Until Now (Not Yet #2) (21 page)

“DO YOU KNOW what we’ve never done?” I poured more champagne into Grace’s glass and then topped off my own.

She took a small sip. “What haven’t we done?” Her smile was soft and relaxed.

Organizing a proper Valentine’s Day for Grace took some effort. First I had to convince her that Finn was ready for an overnight with my parents. Finn had been asking for weeks, as had my mom and dad, but Grace was unsure. After one of our marathon late-night talks, she agreed. Next I had to fly into Bloomington and meet with Sylvie to make sure Grace’s shifts were covered. I had also pleaded with Sylvie to help me shop for clothes and shoes for Grace. Not to mention keeping my plans a surprise for Grace was killing me. I told her everything, but I wanted tonight to be special.

After dropping Finn off with my parents, Grace and I went downtown and checked into our room at the Marriott. As requested, chilled champagne waited for us. Now the difficult part was remembering that we had dinner reservations in an hour. All I wanted at the moment was to fall into bed with Grace and stay there for the next twenty-four hours.

“Ahem? Earth to Dean.” Grace nudged my leg with her foot. Her toenails were painted a deep, shiny red.

I closed my slackened mouth, hoping no drool escaped. “Sorry, I was picturing those toes digging into my ass while I’m on top of you later.” Grace gasped, her face flushing, and I winked. “I have a lot of plans that involve your body under and on top of mine, Red.”

Grace placed her glass on the nightstand and crawled over to me. She took my glass and placed it on the opposite nightstand. “Keep going. Tell me your plans.” She climbed onto my lap, straddling me, and ran her fingers—nails also painted red—through my hair. “I have plans too, you know.”

Leaning forward, I pressed my lips to hers. “I was going to say we’ve never made love in a real bed. On your couch, in my truck, and on your floor, but not in an honest-to-God bed.” The truck, while visiting my parents over Christmas, was my go-to memory whenever we were separated.

“Don’t forget the hotel room closet at Disney.” Grace moaned against my lips, pressing our bodies tighter together. God, how did I forget that? I had to sleep in the team block of rooms, but I sure as hell snuck off to her room once Finn was asleep. I was a loud motherfucker, and we quickly realized there was no other choice but the closet. Worked for me.

“Mmm, and the truck.” Grace touched her tongue along the outer edge of my ear, and I groaned. “Did you like it when I sat on your lap?” She bit my earlobe and whispered, “When I rode you real good like that?” Her hands undid the buttons on my shirt, and her hips moved against me in a rhythm that mimicked what we did that night along a country road, desperate to be together in private.

“Fuck, Red.” My body tensed. I was so damn hard. I hadn’t been with her since January. I’d just finished my training for the combine, and although we had mastered phone sex, my hand was no substitute for Grace’s lush body. “I’ve turned you into a bad girl. And I fucking love it.” My hips bucked up to meet hers, and she moaned. Her lips found mine, and we kissed long and hard.

Shit. Dinner.
I pulled her back, both of us panting. “Baby, dinner reservations are in an hour.” I kissed down her throat and along her collarbone. “I bought you a dress and shoes. Let me take you out and feed you. Then I’ll come home and take care of you in bed.”

She pressed down harder against me. “I can’t make it through dinner.” She pulled my shirt off my shoulders and tossed it aside. Her top was next, and before I could even participate, her bra was flung onto the ground. “Yes,” she hissed when her breasts made contact with my chest.

Fuck dinner. We’d go late or not at all. “That’s it.” I flipped her onto her back. I kissed her, sucking on her tongue and then her lower lip. I moved down her body, stopping to lick and bite her nipples.

“Dean.” She arched her back and ran her hands up my arms and around my shoulders. “Please, I need more.”

I grinned around her nipple. I released it and continued my kisses down her body, grabbing her skirt as I went and pulled it off. Grace lay on the bed in her tiny underwear, red, thank Christ. I moved off the bed and yanked my pants and boxers down before coming right back to her.

“I’ve missed your taste, Red.” I placed kisses over the top of her panties, and she writhed, grabbing the sheet with her hands.

She uttered something, but I couldn’t understand her. All I heard was the need and desire in her tone. I felt the same. Long-distance relationships sucked, but in the end, I’d make sure we were together, and I’d give her the life she deserved.

I inched the red panties down and off her, and then my lips and tongue found her, right where she ached for me.
For me.
The strongest woman I knew needed something from
me
. Not football, not my family, not my friends, nothing had ever made me feel like more of a man.

My body was strung so tight I thought I might snap. But my time would come. I ran my tongue up and down and then around and around in circles. Grace began to chant my name as she thrashed her head back and forth on the pillow. She kept her eyes open, watching me like I liked.

When her jaw dropped, and she held her breath, I knew she was there. Her low moan almost made me come on my own, but I managed to hold back. I kissed her thighs and belly as I made my way back up to her lips. I moved slowly, allowing her body time to come back down.

She smiled a lazy, satisfied grin. “My turn.” Grace sat up and moved onto her knees.

“Nope. No can do.” I pulled her back up to me and nuzzled against her neck. “Been too long, baby. I’ll be finished in two seconds if you put me in that sweet mouth.”

She laughed. “Okay, later then. I miss the taste of you too.”

I stilled. “Hell, you can’t talk like that to me, baby.” I sucked on her lower lip again. “It sounds so good it hurts.”

Her hands ran down, and she grasped me. Okay, she was missing how much power she had over my body. I needed inside of her now. NOW.

“Where do you want me?” She moved her hand up and down as I reached for the condom, ripping it open. I lay on my back, and she took it from my hand and rolled it on. I practiced deep breathing exercises and recalled my team’s football stats to calm me down.

“You choose,” I growled, eyes squeezed shut. I kept them closed as she moved.

“I chose,” she said.

When I opened my eyes, she was on all fours, perfect ass lifted into the air. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, what did I ever do in my life to deserve this?

I sat up and moved onto my knees behind her. “Baby.” I ran my hands up the backs of her thighs and circled her ass. “You’re perfect.” Those were the last intelligible words I spoke as I sank into her. I held on to her hips and controlled my strokes as she moaned and cursed in front of me.

I wasn’t lying—it had been too long. I prayed she was as keyed up as I was. She turned her head back, watching me slam into her, and her eyes fluttered closed. She was close. My hands gripped her tighter, and I increased my speed. She came, tightening around me with a yelp. Her head dropped down, and I let myself go.

My groan was loud and long. I draped my body over hers, still joined, and rested my weight on my hands. “You are mine, Red. I’ll never get enough of this. Never enough of you.” My words were choppy as I caught my breath, still joined with her.

When our heartbeats slowed, we moved and lay side by side, fingers entwined. She turned to face me, drawing circles on my chest with her fingertips. “Still thinking about dinner?” Her teasing tone was too damn cute.

“Baby, I could never eat food again, and I’d die a happy man.” I tweaked her nose, and she giggled.

“Dean?”

“Yes, Red?”

“I like beds. Very much.”

She licked her lips, and my body revved up for round two. “I like beds, but I love you. Happy Valentine’s Day, Grace.”

She leaned over and kissed my chest, right over my heart. “This was my favorite one ever. Happy Valentine’s Day, Dean.”

And it was my favorite one too. Until next year when I’d make sure she had her own big-ass bed to spend it in.

No matter where I was in the future, she and Finn would be with me. And I knew right then that every damn day with them would be my favorite.

Epilogue

Dean

“AND WITH THE fifth draft pick, the Chicago Bears choose… Dean Goldsmith, Indiana University.”

This wasn’t a surprise. I had gotten off the phone with the Bear’s Head Coach a few minutes ago. When I was invited to join the draft, I knew right away that I didn’t want to sit in an auditorium, watching the announcements live. That would overwhelm Finn, and besides, I wanted all my friends and family with me. Even Coach K was here, looking as proud as I’d ever seen him.

When the phone call came in, Andrew only grinned. We both had been told this would happen. I would have loved a spot with the Colts, but their quarterback was tenacious. If I wanted to start, I had to go where I was needed. The best thing about Chicago was that it was close to home.

Not that I wouldn’t be bringing my home with me.

They just didn’t know it yet.

Sitting on the couch as I accepted the offer to play professional football for the Chicago Bears, I held Grace’s hand. Finn sat on my lap. My parents stood off to the side, wobbly grins on their faces. Ricky was there, and so were Landon and Emma. They surprised me by flying in for the day. Jon was across the room, sitting way too fucking close to Daisy. We’d need to talk about that real soon. Amy sat with the rest of my siblings, eating snacks and enjoying the excitement.

Even Marty and Corrine, Grace’s parents, came. The road to forgiveness was still bumpy for my girl, but her parents were trying. Anyone who knew Finn loved him, and he could smooth over any rough patches. Unfortunately for them, Josh’s parents didn’t feel the same. Grace and her parents reached out to them, asking if they would like to meet Finn, but they refused. I thought Grace would be hurt, but my girl squared her shoulders and moved on. She had tried, for Josh and for Finn, and that was all she could do. The rest of us would make sure that those two had enough love to fill a football stadium.

The Bear’s football stadium—Soldier Field.

And then some.

As soon as I hung up, screaming ensued. We hugged and slapped backs. I kissed my girl. And then we waited to hear it live and for it to be official.

All my life I thought this was the moment that would define me.

Until her. Until him. Until now.

They were my home. They were what defined me.

“Congratulations, baby,” Grace whispered in my ear. “I’m so proud of you.”

Andrew handed me a Bears cap and tossed one to Finn as well. “Bears?” Finn asked, taking in the hysteria around him. “Bears are my favorite animal ever!”

Grace and I laughed. Finn was the levity that I would always need in my life.

“Hey, pipe down!” I called out to the room. Everyone got quiet, and I moved to the center. “Thank you all for being here. This room is filled with all my favorite people. But two people are the most special.” I held out my hands and Grace took one, Finn grabbing onto the other. “They are my newest favorites.” I reached down and picked Finn up, holding him against my hip. “And I know I want them by my side for the rest of my life.” Grace covered her mouth with her hand, and I felt like the entire room held its collective breath.

Releasing my hold on Finn, I knelt on one knee and pulled the black velvet box from my pocket. Snapping it open, I held out the diamond solitaire I had chosen for my girl. “Grace Yeates, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife? Will you stay the strong, independent, mother and woman you are, but will you allow me to stand next to you? I want to be your partner, your best friend, and your love. Will you marry me?”

Grace fell to her knees and held my face with both of her hands. “Yes. I’m honored to marry you, Dean.”

I removed her left hand from my cheek, kissed her fingers, and then slid on her ring. She mouthed “wow,” and I chuckled. She had no idea what was in store for her in the future. I had a fat signing bonus to spoil her and Finn with now. First thing I was doing was buying her the most expensive bed she’d ever seen. Grace would never sleep on a couch again. Instead of saying any of this, I kissed her. Unfortunately it was a chaste kiss because Finn was right next to me. Everyone clapped and cheered some more, but I held up a finger. “Just Finn? Do I have your permission to marry your mama?”

Still kneeling, Grace and I were eye level with the little dude. His chin trembled, and he looked at us.

“Will you be my daddy now or just my Dean that loves me?” He sucked his lower lip into his mouth, and my own eyes got watery. Landon was going to ride me about my tears for the rest of my damn life.

“Since the first day I saw you on campus, running around as super-Finn, I’ve thought you were special.” I heard sniffling around me. “I would be honored to be your daddy on earth since you already have a daddy in heaven.” I looked at Grace, and she didn’t attempt to wipe away her tears. They ran down her face in streams even as she smiled as big and bright as I’d ever seen.

Finn kissed the “angel kiss” on his hand and grinned. “I have two daddies! And,” he looked around the room, “four grandparents! And three aunts! And two uncles!” Finn pulled Grace’s and my heads close to his. “I asked Santa for a big family,” he whispered, but the room was so quiet I knew they could hear him. “It took him awhile to find you all, but that guy did it. Santa is the best.”

Emma had been busy filling up glasses of champagne. We passed them around, and my dad held his high. “Dean, I know I’m not up on all the cool lingo you kids use, but I’d say this is hashtag winning.”

My siblings shouted out boos and laughter. I groaned. “Dad, no. Just… no.”

He grinned, no doubt thrilled that he could still embarrass me. “Alrighty then, to Santa!”

Laughter filled the room again as the sound of “cheers” and “to Santa” officially made this my favorite night of all time.