“Because I know you,” I said simply, searching his eyes. “Because I love you, too.”
Clay blew out a breath, his forehead bending to meet mine. “Fuck, it feels good to hear you say that.”
I smiled, pressing up on my toes to kiss him. We both inhaled deeply at the contact, savoring the way that kiss felt as Clay swept his tongue in to taste mine.
“I want to know everything,” I whispered. “But first, I want you to take me home.”
Giana
“That is… a lot,” I confessed after Clay told me everything that had happened, head on his chest as he idly drew circles on my bare back with his fingertip. Each new spiral sent chills down to my toes, and I curled into him like a sated cat, still sore between my thighs from him ravishing me as soon as we pushed through my apartment door.
I couldn’t stop touching him. I couldn’t stop holding onto him and pressing soft kisses to his skin and inhaling his scent to convince myself that this was real, that he was here, that we were together.
“I know,” he said, fingertip trailing over my shoulder. “I’m sorry I didn’t let you in. You probably would have been like Riley, Zeke, and Holden and been able to talk some sense into me.”
I frowned. “I don’t know. Honestly, I might have just cried more and clung to you as long as I could before I had to let you go.”
“Let me go?”
I leaned up onto my elbow, looking down at him. “I understand, Clay. What your mom has done for you is precious, and I don’t fault you for wanting to pay her back for that, for wanting to give her everything — regardless of whatever demons she might be fighting. You love her,” I said on a shrug. “And Mommas come before girlfriends.”
His smile was sad, brows furrowing. “I don’t want anyone or anything to come between us. And I think that’s what I forgot. I can give to the ones I love without sacrificing everything that brings me joy in the process.” He made a face. “Although, I have no idea what I’m going to do for her now.”
“Is she home?”
He nodded. “She was more than understanding when I told her everything. In fact, I saw the Momma Bear come out in her,” he added with a smirk. “She wanted to kill Cory. But I told her I had it handled, and she trusted me.” He paused. “Or Cory’s dead right now and we just don’t know yet.”
I chuckled.
“Either way, she’s home, and looking for jobs. She’s proud of me, and loves me, and understands. But…” He shook his head. “I know she’s still not okay, Giana. I know she needs help. She might be fine for a while — find a job, find a guy. But the cycle always repeats.”
I stared at my hand on his chest. “What if there was a way,” I whispered.
“A way to what?”
“To help your mom the way she really needs it.”
Clay’s brows perked up.
“What if you could cover the bills for a while, and still send her to rehab — maybe not one as fancy, but a nice one.”
“I think that would be amazing,” Clay said, thumbing my cheek. “But I also think it’s impossible, unless I’m willing to take out a pretty sizable loan.”
“Not necessarily.”
Clay eyes me curiously as I sat up fully, crossing my legs under me. He slid up until his back was to the headboard, waiting.
“We had a sponsor reach out to us, and they’re looking to do a big campaign leading up to the bowl games and championship.”
The curiosity on his face vanished, replaced by hard stone. “No.”
“Hear me out,” I said, putting up my hands. “It won’t be like a Kyle Robbins situation.”
“How would it be different?”
“Because you don’t want it for the same reasons,” I explained easily. “And it wouldn’t be an ongoing commitment.”
“I need to be focused on the field right now. We’re only a month away from bowl season.”
“And you can be. Look,” I said, pulling his hands into mine. “One commercial. One event where you sign some sneakers. You’d probably have to wear them exclusively for a while, but it wouldn’t be forever. I can work out the terms to be whatever you’re comfortable with.”
Clay frowned, considering. “It can be like that?”
“When you’re the best safety in the nation?” I arched a brow. “It can be like anything you demand.”
He smirked, leaning his head back against the headboard as he studied me. “You’re sounding like my agent now, Kitten.”
“Maybe I will be one day.”
“Is that something you’d want to do?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. Charlotte said something to me when she extended my contract. She said I’d already succeeded in proving people wrong about me, but now she wanted me to ask myself what I actually want from this so I can reach out and take it.”
Clay sat up. “I’m not kidding, if you wanted to be my agent, I’d take you in a heartbeat. I bet Zeke, Riley, and Holden all would, too. Maybe even Leo — if the showboating sonofabitch doesn’t try to represent himself.”
My heart zipped in my chest at the thought, but I waved him off. “We can talk about that later. Right now, let’s focus on getting your mom the help she needs.”
Clay sighed, pulling on my hands until I was collapsing into his arms as he laid back against the headboard again. “You’re too good to me.”
“No, you’re just not used to being in a relationship where the love and care is reciprocated.”
“It’s going to take some getting used to.”
“Good thing we have all the time in the world.”
He smiled, kissing my hair.
“Is… is Maliyah okay?”
Clay shook his head. “Only you would ask if my ex-girlfriend is okay.”
“I mean, you told her everything, right?” I frowned. “That wouldn’t be easy for anyone to hear.”
“It wasn’t,” he agreed, his gaze lost between us. “She cried, a lot, and I held her and tried to soothe her as best I could. In the end, though, she said she understood. She said she’d hurt me just as badly — which isn’t wrong. I think she was most upset by her dad,” I admitted. “And I know he isn’t happy that I told her what happened.”
“Well, I’m glad you did. She deserved the truth.”
“She did. And, weirdly… I feel like we could maybe be friends now. Not close friends,” he amended quickly. “But… friendly. Cordial. I don’t know that I could say the same for Cory, though. I think his days of acting as my stand-in dad are over.”
I smoothed a hand over his bicep. “What about your real dad?”
He blew out a breath. “That I haven’t even begun to tackle yet. But… I owe him an apology. I see now better than I did when I went off on him that he was just trying to help me.”
“To be fair, he could show up a little more.”
“He could,” Clay agreed. “Maybe now… he will.”
I smiled, nodding as I watched where my fingertips drew lines on his skin.