Love & Football

Chapter 16

:: JJ’s POV ::

The cool evening air swirled around us as we walked down the busy Dallas streets in no real hurry to return to our hotel from our dinner at Truluck’s. We were enjoying that we didn’t have to rush, that we could just enjoy being with one another without any interruptions from every day life. There was no work to worry about, no practice, and no football; for the time being all that mattered was the girl that clung to my arm beside me. She seemed to fit perfectly against me, as if she was made to be there; I was beginning to think she was. I had never really given much thought to all of this soul mate business I hear everyone talk about, to me football had always been the one thing I loved; aside from my family of course. But there has never been a girl that could even come close to holding a torch to football until I met Emma. Sometimes I’m still unclear about how it happened, I never expected to meet her, or to meet Noah, but I did; and whatever or whoever brought us together that day knew that she was meant to be here. The thought of her with anyone else eats away at me, which is not an emotion I’m used to feeling. I was really savoring our time together, I felt as if we had gotten to know each other even more and the more I learned the deeper and deeper I fell.

“My feet are seriously killing me right now.” Emma’s tone of voice was one of annoyance as her strides came to a sudden stop, “If this weren’t a filthy city sidewalk, I would actually contemplate walking back barefoot.”

I couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped me as I dropped my head back. The one thing that would stop her from relieving her foot pain would be the dirt. My little germaphobe. I was always so amused by the way she sanitized and lysoled everything in her path, I laughed every time but I found it to be an oddly adorable trait of hers. The way I looked at it, there could be far worse traits for her to possess. I could handle her desire for cleanliness. I was rather cleanly myself.

“I’ll carry you.” I looked at her and she raised her eyebrows in surprise, her lips curling up into a smile as she shook her head at me.

“You are not carrying me.” She giggled at the image that was going through her mind, like the thought of me carrying her was the most ludicrous thing she’d ever heard.

“You can hop on my back, we’re not far.” I motioned down the block to the hotel. She looked at me, her head tilted and a smile still on her face as she contemplated my offer.

“Okay.” Her smile grew as she nodded.

“Stand up on the bench.” I motioned over to the wrought iron bench that rested between two small landscaping trees. I knew she was going to need help getting onto my back in that dress, the height of the bench was sure to make it easier.

“Oh my god.” She laughed boisterously as she wrapped her legs around my waist, her beautiful limbs dangling at my sides, “I’m pretty sure that all of Dallas is getting an up skirt view right now.”

“You’re okay.” I reached back to see if I could feel any skin that shouldn’t be exposed, but my hand only met the taut fabric of her dress.

“Thank you.” The warmth of her breath against my skin as her lips grazed my ear drove me crazy; but the kiss she placed just behind my ear was nearly enough to send me overboard. I wanted her in the worst way right now.

Once we arrived at the doors of our hotel I let Emma hop down, I offered to keep carrying her but she wasn’t too keen on the idea of walking through the hotel on my back. I guess I can understand where she’s coming from. She adjusted her dress before grabbing a hold of my hand, our fingers intertwining once again as we walked through the lobby of the hotel. The gentleman working behind the front desk welcoming us back from our dinner as we walked past him on the way to the elevators.