Page 69 of Love Hate

“Where do you want to go?” he asked, his fingers gently combing through my hair.

“Anywhere.” Anywhere but here.

“So, what? We drop out of college, live out of your car and just travel the country? You’ll have to strip or something to make cash. I have no marketable skills outside of football.” He leaned down and pressed his lips to the top of my head. “But if that’s what you want, we can leave right fucking now.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why would you do that for me?” I asked, shifting to meet his gaze.

“You seriously have to ask that?” He slid his hand over my jaw as he stared into my eyes. “Andy, I love you.”

“I don’t want to be a priest,” I blurted out.

“I actually knew that,” he teased. “I was just waiting for you to catch up.”

It felt as if a weight I hadn’t even realized I was carrying had just disappeared from my chest. As happy as I’d thought I’d been with him before…it was nothing compared to this.

“So, what happens now?” I asked.

“Whatever the fuck we want, I guess,” he said. “But first, I think you have something you need to tell me, too.”

“Of course I love you,” I said, laughing softly. “Jesus fuck, that felt good.” I grabbed his face in my hands and held his gaze. “I fucking love you.”

“I fucking love you, too,” he said, grinning. “And I’m starving. You want to order tacos?”

“I really, really do.”

Chapter Thirty-Three

~Trevor~

“Hix!” Coach Tine barked. “My office.”

Shit, what the hell had I done now?

I followed him out of the locker room and into his office, leaning against the glass as he propped his hip against his desk.

“Tafta left St. Catherine’s yesterday,” he said. “I’m moving Wallis to Tight End for the game.”

“Wallis sucks,” I complained.

“Which is why we’re having this conversation in here,” he said pointedly. “Don’t throw to him unless you have literally no other choice. I’d rather your gumpy ass run it than trust him to make a catch.”

“Yes, sir,” I said.

Honestly, I was thrilled that I wasn’t going to have to deal with Mark’s bullshit anymore. And Andy would be happy as well, no longer looking over his shoulder and acting like he wasn’t.

Today was a really good fucking day.

When I got back to the locker room, we did our pregame prayer, then headed down the tunnel onto the field.

I couldn’t stop myself from looking through the crowd, waving when I saw Andy and Caitlyn sitting together near one of the end zones.

They waved back and I grinned as I shoved my helmet on and met my team on the field.

The game itself was brutal. An absolute battle for us and for St. Francis, with each of our defenses making us fight for every single yard.