“I said I love you too.” I start laughing when he charges me, lifting me up so that my legs are around his waist as he buries his head in my neck.
“Say it again,” he murmurs against me.
“I love you, Jagger. I really, really love you.”
He pulls away and brings one of my hands up to his chest, against his rapidly beating heart. “You have no idea the things you make me feel.”
“Yeah?” I smile.
“No idea.”
I grind against his hard cock. “I have some idea.”
“God.” He groans, throwing his head back. “I can’t do this right now, but tonight . . . ” He looks at me again, heated expression on his face. “Tonight, it’s on.”
He makes good on his word. Lawrence is sacked four times and Jagger scores two touchdowns. Another one-hander that will absolutely be on the ESPN highlight reel.
“That’s my boy,” Mildred screams beside me. “Yeah, baby!”
I smile so hard my cheeks hurt. No one has said anything about me wearing his jersey, even though it’s clearly too big for me despite my makeshift alterations. When the game is over, Jagger jogs over to us and jumps up to scale the short wall between us. There are a few photographers there, clicking and getting it on film. His mom reaches forward and gives him a kiss on the cheek as his dad and mine fist bump him. Then he looks over at me, those troublemaker eyes of his making it clear what he’s about to do. My heart stops as he moves and leans in, grabbing me by the nape of my neck and pulling me in for a kiss. It’s not a chaste kiss, either. I taste the salt of his sweat as he shoves his tongue into my mouth and deepens the kiss. Everyone around us falls completely silent. Maybe it’s shock, or maybe it’s the fact that my heart is beating so uncontrollably that Jagger’s mouth on mine is the only thing I can concentrate on. When he pulls away, he gives me one of his lazy, lopsided smiles, and hops off the wall, picking his helmet back up and running in the direction of the lockers.
It takes me a long moment to pull away from the railing and take a deep breath, my body still buzzing from the kiss.
“What. The hell. Was that?” my mother asks, breaking the silence. “Since when?”
“How long has this been going on?” Mildred adds.
“You have a lot of explaining to do,” Dad says.
Roberto is the only one laughing, not a low laugh either, he’s full-out laughing as if this is the funniest thing that’s ever happened. “That kid. That fucking kid,” he says, still laughing. “He always did say you were the most beautiful girl in the world.”
My attention snaps to him. “Really?”
“Really.” He smiles wide. “Damn, Henry, I guess you’re not going to get rid of us after all.”
My dad laughs. “I still have to give him a stern talk, you know. I have to at least pretend to be threatening.”
Our parents chatter the entire way out of the stadium, and the entire ride to the restaurant, and then while we take our seats they’re still talking about Jagger and me and asking questions, but they’re talking so much and so fast that I don’t even think they want an answer from me. When Jagger gets there, everyone in the restaurant starts clapping for him. I shake my head and laugh at the look on his face as he looks around and waves at them. He walks over to us, says hi to everyone, and gives me a chaste kiss on the lips before taking the seat beside me.
“You have a lot of explaining to do,” Dad says, looking between us.
Jagger chuckles, taking my hand in his. “In that case, pass the wine.”
We tell our parents about our living arrangement, which makes my mother irate. I’m about to accuse her of being judgmental when she tells me she would have been okay with it, but she doesn’t like that I kept it from her. We tell them it happened gradually, though I’m not sure that’s the case. Jagger barged into my life and infiltrated my thoughts and senses, I don’t think there was anything gradual about it. By the end of lunch, our mothers are planning our wedding and I want to hide under a rock.
“I knew this would happen,” I say to Jagger.
“What? You thought they’d be this happy about us?”
“I had a feeling.” I bite my lip, frowning.
“What?” He searches my eyes. “What’s wrong?”
“If we break up . . . ” I start.
“Nope.”
I laugh. “If we do though, it’ll be a disaster.”
“Do you really think I’m stupid enough to let you go?” he asks, with a rawness in his voice I haven’t heard. “I love you, Josephine, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I have a million questions about my future, but you’re not one of them.”