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I smelled her perfume.
Felt the all too familiar kiss between my shoulder blades, the highest spot she could reach, and then she whispered, “He’s okay. They won't let a thing happen to him.”
“How can you be sure?” I asked her, indecision warring through me. I wanted to get him out of here, in my truck, and then in her place. Then maybe I could ease some of the anxiety I was feeling.
She giggled, and damn, but I loved that sound, “One, they are scared of me. Two, they are terrified of you. And three, Marcus is always staying within five feet of him.”
I looked to where Marcus was standing and sure enough, she was right. If Crew moved, Marcus moved.
“How do you stand this?” I asked her as I once again looked at where Crew was.
“Because of you.”
I turned in her arms, and lifted my brow, “Because of me? How?”
“You taught me how to trust. I’m trusting that they won't let a thing happen to him because I trust you. And I know they wouldn’t be as close to you as they are if you yourself didn’t trust them. Plus, Crew knows how to kick and punch if someone messes with him. And not to mention, my boy has a set of lungs on him.”
I leaned my head down and pressed my forehead to hers.
***
With Crew curled up into my left side, and Aliyah curled up into my right side, I sighed in absolute contentment.
My fingers found their way into her long blonde hair and as I ran my fingers through it, I thought she had fallen asleep, but when I heard her sigh, I knew she wasn’t.
I lowered my voice to a whisper, so I didn’t wake up Crew, “You little faker. I thought you were asleep.”
She nodded into my chest and then whispered right back, “I’m too comfortable. I don’t want to close my eyes and then not be able to stay in this moment forever.”
That’s when an idea occurred to me, “What if we did this every night? Well, every night when I’m not at an away game.”
She moved her head to look up at me, “I think I’d like that. So what? We spend the nights here during the week, and then at the football house?”
“Yeah, hell, the guys have been grumbling about not getting your cooking as much as they liked.”
She chuckled quietly, “To get to the heart of a man, all you have to do is place food in front of him.”
I didn’t think I voiced my answer, but apparently, I did.
“I love that we are what it takes to get to the heart of you. And I know I can speak for Crew when I say that you are what it takes to get to our hearts.”
After we finished the movie, or rather I did, I pressed a kiss atop Aliyah’s head, and then I gathered up Crew and carried him to his room.
Just as I laid him down on his bed, his little eyes fluttered open, he saw that it was me, and then he whispered, “Love you, Dae.”
I didn’t know what to say. Holy. Fuck.
The second person to ever say they loved me. Just me.
For the first time in my fucking life, I felt a tear trail down my cheek that wasn’t because of pain. That wasn’t because of torture.
No.
It was because my heart felt so fucking full it felt as though it might burst.
I leaned down, and pressed a kiss atop his soft black curls, “I love you too, Crew. More than you can ever imagine.”
And when I turned around to head out of his room, I saw my woman, the owner of half of my heart, wiping tears from her cheeks.
