Second Chance: A Military Football Romance

I pulled on my jeans and a T-shirt and pulled a brush though my messy hair, gathering it up into a loose ponytail before dusting my cheeks with a bit of blush and sweeping a layer of mascara on my lashes. I looked passable for breakfast, but the dark circles under my eyes made me look bruised, and I looked away as I remembered a time when those bruises kept me from going to class or seeing my friends.

“Not again,” I whispered to my reflection. “You are safe.”

“Did you say something?” Brian called from the other room.

“No, it must have been the television,” I called back as I dabbed a little concealer under my eyes.

“Are you about ready?” he asked as I emerged from the bedroom. “Whoa! You sure do clean up nice!”

“Whatever,” I said as I rolled my eyes. I looked a mess and I knew it, but it was nice of him to try and make me feel better.

“I’m serious,” he said as he crossed the room and pulled me back into his arms. “You look beautiful.”

“Don’t flatter me, I’m a hot mess,” I laughed as I wrapped my arms around his neck and looked up into the steel blue eyes that held my gaze.

“Yeah, but you’re a beautiful hot mess,” he whispered as he leaned down and softly kissed my lips. “And don’t you ever forget that.”

I closed my eyes as I returned his kiss and wished that we could remain like this forever.

Brian kissed my forehead before he let go, and began to unwind all of the security setups he’d put in place the night before. It was amazing how much he’d been able to do with the few tools he’d had available. He’d not only wedged a chair under the door handle

, he’d also stacked several glasses from the bathroom next to the door so that they’d tip over and make noise if someone tried to enter while we were asleep. Between the curtains and the sheers on the windows, he’d hung several of the heavy metal coat hangers. If anyone had tried to get in, they would have made a racket.

“You’re pretty inventive,” I commented.

“Well, I had to work with what I had,” he replied as he moved things around and set up the system for while we were gone.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“I want to make sure that if Dominic tries to break in, he won’t have an easy time,” Brian answered. “I also want to make sure that I’ll know exactly what went on in here if someone breaks in and then leaves.”

“A little paranoid, are you?” I laughed nervously.

“I’m surprised you’re not,” he said seriously.

I looked at the floor and said nothing. I was scared that Dominic had already done something to make sure he knew my every move. He’d done it before. Remembering how he’d bugged even the bathroom in our apartment and then used the smallest infraction to give him cause to beat me made me shudder.

“You okay?” Brian asked with a concerned look on his face.

“Yeah, just…” I trailed off. I didn’t want to drag him any further into this mess, but I felt like maybe I should tell him everything in order to ensure that we both remained safe.

“Just what?” he asked quietly.

“Just bad memories,” I replied distractedly. Telling Brian about Dominic’s experience with surveillance could wait until we had something to eat. “Let’s go get some breakfast, okay?”

“Alright, let’s go,” he replied warily. I knew he didn’t believe me and that he was waiting for the right moment to ask the questions that would give him a better sense of what was going on, but right now, I was too hungry to worry about it, so I smiled and headed toward the door.

On the way down to breakfast, Brian resumed his eagle-eye scanning habit and gave every person that passed us the once-over. I wanted to tell him to chill out, but somehow it didn’t seem like he would find any humor in it, so I kept quiet and walked toward the restaurant. We’d decided not to leave the hotel, but rather to have breakfast downstairs in the relative safety of the hotel.

Brian chose a table in the back where he could monitor the comings and goings of everyone. I didn’t care what he did, I just wanted waffles.

I ordered a big breakfast and then sat back and watched Brian watching people. I wondered what was going through his mind as his eyes scanned every person entering and exiting the restaurant.

“You must get tired,” I said.

“Huh?” he gave me a confused look.

“You must get really tired using your eyes as tracking devices,” I repeated.