home to confirm that everything is on track for this afternoon. I manage to get through the call with relative ease. The woman I speak with is pleasant and polite, and she makes it easy for me to pretend like I was never one of the kids we’re discussing. Sort of easy. Inside, I’m fighting emotions I typically bury. But I hang up with her quickly and send the good news over to Bill, who texts me back a hands clapping emoticon.
Bill’s never used emoticons before. I didn’t know he knew the symbol for happy. But I guess there’s always a first time.
I grab my purse, and we leave the room.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
We pull up by the football field and get out of the car. Dylan and I are chatting casually, and everything’s going fine. Until I look next to where Dylan parked and see a large bus with the words “Red Rock Foster Care Inc” painted across it.
I start shaking. Like uncontrollably. And I feel like an asshole because I’m not one of those kids anymore.
But the flashback to being so young and helpless is just…
“Hey.” Dylan’s arm goes around me. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
“Jasalie, you’re trembling.” He stops so he can put both hands on my shoulders and look me in the eyes. “Talk to me.”
I take a deep cleansing breath and focus on my current whereabouts. I’m alive, I’m healthy, and I’m independent. I don’t need a parent to take care of me anymore. I’m okay.
“I’m all right.” I nod at him vigorously. “I swear.”
He gives me a searching look and then kisses my forehead before letting me go.
I march across the pavement with Dylan by my side. His team is up ahead, and Bill is waving at me madly to join him and Lilla.
Dylan points out the hummingbirds on a nearby rose bush.
“Isn’t this area of Arizona the hummingbird capital of the world or something?” he says.
“Really?”
“I read it in one of those hotel brochures they leave in the rooms.”
“I love hummingbirds. They’re always around my apartment in L.A.”
“They’re amazing, how they never stay still,” Dylan says.
Always moving, always safe.
I wave good-bye to him and head for Bill. He greets me quickly and then sends Lilla and me on one task after another: check on the food, check on the drinks, check in with the foster care supervisor to make sure they’re all set. Do this, don’t do that—I feel like my head’s going to pop off.
Every time I finish one thing, Bill texts me immediately and sends me to the other end of the field.
“Football fields are way too fucking big,” Lilla complains as she passes me. “And why did I wear these heels?”
“Maybe this is why Bill said casual,” I say.
“He didn’t say sneakers,” she points out. “I’m wearing pants and a cute top. I thought that was good enough.”
Marcus approaches us. “Hey,” he says to Lilla. “Can you help us out setting up the flags?”
“For what?” she says to him curtly.
“Flag football with the kids,” he says.
She sighs. “Fine.”
As soon as she’s gone, one of the kids runs up to me. “I got Dylan Wild’s autograph! And his picture with me, too.”
I look down into the little girl’s sweet face. “That’s great. Congratulations, honey.”
She beams. “Now I’m going to play football with some of the players—this is the greatest day!”
“It is a good day, isn’t it?”
“The best. Someday maybe I’ll have a mom and dad so I can show them the picture of Dylan and me.”
I bite down hard on my lip. “I hope so, too, honey. Have fun, okay?”
Dylan appears out of nowhere as I’m trying to find a quiet place to sit and hide for a few minutes.
“Hang out with me.” He sits down in the middle of the field and stretches out his legs.
“Just like home?” I tease him.
“Yeah.” He smiles. “Feels good. I miss it. I need the break, though. Especially my body.”
I sit down next to him and look up at the sky. It’s huge and infinite, and I feel so small. Dylan puts his arm around me, and as I start to lean into him, my emotions threaten to get the best of me. He makes me feel safe to be vulnerable, but right now, I need to stay focused on my job so I don’t screw up.
I stand up. “I should go back to work.”
“Okay.” He puts his hand up to shield his eyes from the sun and looks at me. “Everything all right?”
“Fine.”
He looks at me a little longer, and I feel like he can see into my soul. But he doesn’t say anything. He just gets up, and we part at the fifty-yard line.
For the rest of the afternoon, Lilla and I help Bill with anything he thinks needs tending to, which is just about everything. I’m returning from dropping some extra pamphlets off at his car when my phone rings.
I smile when I see who it is.
“Bella! How are you?”
“I’m in Maine.”
I laugh. “I know that, silly. But how are you doing, anyway?”
Bella used to work at Apex, and we would eat lunch together every day. We were just work friends mainly, like Lilla and me, but once she left L.A.—after the worst of breakups—we stayed in touch and actually grew closer. I always feel safer keeping a boundary between me and—well, everyone else—and chatting with Bella when she was three thousand miles away made it easier for me to get to know her.
“You know. I’m okay.”
She sounds sad and frustrated, but before I can ask further, she turns the subject to me.
“I wanted to see how you’re doing after Joel and all.”
“I’m good. Joel’s in the past. The long past.”
As I say it, I realize it’s the truth. I don’t hurt over the way we ended, and I don’t miss anything about being with him.
“He wasn’t right for you, Jase.”
“No. He wasn’t. You know, I kind of wish I’d broken things off sooner…”
She laughs. “Don’t we all?”
My heart hurts for her as I remember how her relationship blew up in her face.
“But that’s life.”
“I know.” I take a breath. “I met somebody on my business trip.”
She gasps. “He must be pretty perfect if you’re actually telling me about him.”
“He’s amazing. He’s gorgeous and talented, and also really kind and sweet. And we have fun together. But…”
“But what? So go for it.”
“You know me, Bella. I don’t go for guys. I usually take the bottom of the barrel and wait for the other shoe to drop. And it always does.”
“You’re such an optimist.” She chuckles. “You know, some day you’re going to have to drop the armor.”
“I guess so. But I’m not sure
I can do that just yet. We agreed on a no strings thing.”
“Well, who is he? Did you meet him through work?”
“Sort of.” I laugh. “He’s kind of…a big deal to some.”
“Do not tell me you’re fucking an actor.”
“Not an actor. More like, an athlete.”
A small gasp through the phone. “Who is he, Jasalie? I need a name.”
“You know football players?”
A louder gasp now. “Name, please.”
“So demanding,” I tease. “His name is Dylan. Dylan Wild. He’s…”
Full-on scream now, directly into my ear. “He’s my best friend’s cousin! I’ve known Dylan my entire freaking life!”
“What?! You know him?”
“Tell him Bella Wesley says hi and she wants payback for the candy bar that he stole.”
For the next five minutes, Bella raves about Dylan and Colton and Ayden, her best friend from home. “All of the Wilds are hot,” she says. “Brayden, Cameron, and their friend, Jenson, too. But more importantly, they’re all good guys. You can trust Dylan, Jasalie. And I’m happy he’s found someone like you—he tends to choose badly. Not to mention that he doesn’t trust easily.”
“I’ve heard,” I say.
“So he’s letting you in.” She actually squeals. “This is so good.”
“I’ll keep you updated,” I say as Lilla comes over to me as I hurriedly tell Bella good-bye.
“We’ve been released from our job duties,” she informs me. “The kids have left, and Bill’s hanging out with Meagan. I’m going back to the hotel. You want to share a cab?”
I look over at Dylan. “Let me get back to you on that.”
I’ve paced back and forth three times in front of Dylan’s little social circle. He’s engaged with his teammates, and I don’t want to interrupt.
Finally, he separates from them and spots me. His eyes light up, and I wave him over.
“Turns out we know someone in common,” I say as soon as he reaches me.
His expression turns curious. “Who?”
“Bella Wesley says hi and that she wants payback for the candy bar you stole.”
Dylan’s eyes widen in surprise, and he lets out a low laugh. “How the hell do you know Bella? She’s Ayden’s best friend.”
Dylan (Wild Men) Page 14
