Page 62 of Off Limits: The Firsts

“Seriously. You can have hot sex and a great story line.” I try to gesture to the television, but my arms are still restrained. “Or we could just have the hot sex, instead.”

“I’m not budging, Scout. You told me I needed to read a romance novel, so no time like the present to watch one. With you.”

“I thought you only liked King and Follett and Patterson?”

“I do, but I’ve recently been told that romances are where it’s at.”

“Oh, please.” I roll my eyes and laugh but only get a kiss on my shoulder in response.

So, we sit like this and watch the movie.

And another one after that.

But more memorable than the movies that I can’t quite pay attention to is the fact that when I fall asleep in the late hours of the night, my last thought is I’ve never let myself fall asleep in the arms of a man before without there being sex first.

But this time I did.

And when I wake up the next morning with his body behind mine on the couch, and his arm still holding me tight against him, I realize this isn’t so bad.

But more importantly, as scared as I am to let him in, I’m more scared of walking away.

“I just needed to hear your voice.” It’s all I say but it’s the truth.

“I’m here, Scouty-girl. I’m here.” His voice rumbles through the connection and soothes my heart that was having a mini-panic attack over needing to talk to him for no other reason than to know he was still there.

I sag against the wall beside me and close my eyes, willing away the tears that threaten.

“You okay?”

No.

“Yeah. I’m good.” I clear my throat and look around the empty hallway outside of the locker room. “Sometimes a girl just needs her dad.”

“Understood. This time of year is always tough for you,” he murmurs. “I’ll sit here on the line as long as you need me.”

“Thank you.” My voice is almost a whisper as I try to contain my emotions. We both sit on opposite sides of the connection, we don’t speak, and yet I find comfort in knowing he’s there.

“I need to get to work,” I say after a few minutes even though I’d stay like this all day if I could. “Thank you for . . .”

“Anytime.” He clears his throat. “Remember, clear mind, hard heart.”

“I know,” I say before the line disconnects and then whisper, “I love you.” I know he’s no longer there, but I say the words anyway.

I take a moment to pull myself together—frazzled female emotions make gruff men uncomfortable—before I head into the locker room to prepare for Easton’s first of two training sessions today.

But it’s when I walk into my office to grab the notes on my desk that the fake smile plastered on my lips becomes genuine.

Sitting on top of my notes is a mess of wintergreen Life Savers, crudely arranged to look like a flower. There are three white mints making up each petal, and they all connect into the center Life Saver. Except the center candy isn’t wintergreen white.

It’s red.

Cherry red to be exact.

And there’s a Post-It note beside it that has ‘Have a day’ scrawled across it.

It’s a simple something that at a glance looks like candies tossed on a desk but speaks volumes to me. It says I’m thinking about you. It says remember what I like to do with cherry Life Savers. It says I’m still here, still determined to prove you wrong. It says remember that first time we ‘had a day’ together? Well, here’s to more of those.

My heart does a little flip flop in my chest. There’s only one person who could have done this. One person who had no clue that I needed something like this right now but who gave it to me anyway.