I hopped into my SUV, dropped my cell phone into the cup holder, slid my sunglasses on, turned up the radio, and headed out.
The trip took eighteen hours, but I split it up over three days. If I was driving across five states, I wanted to say I saw them. I dipped towards the coast, knowing it would take longer, but I wanted to see the Gulf of Mexico.
I sent a picture to Colt at every place I stopped: the speedway in Tallahassee, a surf shop in Pensacola, the battleship in Mobile, the French Quarter in New Orleans, and finally, me standing in front of the ‘Welcome to Texas’ sign.
I pulled into the apartment complex about nine that night. Colt was waiting for me at the curb, bouncing on his heels. I’d barely turned the car off before he’d dragged me into a massive bear hug. I took a deep breath, inhaling the clean scent that was Colt. I’d switched my laundry detergent to his, but it wasn’t the same. There was a particular scent that only Colt possessed and breathing it in, while wrapped in his arms, was coming home.
I couldn’t imagine, in that moment, any place I’d rather be.
After a while, he loosened his arms enough that I could shift back and look up at him. I gave him a smirk, saying, “Miss me?”
“More than you know,” he answered seriously, his eyes intent on mine. I bit my lip at his look. Forever was in his eyes. He leaned down slowly, brushing his lips against mine with the lightest kiss. I brushed my nose against his, a gentle Eskimo kiss. I felt his lips curl into a smile, before they were crushed against mine. My mouth opened, wanting the kiss to deepen and he obliged. My arms were wrapped around his neck, my fingers tangled in the thick waves at his nape. We kissed with desperate abandon, our bodies seeking a connection that matched the one in our souls. He pulled me tighter against him, and I shuddered at the feel of him. The crush of his arms soothed me, at the same time it ignited me. I hadn’t anticipated the click of our connection, when he’d pulled me into his arms, but I never wanted to lose this feeling.
Our lips parted, as we gasped for breath. I felt his warm breath against my neck, as he asked, “Did you miss me?”
“A little,” I whispered, a wide smile across my face.
“Minx,” he whispered back, before nipping my neck. “Let’s get you settled in, before I lose all control in the parking lot.”
We grabbed the bags out of the SUV, leaving the trailer for the morning. We were silent, as he settled me against his chest on the ride up to the top floor. I glimpsed our reflection in the elevator doors. I was leaning back against him, his arms across my stomach, and my head in the nook of his shoulder. I smiled at how right we felt together.
Colt
Chapter Fifteen
When we got into the apartment, I had her close her eyes before I opened the door. We shuffled in slowly, and I dumped her bags by the door.
“Keep your eyes closed,” I commanded, not wanting to ruin the surprise.
“I am!” she insisted, keeping her hand on my arm. I flipped the lights off, as I guided her in front of the windows. I’d seen the sight every night for weeks, but I was still surprised by the beauty of tonight. It was the perfect welcome for her.
“Okay, open your eyes,” I told her, watching her face as she did. I watched her blink, as her lips parted in wonder. She gave a soft sigh, as she looked over the lake, and I slipped behind her to wrap my arms around her.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered, enchanted. The lake gleamed below, mesmerizing, in the glow of a full moon. The trees around the lake were lit with strings of white lights. They reflected on the still lake, defining the edge in the darkness. We stood there together, as the moon slowly rose.
Sophie’s weight settled more firmly against me, and after her fifth yawn, I decided it was time to put her to bed.
“Come on, sleepyhead. Time for bed,” I said, pulling her toward the bedroom.
“I’m good,” she protested sleepily. I knew she must be exhausted after driving most of the day, so I ignored her protest. I kept her tucked under my arm, stopping at the door to her bedroom.
“Your palace, my lady,” I said, pushing the door open.
“Oh wow,” she whispered in awe. I admit, the room was gorgeous, impressive even. I knew she’d sold off almost all of her furniture, only keeping a couple of pieces that meant something to her. She’d changed her life to come here, and I wanted her to feel at home. I’d begged Hannah and Olivia to redecorate the room for Sophie. I didn’t think begging was necessary, because they seemed eager to do it, but they did request some groveling. I’d explained what I wanted and they’d created my exact vision.
The bed was a four poster made of walnut, with simple lines that Ford had created. Sheer curtains flowed from the ceiling at each post, giving it an airy look. The walls were painted a pale cerulean blue, according to Olivia, with plush rugs scattered across the hardwood floors. I’d found some landscapes at one of the stores that showcased Ford’s work, and hung them on the walls. One reminded me of the view from my house in Colorado, while another was the nearby countryside. I wanted her to have both places we’d been to, represented in her space.
“It’s perfect, Colt,” She told me, reaching up to kiss my cheek. I hugged her, before stepping back into the hallway. I was tempted to join her, but she was not ready for that, and there was something about us that made me want to wait.
The next morning, I woke to the sun streaming through my window and what sounded like off key singing. I was momentarily puzzled by the thought of someone else being in my apartment, until I remembered Sophie. I jumped out of the bed, pulling on workout pants. I debated about grabbing a t-shirt, but figured it had been months since she’d got to see my naked chest, and I shouldn’t deprive her a moment longer.
As I walked down the hallway, I smelled bacon and coffee. It was like I’d entered paradise. I groaned when I saw her in my kitchen, singing into a spatula, and wearing a tank and sleep shorts, shaking it like Shakira. All of my mornings needed to start this way.
I snuck up behind her, snatching a kiss on the cheek, before she realized I was there. Her shriek almost destroyed the hearing in my right ear, and she thumped me on the chest, before grabbing me in a hug. “You scared ten years off me!” she fussed, putting a hand over her heart and giving me another swat, for good measure. I danced out of the way, snitching bacon from the plate. She pointed the spatula at me and then the barstool. I took the hint and slid onto the seat.
“Omelet, bacon, and fruit,” she announced. “That fits in with your diet, right? she verified, giving me an uncertain look.
I nodded, saying, “As many vegetables in the omelet as possible.” I’d revamped my diet and workout routines, to get my body in the best shape possible. My shoulder was healing extraordinarily well. If and when the Broncos cut me, I wanted to be ready for the next team.
“I figure we’ll get your stuff unloaded today, and then go to Ford’s house tonight,” I said, hoping she wouldn’t be mad. Everyone wanted to meet Sophie, and I’d compromised with a dinner at Ford’s.
‘Okay,” she said easily, plating our omelets. I was waiting for her to say something else about me springing a family meet and greet on her, but she didn’t.
“You aren't upset about going to Ford’s tonight?” I questioned hesitantly, wondering why I was pushing this. I should be grateful.
“No. I want to meet them. You’ve talked about them so often, I’d like to put faces to the names,” she said, with a shrug. “Plus, I owe you. I did make you meet my entire family at Christmas, when we’d only known each other a day.” She gave me a sheepish smile, as she said the last part.
I busted out laughing at the truth of that statement, before digging into breakfast. “It’s delicious,” I told her, appreciating the thought she put into making me a meal that fit into my diet. I knew Sophie loved food, and my diet tended to be restrictive. We had to work out a balance, for both of us to be happy. Mainly, she’d need to hide her junk food, so I couldn’t find it.
We were cleanin
g up the table, when someone started pounding on the door. I pulled it open, surprised to see Ford on the other side.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, perplexed, when I saw Hannah peeking behind him. “Where’s Grace?”
“We came to help you move Sophie in,” Ford announced, before leaning in close to me and whispering, “Plus, Hannah couldn’t wait any longer to meet her.” I nodded in understanding.
“Grace is hanging out with Olivia for a few hours, until we get everything moved in,” Hannah told me, trying to look around me, to see if she could see Sophie. I moved to block her view, shifting as she kept looking around me. Finally, she growled, “Colt!” and shoved past me into the apartment. Sophie came from the kitchen, smiling and holding her hand out to Hannah. “I’m Sophie.”
Hannah ignored the hand and threw her arms around Sophie. I saw the surprise on Sophie’s face, but she hugged her back.
“I’m so happy to finally meet you. Colt has told us so much about you! Well, not really. But more than we expected, which is a lot for Colt,” Hannah said in a rush. Sophie blinked at her and said, “You’re Hannah.”
“Oh my God. Yes. I didn’t introduce myself. Ford, can you believe I did that?” she said, looking back at Ford, before focusing again on Sophie. “I’m so sorry. I’m Hannah.”
“It’s good to meet you, as well. I’ve heard quite a bit about both of you and couldn’t wait to meet you both,” Sophie said kindly, walking over to Ford. He didn’t wait for her to offer her hand, before he swept her into a hug.
“We’re really glad you came,” he replied, the emotion evident in his voice. “Now let’s get you settled in.”
Ford and I spent the next couple hours unloading everything, while Hannah and Sophie unpacked and talked. I was relieved to see them getting along like old friends. It was surreal seeing her talk to my ex-girlfriend, the mother of my child. I was surprised by how important it was to me that Sophie like my family and they like her. Our situation was unusual, but everyone rolled with it.
“I don’t know about the rest of you, but all this moving has made me hungry,” Ford declared, setting the last of the boxes against the wall.
“When are you not hungry?” Hannah replied.
“When I’m sleeping,” Ford answered promptly.
“Ha! Pretty sure I’ve heard your stomach growl when you were sleeping,” I told him, laughing. “Remember that time at summer camp? You were so hungry you woke yourself up, and then dragged me to the mess house to get food in the middle of night. I still can’t believe we didn’t get caught.”
“Oh yeah, I remember that. It was my first summer as a counselor, and they gave me a key to the mess hall,” Ford said with a laugh. “I abused the hell out of having that key.”
Sophie and Hannah were shaking their heads at us, when I said, “I still don’t know why you had to drag me along.”
“Easy. If they caught us, I would just say I found you wandering around there. I was doing my job as a counselor and watching over my campers,” Ford said, with a smirk. “And not the bad influence.”
“Let’s have a picnic,” Hannah interrupted. “I’ll call Olivia to come over with Grace. We can eat by the lake.”
“That’s a fantastic idea!” Sophie cried, clapping her hands. I smiled at her obvious excitement. “Let me see what we have in the fridge.”
The women got to work preparing the picnic, sending us guys to find blankets. When we argued that we could sit at the picnic tables by the lake, we got glares from both women that had us going in search of picnic blankets.
We spread four old blankets down in the grass, by the shore of the lake. Sophie unpacked the food from the basket, while the rest of us went to meet Grace and Olivia in the parking lot. As we’re walking back, I saw Sophie kneeling on the blanket, feeding the ducks. I smiled at the sight of her. She’d asked me earlier if I had nuts or frozen peas to feed them. I asked why she didn’t want to feed them bread, and she said it wasn’t good for them, so we dug out frozen peas and corn.
I was holding Grace’s hand as we walked, swinging our arms, when she started slowing down. I slowed, looking down at her. Her eyes were fixed on Sophie, an odd look on her heart-shaped face. Hannah, Ford and Olivia also slowed, watching us. I shrugged, unsure what about Sophie had Grace hesitating. I started to worry that she was not going to react well to meeting Sophie, when Grace dropped my hand and ran straight to her.
We were all shocked for a minute, as Grace threw her arms around Sophie and hugged her. I jogged to catch up to them, with the others following. As I got to them, I saw Grace sitting back staring at Sophie with wonder.
“Hi. You must be Grace,” Sophie said, her eyes sparkling with delight. Grace nodded slowly, still looking awed. By this time, we’d all gathered around the blanket and were watching them.
“You know my name,” Grace whispered.
“Yep. Your Uncle Colt has told me all about you,” she replied. Grace looked up at me with huge eyes. She looked dazed, as she said to me, “You know Snow White?” I blinked in shock, not expecting that. Everyone was fighting back smiles now, understanding why Grace was so enthralled with Sophie. I looked down, and realized why Grace made the assumption that Sophie was Snow White.
Sophie had cut her hair into a long bob, and was wearing a headband to keep her hair out of her face, while she was unpacking. She was also wearing dark blue shorts and a red and yellow shirt. Her clothes, combined with feeding the ducks, made her look eerily similar to one of the pictures of Snow White in the book of fairy tales Sophie had given me. Grace was fascinated with that particular story, and I read it to her every week, on our nightly dates. According to Ford, I was the only one allowed to read her the story now.
The first time I met Sophie, I thought she was Snow White come to life, and it made perfect sense to me that Grace would think the same thing. I kneeled down on the blanket next to Sophie. Part of me wished I could play along, because Grace was staring at me like I just hung the moon, but I couldn’t.
“Actually, I don’t. I wish I did though,” I replied. Grace looked back at Sophie, confused. Sophie rescued me from bumbling this.
“I’m Sophie. A friend of your Uncle Colt’s. I came here to teach at Baylor,” she told Grace, smiling sweetly.
“But ….” Grace trailed off, looking puzzled. She looked between us, and then focused back on Sophie. “Are you sure you’re not Snow White?” she asked Sophie, seriously. Sophie didn’t even blink at the question.
“I’m afraid not. I’m just plain old Sophie,” she told her, with a pout. “But I do have your book of fairy tales. After lunch, we can read Snow White,” she offered, pulling the book out of the basket. The sight of the book caused Grace to smile hugely and nod. Grace reached out and patted Sophie’s hair, the dark strands straight and silky, clinging to Grace’s fingers.
“Your hair is pretty,” Grace told her.
“So is yours,” Sophie told her, capturing one of Grace’s caramel curls in her fingers and letting it go to bounce. This caused Grace to giggle, and we all settled on the blanket to our picnic.
After we ate, I groaned, stuffed, and stretched out on the blanket.
“Oh no, you don’t,” Ford told me, reaching over to grab my arm. “Get your butt up. We’re throwing the ball around.”
“What? We don’t have a ball,” I grumbled, swatting his arm away. It was a late night and early morning. After eating the massive picnic they’d packed, all I wanted was a nap.
“You need to work it off. And your girlfriend packed a football. Our football,” Ford said, the words tight. I shifted up, leaning on my elbows, as he stood in front of me, blocking the sun. He had the ball in his hands, his fingers tracing the words written on it. I looked over at the women watching us. Grace was sitting in Sophie’s lap, looking completely at home there. I didn’t miss Ford’s reference to Sophie being my girlfriend. I’d never talked to Sophie about it, but it was as accurate a description as any.
“Well, if y
ou’re gonna cry about it,” I told him, breaking the mood that had fallen over us.
I flipped myself up from the blanket, snatching the ball out of his hands. “Go long,” I said, with a wink. Hannah laughed and I heard her tell Grace, “You’ve never seen your dad and uncle throw the ball. Don’t repeat any of their bad words.”
The first few throws felt tight, but my aim was true and my arm loosened up quickly. As we threw it, I realized how much I’d missed this. Coaching was satisfying in its own way, but this, having the ball in my hand, was what I lived for. The thought of never playing again was a punch in the gut. I resolved to myself that I wouldn’t allow that to be my fate.
After a few hours, we packed everything up to go to my folk’s house for dinner. I was indebted to Ford for making it easier on Sophie. Meeting Hannah and then Grace, before going to a big family dinner, was the right call. Sophie had me in awe at how she handled everything. From making the decision to move here, and meeting everyone on her first day, she’d jumped right in.
I grabbed Sophie’s hand, pulling her back from the group, so we could have privacy. I kissed her temple, asking, “How’s it going? If you’re overwhelmed, we don’t have to go tonight.”
She hooked her arm around my waist, laughing at me. “It’s fine. I love Hannah and Grace. Olivia is frightening, but in a good way.” I was about to ask how there was a good way to be frightening, but she continued talking. “Are you trying to wriggle out of going tonight? I want to meet your parents. Hannah told me about a rough patch they had when she was pregnant.”
I frowned. I didn’t know what Sophie was referring to about my parents. I’d have to ask her later. “I wasn’t trying to get out of anything,” I protested innocently. “I wanted to make sure you weren’t tired or anything. You’ve been talking all afternoon with the girls.”
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