Sweet Rome

  Gentle arms folded tightly around my back and chest and I flinched and tried to get away. Molly shushed me soothingly and pulled me down until my head was lying on her lap, her fingers moving to comb through my hair.

  I didn’t know if it was the comfort of her touch or the enormity of all that happened tonight, but a flood of memories raced to the front of my mind: punches, hits, harsh insults, punishments… everything.

  Molly was sniffing and shaking above me, and I knew she was crying too. I’d never loved her more than I did in that moment, sharing my grief, and when she lifted my face with her hands, whispering, “Romeo—” I sucked up a breath, and for the first time in my life uttered the words, “I love you… I love you,” as I stared into her golden eyes, praying she would just give me one more chance to make her happy.

  “W-what?”

  I lay back on the couch, suddenly exhausted, and brought my girl to lie above me, confessing, “I love you. I love you beyond anything I could’ve ever imagine was possible.”

  A gamut of emotions danced across her face before it melted into what looked like relief, and she whispered, “I love you, too, babe. I love you so, so much.”

  I’d never heard those words directed at me before. I love you—three little words that, up until I’d met Molly, I thought were reserved for sappy fucking films and unrealistic dreamers. But hell, hearing them from her lips made me feel alive, and I couldn’t believe she meant it. She’d been verbally torn apart because of me, thrust from her quiet life into a shitstorm.

  Rubbing at her cheeks, I asked, “Baby, you do? Even after—”

  Pressing her finger to my lips, she said, “I’m not going anywhere. I came in here to tell you that. I was in the truck, listening to you hurting, and I knew I had to be with you no matter what, tell you that I’m never going to leave you.”

  “But my parents…”

  “Yes, your parents tonight were something else, but they won’t ever chase me from you, from loving you. We’re star-crossed, Romeo. Interfering parents come as part of the package.”

  And there it was, her unshakable strength, her ability to pull me back from the darkness, and I couldn’t help but smile. She was always searching for the fairy tale, the happily ever after. But she was mine, and she fucking loved me.

  “I feel stripped bare right now… like someone has ripped open my chest and all you’re seeing is a mangled heart held together by jagged scars,” I whispered, seeing her eyes glisten once more.

  Fingers crawled up to my chest and she began shedding me of my shirt, button by button, pressing those damn soft lips against my heart.

  It felt incredible.

  Watching her slowly move down my body, I said, “No one has ever known what they’re really like behind closed doors. I’ve never told a soul. You were a big old brick through their glass fortress tonight. I could see the panic in my daddy’s eyes. You could destroy everything they’ve worked so hard for.”

  Pausing, she replied, “As bad as that was, I’m glad I was there, that I now know what you cope with. We can’t erase the secrets and marred memories of our pasts, but we can build the next chapter of our lives together.”

  She wasn’t leaving me.

  “Mol…” I croaked, unable to finish the sentence.

  “Shh…” she said, a teasing smile on her lips, and she began to push my shirt aside and shimmy down my legs.

  Groaning at her touch, my hips lifted automatically as she began to undo the waistband of my slacks.

  Fuck me. I knew that look in her eyes.

  She pulled down my pants and boxers in one, and hard as fuck before her, she bent down and licked my cock from balls to tip, a long groan ripping from my throat. I needed this. I needed this from her so fucking bad.

  Her hot mouth engulfed my dick in one swallow and any thought of tonight and all our problems left my mind. There was only my girl and me right now.

  Gripping the back of her head, I pumped in and out of her mouth, and the whole time Molly just took it, giving me what I needed most—her acceptance.

  But when she raked down my length with her teeth. I jerked and I groaned a desperate growl.

  Fisting Molly’s brown hair, I forced her off my junk. “Stand up.”

  With a hungry bite of her lip, she did as instructed, and within seconds I’d rid her of her clothes and she stood before me, naked, flushed, and ready.

  Pushing her to the sofa, her thighs draping open, my cock twitched and I drank her in, needing a taste. “I didn’t tell you to suck me, Shakespeare. You know you need to ask permission first.” Her lips parted and she arched in untamed lust below me.

  Leaning down and crooking her leg over my shoulder, opening her wide, I announced, “Now it’s my turn,” and dived between her legs. Molly expelled a long moan, only serving to egg me on further.

  “Grip my hair,” I ordered, momentarily lifting my head. Her fingers ran through it softly, but I wanted hard and rough. I wanted to fuck—raw and primal.

  “Pull it! Mean it!” I ordered again, my voice curt and forceful.

  With a rise of her hips and a guttural groan, she clawed at my hair, obeying me, and I plunged my tongue into her. My girl’s breath was coming in hard pants, and I substituted my tongue for my fingers and latched onto her clit, sucking hard until she came, hot and sweet in my mouth.

  Not stopping for even a moment, I turned a shifted Molly onto her stomach and bent her over the couch, kissing her lips, opening her soft thighs, and pounding straight into her warmth.

  “Tell me you love me,” I ordered into her long, brown hair, my nose buried in the crook of her neck.

  Moaning, she murmured, “I love you. I love you so, so much.”

  Fuck me, those words. “Tell me you’ll never leave me.”

  This time all I got was silence.

  Her channel clenched and she tried to rock against me, but I pushed in to the hilt, making it impossible for her to move, holding tightly onto her hips, leaning down to whisper, “Do as I say or I won’t give you what you want, what I know you need from me.”

  “Romeo! Stop it!” she cried, her voice thick with lust.

  “Do it. You get me?” I growled, wrapping my fist in her long hair and taking her mouth only briefly.

  “Argh!” she screamed, and glaring back at me, she said, “Yes, I friggin’ get you!”

  I drove into her once more. Christ, she felt amazing. “You do get me, baby. You’re the only one to ever understand. You’re the only one to ever know.

  “Tell me you’ll never leave me.” I needed to hear it again. I needed the reassurance.

  “I’ll never leave you!” she answered immediately.

  My hands were everywhere: her ass, her tits, her clit. “You’ll never run,” I barked out.

  “I’ll never run!”

  “Promise me.”

  “I promise!”

  “Romeo… I… ah!” Stiffening, she tipped over the edge, her tight center milking at my dick almost to the point of pain, taking me right over with her.

  I slowly worked us down, my mouth sucking at the damp skin of her shoulder, a large red mark forming, evidence of my roughness left on her body. I didn’t worry about what she would think; she liked it like this as much as I did.

  Kissing and licking at the skin of her back, I whispered, “I love you, baby.”

  Relaxing into her exhausted body, I thought back over the day, and despite the shit we’d been through, right here, right now, holding Molly in my arms, I couldn’t help but be thankful. The events of today had forced us to share our feelings with one another; it had brought us both to a better place.

  After lighting a fire and lying back down on the couch, my girl draped over my chest, she asked, “Are you okay, baby?”

  “I will be. I have you,” I whispered. It was true. If I had Molly by my side, I could get through anything: psycho parents, delusional exes… anything.

  Smiling at me shyly, she looked straight into my eyes and stated, “Y
ou chose me.”

  How the hell could she think I’d do anything else?

  “And I’d do it again in a heartbeat,” I assured, running my hand down her cheek.

  “Have your parents ever been nice to you?” she asked, her fingers tracing lazy circles on my chest.

  I ran my younger years through my mind, then miserably shook my head.

  “Were you ever happy?”

  “No.”

  “Are you now?”

  This one was easy. “Completely. I finally know what it is to love and to be loved. But I’m scared as all hell that it’ll end. My folks won’t give up that easy.”

  “I’m staying with you,” Molly said with authority, showing the determination of a little pit bull.

  “Do you swear that to me?”

  “I swear. I love you. I’m yours.” Fuck, I couldn’t speak at those words, at her unwavering certainty, so I just kissed her fingers, the palms of her hands, anywhere I could.

  “So what now? Football? Greatness? World domination?”

  “I guess so.”

  “What do you want, Romeo? What do you desire most from life?” She pushed, nodding her head encouragingly.

  There was only one thing keeping me sane, so without thinking, I responded, “You.”

  Eyebrows drawn, she shook her head and said, “No, really, baby, what do you want? It’s there for you to take.”

  I was unmoved. “Just you, baby. You feel like home to me.”

  Moving above me once again, she assured, “You have me. All of me, for as long as you want.”

  “Really? I’ve got you forever? Because I pretty much just cut myself off from the only family I have.”

  “Romeo, you’re my family. You’re it. You and my crazy friends are my entire reason for being. How can you not know that?”

  I let out a pent-up breath. “Because I can’t believe it’s true.”

  “It’s you and me, Romeo.”

  And it was. Some folks may think the way we were with each other was unhealthy, but what they didn’t know was that it was Mol that had stopped me from going over the edge so many times. She diffused my anger, helped me focus on the good. She was my good, and I shouldn’t have to explain that shit to anyone.

  Molly leaned in for a kiss after all the talking was done, and that kiss turned from innocent to a whole load of not. I pressed myself between her legs and just like that, I wanted her again.

  “Romeo,” Molly moaned immediately—and that was us, for the rest of the night, giving each other what we needed and then sleeping in each other’s arms. Or at least she slept. I just worried about what the future held as I gripped on tight.

  Turned out the next few months would be some of the happiest of my life. I heard nothing from my parents, Shelly stayed well away from both of us, and the Tide sailed through the football season undefeated.

  The closer my girl and I got, the more I worried about the future. She wanted to be a professor and could move away to complete her PhD. By entering the NFL draft, I could be sent anywhere in the US, and it played on my mind all the damn time. Molly told me to relax, have fun, and it would all work out. So I let myself do that for the first time in my life.

  But nothing ever stays good forever. Molly and I both had pasts that’d taught us that the hard way.

  24

  Three months later…

  “Bring it, baby! Ain’t nothing gonna stop the Tide!”

  Walking into the locker room after practice, I was faced with the most fucking disturbing sight I’d ever seen—Jimmy-Don in his funky white briefs on a table, grinding a towel between his legs, his Stetson still firmly on his head… and nothing else.

  “We got ’em boys. Gonna get another BCS National Championship, no doubt about it!” He didn’t stop there, whooping and hollering for several minutes, and Austin moved to stand beside me, saying, “How he gets laid is beyond me, crazy fucker.”

  Laughing as Jimmy-Don worked our teammates into a frenzy, I couldn’t help but get caught up in all the excitement too. The last three months I’d played like never before—we all had—and my girl, my girl attended every home game, even some away, and she kissed me, publicly, before each and ever one, the fans unwilling to have it any other way. They were beginning to love her just as much as me.

  Coach chose that moment to enter the room, trying his damnedest to hold in his amusement of our offensive tackle working it like a pro.

  “Jimmy-Don Smith! Get the hell down from there!” Grimacing, Jimmy-Don jumped off the table and followed the coach, apologizing until he was dragged away by a teammate and shoved into the showers.

  Coach tried to hide his mirth, then finding me at the back, tilted his chin and signaled for me to meet him in his office.

  Sitting before him, I asked, “What’s up, Coach?”

  “I wanted to let you in on a very interesting call I had yesterday.”

  Frowning, I said, “Okay…”

  “It was from the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks.” Excitement built in my chest, and I smiled; Coach did too.

  “They’re having a real tough time this season, and if things keep going south for them and we get it right, you’ll be a first-round draft pick. You could find yourself heading north for Seattle, son. You’d be getting a fresh start away from Bama.” I got what he was really saying—I’d be getting a fresh start away from my folks.

  “I told the Hawks what I think of you.”

  I looked at him and frowned. What the hell was that?

  Coach smiled and said, “Relax, I told them you’re the best quarterback I’ve ever worked with, your work ethic is bordering on obsessive—which is a good thing—and you’re one of the strongest kids I know, especially in the face of adversity. I told them you’re the damn lottery, son.”

  Coach stood, always a man of few words, and clapped me on the shoulder, seeing I was choked up at his words, and left me alone to process all that was said.

  Seattle.

  Moving to my locker in a daze, I grabbed a shower and quickly dressed into my jeans and T-shirt. My thoughts were going crazy. I was excited by what Coach had just said, the fact I could get away to somewhere like Seattle. But I was also worried with when I should tell Mol. Right now the Hawks were a possibility, but I didn’t want her to plan her future around it, in case things changed. Plus, we’d never even agreed that she would come with me. That was a conversation we needed to have.

  Grabbing my things, I checked my phone. One message:

  Al: Rome, when you get this, come straight to Molly’s room. We’re all with her until you get here. Al. XX

  Frowning in concern, I turned to Austin. “Got to go. Something’s up with Mol. Catch you later?”

  “Sure. Hope she’s okay.” Slapping him on the back, I headed out of the stadium and raced to Molly’s sorority house.

  As soon as I arrived below her balcony, I heard a loud cry from inside her room.

  Molly.

  Fear saw me climbing up the trellis faster than ever, and when I landed on the balcony terrace, it was to find Molly on the floor, surrounded by her friends, all shedding tears too.

  “Mol?” My girl didn’t stop crying as I called out her name, but Ally lifted her head and paled at me frozen in shock. That only caused me to panic more.

  “Mol! What’s wrong with her?” I bit out more forcefully as I burst into the room. Molly still didn’t stop in her tears, Lexi and Cass shielding her from my view.

  Ally stood and came before me, chewing on her fingernail. She was nervous. I knew my cousin enough to know that. “Rome, calm down, okay?”

  “No! What’s wrong with her?” I looked over Ally’s shoulder, but my girl still hadn’t moved. Was she in pain? Was she really sick? Did she need the hospital? Shit! Did she have to leave to Bama? Too many messed-up scenarios raced through my head.

  “Mol?” I tried to call out again. Still nothing, and this time I was losing patience… fast. Turning back to Al, I asked, “Is she sick? Why isn’
t she answering me? I got your message and came straight over.”

  “No. She’s… erm…” Al couldn’t say a damn thing either, and my stomach flipped.

  “Was it Shelly? Has that bitch—”

  “It’s not Shelly either,” Ally cut in.

  “Then what’s wrong…? Al, for fuck’s sake, move outta my way!” I physically lifted my cousin out of my way and beelined for Mol, her friends moving so I could pick her up off the floor.

  Once in my arms, I took in her too-white face, her damp skin, and the fact that her chest was convulsing from too many tears. Moving to her unmade bed, I placed her down, lying beside her, ignoring our friends, and pressed a kiss on each of her cheeks, her huge, nervous eyes scaring the absolute shit out of me.

  “Baby, what’s wrong?” I tried to ask gently, but my impatience was sneaking through.

  Her eyes squeezed shut and she shook her head, still too emotional to speak.

  I stared at our friends fidgeting nervously at the end of the bed and yelled, “Will somebody tell me what the fuck is going on?!”

  Casting each other questioning glances, Cass pushed Ally forward and she said, “Rome, Molly needs to tell you. We’ll go, give you some time to yourselves.”

  And that just caused me to worry more. What the hell could be so bad that my girl would be this hysterical and my cousin could barely make eye contact?

  Within minutes, the girls had cleared, leaving me alone with Molly, my heart booming in anticipation of what she would say. Grasping her around the waist, I rolled us so she was above me. Her flushed face showed her surprise, but searching my eyes, she simply dipped forward, whispering, “I love you, Romeo.”

  If that was meant to soothe me, it failed, but I told her, “I love you, too.” I couldn’t get enough of those words, and then I just waited for her to speak.

  But she didn’t, causing me to groan loudly and say, “Mol—”

  “I’ve been feeling off for a few days,” she interrupted and my heart immediately sank.

  She was ill? Fuck, was it serious, like really serious? I felt nauseous.

  “Why the hell didn’t you tell me?” I snapped out, now scared out of mind and pissed that she would keep something as important as her health a secret from me.