His Game

Chapter Twenty Seven

Super cute cover made by xvirgosaphirex Thanks a bunch!! You did a fantastic job :)

If anyone else would like to send in covers, I still need to fill up the last 3 chapters!

His Game: Chapter Twenty Seven

After making a quick pit-stop at Joey's favorite Chinese restaurant, I book it to her house. I pull up to her driveway in her quaint neighborhood, where every house looks basically the same, and go inside after her dad lets me in.

Her father gives me a slightly somber expression as he opens the door, but doesn't ask any questions as I make my way to the stairs. If anything, it seems as though he was expecting me.

I could have questioned him, asked what has Joey so upset, but rather than waste time in asking him, I rush up the steps to ask her.

As I enter Joey's room, the sight I see has my heart cracking. She's sitting on her bed, knees pulled to her chest with a blanket over her as she stares out her window. If it was raining outside, this would be straight from some sort of movie.

She doesn't react when I walk into her room, but I know she hears me from the slight stiffening of her body before it relaxes back to how it had been before.

"Joey?" I ask softly, sitting down next to her after setting the bag of food on her nightstand.

She continues to stare at the window for a few moments before she shifts her gaze to me, and I see how bloodshot and puffy her eyes are from her tears. They're still watery, a few streaks of mascara running down her cheeks.

Call it selfish, but a part of me is scared she's crying because of me. The game ends tomorrow, we're both aware of that. Could that be her reason for crying?

I frown deeply and gently reach out to wipe some of her tears away. "Puffy eyes, yet still a beautiful sight," I say with a small smile,

"Always the sweet-talker," she teases weakly.

I chuckle, "Just for you." I wipe away another tear, "Now, what's got you so upset?"

She shuts her eyes and shakes her head, leaning further into my touch.

"Okay," I say softly, "You don't have to talk about it. But what can I do to help?"

She doesn't reply to me, and I scoot closer to her, placing a reassuring hand on her knee. "Come on now, I don't like seeing you like this."

She opens her eyes to meet mine, lifting her hand to rest on my own cheek. Her thumb softly trails over my cheekbones, down to my lips and chin before she drops her hand back to her side.

"Joey..." I trail off, begging her to say at least something.

I've never seen her like this. She always has something to say; a witty response, a sarcastic remark, a gentle tease that has me chuckling and shaking my head at her. But she's not saying any of that right now.

"Just hold me."

Her words surprise me for a second, but I don't waste any time in pulling her into my arms. I shift and put my arm around her shoulders, and she rests her legs down to curl into my side as I wind my other arm around her stomach.

I rest my lips on her hair, "Always," I murmur as she buries her head into my chest.

Her body starts shaking again from tears, and I hold her tighter to me as my heart pounds harder. If the game ending tomorrow is her reason for being so upset, should I just come out and say how I feel about her? But then again, what if there's another reason? 

I want to know why she's so desperate to hold me. I want to know why she's crying. I want to know what has that fire in her eyes flickering out. 

But I don't question her any further. There are times when questions aren't meant to be answered.

A man can never feel as useless than when he's holding the girl he loves while she cries and doesn't know what he can do to help her.

"I brought Chinese," I say after a long time of us sitting there, after her tears slowly subsided.

I would hold her forever, but I never got to eat that pizza back at Dino's and I'm kind of starved. Plus the Chinese food smell is torturing my growling stomach right now.

"Did you," she sniffles and pulls back, "get dumplings?"

I chuckle and wipe away some more mascara from under her eyes, "Of course I did. You'd kick me out if I didn't."

She smiles slightly and I reach over to dish out the food, handing her the dumplings. We eat in silence, but she sits close enough for us to be touching the whole time.

I'm not complaining at all, but Joey has never been one to be super touchy with me, and I can't help but wonder why she is right now. I mean, she was holding me earlier as if it was the last time she ever will. I need to tell her that's not the case. 

As we finish up the food, she shifts her eyes to me hesitantly. "What time do you need to go?"

I shake my head, "I'm not going anywhere."

She furrows her brow at my response, "Why?"

"Because you need me right now."

Something shifts in her eyes and next thing I know her lips are on mine, hungry and desperate. I lay back as she kisses me harder, holding her tightly to me. Thoughts of her consume me- erasing everything else from my memory so that everything is only her.

The need to tell her how I feel suddenly becomes too much to keep inside and I pull back.

"Tomorrow is the last day of the game, and this has gone so different from how I anticipated," I start, but suddenly she presses her lips to mine to cut me off. But I pull back again, "No, Joey I need to-"

"Rhett," she says, and I'm caught off guard from how strong her voice is after hours of crying. "I don't want to talk about that right now."

I tilt my head at her, brushing back some of her hair as I rest my hand on the back of her head. The only reason I can think of for her to be so adamant about avoiding the conversation is that she's worried I'm about to end things.

As if I could.

I chuckle softly at how ridiculous that thought is to me now, and shake my head. "No, Joey, you have nothing to-"

"Just...please," she cuts me off, shutting her eyes tightly. "Whatever it is you want to say, it can wait for tomorrow, right?"

Once she opens her eyes, I keep my gaze stuck to hers. I try to read her thoughts, trying to figure out what exactly had her crying and what has her stopping me right now. I want her to know that I'm not here to end things. I'm not here to say she lost. I'm here to admit how much I love her.

But something in her eyes keeps me from saying anything. 

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WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN? I'M FREAKING OUT FOR Y'ALL!