“Isn’t it weird how in college you’re totally treated like a teenager by your professors and your parents, but then all of a sudden you graduate and you’re supposed to magically be a functioning adult? I have my big-girl job now and I’m trying to manage my dad’s doctor appointments and pay his property taxes but, like, I have no idea what I’m doing. Where is the education for that? You don’t have any training on how to live in a fancy high-rise building, and I don’t have any training on how to figure out what the circle attachment on my mom’s vacuum is for. Like, shouldn’t there be some adulting class we have to take before we’re thrown into the world?”
“Holy shit, I feel like this all the time,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck and laughing.
“Youdo?” I couldn’t believe it. “That is shocking. It makes sense that I would feel this way because I’m a fresh college graduate and I’m not successful at anything yet. I guess I assumed a top-ten draft pick and someone who’s, like, the best in his field would have a little more command of his place in the world.”
“Yeah, I would have thought so, too,” he said, sounding a little more serious than I liked.
When I glanced over Connor’s shoulder, I saw my dad—who had yet to notice me—and suddenly remembered what I came here for. But I alsodidn’treally know what I came here for.
“What is this?” I asked quietly.
“What do you mean?” he replied, his eyes roving over my face in confusion.
“I mean, what is all this with you inviting them over?”
His eyes narrowed like he wasn’t sure how to play it and then he said, “I just thought it could help your dad today, and maybe you, too, so you don’t have to shoulder everything alone. As soon as I invited him I realized I should’ve asked you first, but he was already running with it, so I couldn’t stop him. I’m sorry.”
“But why? Why would you do this?”
He watched me for a long minute, like he was working through exactly what I was trying to get from him.
“Because he’s your dad,” he said with a helpless shrug.
Because he wasmydad.
“Damnit,” I muttered under my breath, shaking my head in irritation because how was I supposed to handle this? How was I supposed to stay grounded in reality when the NFL star who was pretending to be my boyfriend kept doing the nicest things for me?
Odds were not in my favor that I’d escape emotionally unscathed.
“Do you want to go out to the balcony?” Connor asked quietly.
“What?”
“I just thought you might want privacy when you yell at me,” he said calmly. “And this unit has a great view.”
“I’m not going to yell at you,” I replied, resisting the bizarre urge to touch him, to assure him that I was definitely not mad at him. Instead, I gave a nod before turning and walking toward the balcony because I did want privacy. “But I actuallywouldlike a moment.”
I felt him follow me outside, and after being hit in the face with the stunning view below—you could actually see the whole city—I took a deep breath and turned to face him.
“What’s up?” he asked, looking concerned. The autumn breeze moved the ends of his thick hair, and as the cool evening air chilled my face, I realized I had nothing to say.
Nothing I knew how to express as those earnest blue eyes became the only thing I could see.
So I kissed him.
I was a fool, filled with emotions, but I was helpless to do anything but show him how grateful I was, how appreciative I was of his kindness. His arms came around me and squeezed me tight, so tight that he lifted me off the ground a little bit.
I could barely breathe from how tightly wrapped his arms were around my body and I loved it.More. I’d never needed a physical connection more than I needed those big arms at that moment.
And the man didnotneed to be asked twice, dear Lord.
It was like we’d kissed a thousand times before, like his mouth was intimately familiar with mine, even though our lips had never met before now.
I’d never been kissed—andIhad never kissed—in such a way. One second my lips were daring to touch his, and the next? Dear God, he was on the attack, the former Rookie of the Year proving he was always on the offensive. His teeth dragged over my bottom lip before his tongue went deep, a noise rumbling in the back of his throat as he angled his head anddevouredmy mouth.
Holyshit.
I slid my fingers into his hair, needing grip as he pulled me closer because suddenly, I could feel his every ridge and muscle pressed against my body. I was on fire as he held me against him, but at the same time I was drowning, a captive between states of matter as electricity shot through every one of my veins.