Second Chance: A Military Football Romance

"You must really love him," she said. She didn't know how right she was. She asked me questions about myself after that, mainly what I wanted to study. I looked after every question for a way to steer the conversation back to Roman. She didn't care, obviously, but it felt good talking about him.

It took coming up the elevator, letting myself into the apartment and face-planting on the bed to realize how tired I was when I got home. I rolled onto my back, trying to summon enough motivation to at least wash my makeup off. It had to be the heat. I hadn't acclimatized yet. It sucked the life right out of me. I closed my eyes, telling myself I'd open then again in five minutes. Yeah. Five minutes and I'd get up. It would be easier getting up and washing my face now than it would be to try to wash it off the sheets later.

I sighed, feeling the bed depress behind me. Roman's arm wrapped around me and pulled me back into his chest. He was back. I smiled, rubbing my hand up his forearm.

"What time is it?" I grumbled, remembering that I had meant to get up again.

"A little past ten," he said. There was something else about training camp that I had had no idea about – how long the days lasted. They weren't running around practicing all the hours that they were gone, but it was a long, stressful workday. I respected the hell out of him for it.

He would tell me about it when I asked, but he wouldn't talk about it like it was hard, or share just how demanding it was. It made me want to go full Stepford Wife, have food on the table and turned down sheets for him when he would get home.

"I wasn't supposed to fall asleep," I sighed. I rolled over so I was looking at him. He had gotten some color already, it was so hot here. He looked a little tired too though.

"Sorry I woke you. Again."

"No. I have to wash my makeup off anyway. Are you hungry?"

"I ate before I got here. How was the tour today?"

"It was good. The woman who took me around the campus was nice. It was nice," I said dreamily. "I'll be able to register no problem in a couple weeks."

"That's great, babe," he said.

"I need to bring my car down from Aberdeen."

"No. You're getting a new one. I'm getting you a new one."

"My old one still works."

"It won't survive the trip down. Let me get you another one."

"Okay," I conceded, sighing. I was agreeable when I was tired. "How was practice?"

"Counting down the days to my first day off."

I touched his cheek. "Was it that bad?"

"No. I'm just away a lot. I don't like spending all this time apart, not right now when yo

u just got here." I leaned in and kissed his forehead.

"I understand that you have to do it. One day, the tables will turn and you'll be the one waiting up for me."

"You weren't waiting up, you were asleep," he said, grinning.

"I should really get up," I said, not moving.

"What'll happen if you leave it on?" he asked. I thought about the breakouts I could look forward to having if I kept lying there and finally pushed myself up onto my elbows.

"Bad things," I sighed, pushing up to a sitting position. He got off the bed and stood in front of me, offering me his hand. I took it and let him pull me up. His hands held my hips and he trailed them up under my t-shirt. I raised my arms, letting him pull it off. "I don't need to take this off to wash my face," I said. He unhooked my bra behind my back with one hand.

"I know. I want you to take a shower with me," he said. He unbuttoned my shorts, and I let him. I pulled his shirt off, and we took turns till we were both naked. I ran a hand down his abs. Could we skip that shower and just jump into bed?

"Don't worry so much about me," I said, looking up at him. "I want to be here from you. I'm ready for whatever's going to happen." He kissed me gently.

"I know. I need to be, too," he sighed. "This time we're making it stick."

"Third time lucky," I said, smiling.