Chapter 98

~Thump~

Something wakes me up from my deliciously long sleep. I roll over to check the time on my phone. I see two messages on my phone from Knox.

Knox

I’m sorry baby doll. I didn’t know

Knox

I’m going to fix this.

Remembering last night. I throw back the covers feeling the cold air rush to my skin and run around my bed bursting my door open and then his. Seeing his room empty, bed made, and the quietness.

He’s not here. He had to have come home last night. He texted me. But he didn’t wake me.

“Hey! I was going to come in and wake you. He’s gone to do his ESPN interview downtown today. We’re all watching it downstairs together if you want to watch it with us?” I hear Kyle’s voice beside me.

Not taking my eyes off his room I nod allowing Kyle to move around me to go downstairs. I lean off the door frame sighing. I wish I’d spoken to him before he left.

Just to talk to him. Calm him, calm his nerves. I know how nervous he must’ve been. It was only fair that I tried to calm him down. Like he did with me in New York.

I trail downstairs after changing into my clothes and enter the kitchen with Boomer at my feet. I feed him his lunch and proceed to make myself some food seeing as everyone is engrossed watching the TV.

“Today we’re live with Knox Carter. We will be talking with him live in Savannah Georgia after the break. Stay tuned!” It cuts to a commercial. I continue to fill my plate with salad and cold chicken.

I sit beside Hannah at the counter with Ben beside her. Seeing his hand rest on her leg, I send him a cheeky smile which he sends a playful glare at me.

But my attention gets taken back to the screen in the kitchen above the dining table.

“Good afternoon everybody live from Savannah Georgia with the great Knox Carter today. How are we doing today Knox?” The reporter asks him.

I can see his nerves on the screen and I pray he relaxes. I can see he’s biting down on his lower lip making it look ruby red. He’s good at this stuff, he does this all the time.

“I’m good today Gerry thanks! How are you?” He’s polite but I can hear the shakiness in his voice that makes me cringe. Seeing his jaw tense, he heard it too.

“So another two years with the Giants? You planning on nabbing yourself another title this season?”

I begin to pierce my salad with chicken onto my fork and struggle to get it inside my mouth. I get attacked by the leaves hanging from it and groan at how annoying it’s being.

“That’s the plan alright Gerry, but we’ll take each game as it comes. No point thinking too far ahead in the future. The season hasn’t started but it’s a goal for the team” answering smoothly.

He’s in a sharp black suit that accentuates his toned body. He looks so good. You can see the upper part of his six-pack through this white shirt that is then cut off by the button clasped holding the material together.

That is one strong button.

His hair is neatly combed back like the time when we went to the People magazine event back home.

“Well, it’s good to have a goal and game plan. How do you prep yourself before a game?”

“I have a good breakfast, lots of protein to keep my energy constant. I usually have the blue Gatorade before I walk to the field.

No rituals, like the same socks or underwear, I don’t believe in that stuff. I listen to pumped-up music to get me hyped. That’s it really.”

“All that helped you win the Super Bowl title for your team? You didn’t have a strong start in the game, but you picked up after halftime. I know it wasn’t Beyoncé that pumped you up?

You mentioned someone helped you pick yourself up? Care to tell us who it was?”

Shaking his head with a smile on his handsome face. He sighed loudly. Running his fingers along the leather armchair he sits on beside the desk.

“If I shared that with you, I’d have every athlete after her getting her to hype them up too. She’s my secret. She helped me open my eyes a little to play my own game and nobody else’s”

His eyes flicker to the camera like he’s watching me. Hannah nudges me slightly and my mom turns her head around to send me a small smile. I see him playing with his hands, wringing them because he’s nervous.

“It almost sounds like you were playing for her? You made exceptional passes that day. Correct me if I’m wrong but statistically, that was your best game-”

“In a way I was. She put effort into hyping me up for the second half so I owed it to her to bring my end of the bargain in. Yeah, statistically and it felt like it was the best game I’ve ever played.

I wouldn’t change anything about that day. I threw numerous perfect spirals that felt amazing and that rarely happens to me” he smiles to himself at the memory resting his fingers on his chin.

Showing his pearly white teeth to the people. His nerves are fading as he relaxes into the seat being cool, calm, and collected.

“Nothing’s better than a perfect spiral! But it’s time to take a quick break. We’ll be back with more of Knox Carter after these messages!”

Another few commercials run. Including his Calvin Klein commercials, which we saw on the big screen in LA. After a few minutes more we stopped chatting to listen in again to him.

Listening to the introduction music, the screen occupies his entire face with him smiling at something the presenter said off-camera.

“Welcome back to the show, we still have the most talked about football player at the moment here with us, Knox Carter. Thanks to his popularity we’re taking in a lot of viewers today.

So let’s move on to your endorsements, you have got a lot of companies after you for sponsorship deals. Your face is everywhere! What does that feel like?”

He sighs once more laughing at himself. I can tell he hates this type of question.

“Well, it’s nice they consider me as influential. But I’ve had a lot of support from my family and friends. Some of them make loads of fun of me” switching his eyes to the camera I make eye contact with Kyle who laughs at me.

He’s throwing a dig at me through the camera. How nice. “But I know they secretly love to see me half naked” I roll my eyes, because I know he’s still making reference to me.

Shifting my weight on the seat I feel my legs sticking to the covers of the seats. Feeding my food into my mouth and continuing to listen in along with everyone.

“Speaking of family, you’ve got a lot of fans? How does your family deal with your well-known status?” He laughs with Knox who seems a little more relaxed now.

“Well, I love my fans! I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them.

But it can be hard at times too, like I have a three-year-old nephew that I want to be able to do things with, without being approached because he gets scared of all the flashes and cameras.

I hate doing that to him. But also my best friend’s nieces and nephews, it happens a lot. They’re just kids, so I keep them away from it all as much as I can.

But the rest of them are happy I’m a pro football player, especially my mom. I’ve got a lot of love for her, she’s the one who pushed me to try my best but also reminded me to have fun on the field.”

He wears a serious expression on his face. Trailing his finger across his collar to loosen it up a little. He’s probably feeling hot under the lights. I can hear all the panties dropping around the world once he brought up the kids.

“And all the girls? You have a lot of them after you? How do you feel about that? And Lauren? Seeing as you’re dating each other...” Gerry trails off reading the questions in front of him.

“It’s flattering to have them as you say ’after me’-” noticeably dodging the reference to Lauren. The reporter picks up on that too but moves on from it.

His eyes tell a different story, they’re shining brightly through the screen. He’s got a wholehearted smile that makes my heart pick up. The butterflies erupt in my stomach making me swallow a lump lodged in my throat.

“So Carter, are you into blondes or brunettes?” I grinned at the question remembering our trip to New York when I asked him that in the car.

I see his eyes glint in the camera as he focuses them on it for a few seconds. He must know I’m watching him.

“Now? Blondes, but I do like brunettes too” he tells Gerry over the desk. He reaches for his glass of water beside him and takes a sip.

“You’ve been linked with a few girls over the past few years, Carter. Do you think there will be a time for you to settle down?”

This question looks to catch him off guard a little as he swallows the water down. Seeing the large gulp in his throat, I know it’s not a question he likes.

“You’re sounding like my mom. But yeah, when you’re well known, you’re linked to pretty much anyone. I want to settle down, I think I will soon. With the right girl of course,” he nods his head like he’s referring to someone.

Gerry picks up on his with a smile plastered on his face. What is about to say next instantly grabs my attention.

“Are you in love Carter?” Gerry presses him reading his expression, and Adam pulls on my leg to lift him up onto my lap. Gerry is really asking if he’s in love with Lauren.

This is the question everyone will be listening tentatively for an answer to.

With Adam sitting on me comfortably he watches his uncle hesitate along with everyone else. His eyes flicker back to the camera and I feel my heart jump into my mouth.

I bite on my chicken waiting for him to answer the question. He’s taking too long. Why is he taking so long?

My fork rested in the air waiting for his voice to be heard again. The anticipation is killing me. Say no. I mentally scream at the TV. Say no Carter!

“I am” my heart drops into my stomach and I don’t feel hungry anymore. He’s smiling from ear to ear looking at Gerry.

Gerry looks shocked that he even answered the question but recovers almost immediately.

My entire body flops into a mess on the chair while Adam sits up on me. My body feels defeated. I feel defeated. He loves her? I can feel the tears stinging my eyes, but I have to hold them back.

My shoulders dropped down to a lower level and it felt like a blow to my stomach hearing that.

“How long have you been in love?” Gerry continues to press the issue but I don’t really want to hear it. I’m done. I just want to crawl back into my bed and cry again.

“Since I was eleven” I freeze in my seat staring up at the screen while my eyebrows shoot up.

“What?” Kyle asks out loud not being able to comprehend what his best friend just said. “That doesn’t make any sense?” Kyle looks over to Delilah who had a large grin on her own face much like the one Knox is sporting.

I squint my eyes to focus them better on him. My eyes darted around to think about what he just said on live TV.

“Umm.... but you haven’t known Lauren for that long?” Gerry asks him skeptical of his answer. Everyone is so confused except for my parents and his.

“I don’t understand?” Gerry flips through the sheets of paper on his desk. You and me both Gerry, you and me both.

I sit up straighter studying him on the screen, holding Adam carefully in my hands.

“I never said I was in love with Lauren” he simply says shifting forward in his seat. He’s staring down at his hands.

“So you’re in love with someone else?” He asks slowly, trying to figure it all out. He’s known plenty of girls since he was eleven.

I look around the room and everyone is making eye contact with each other waiting for him to respond. My heart is ramming against my chest, I feel a spark of energy surge in my veins as I listen to him.

He nods his head with another smile plastered on his gorgeous face as he looks down playing with his hands. His plumped-up lips look more and more enticing.

“I love the way she’s feisty and guarded. She has walls built up that I want to knock down. I love her smile. Her laugh. The way she says my name. The way she fights with me. I love her mind.

I love the way she looks at me. She has always had my heart, from the first day I met her. She’s always been the one for me. The one I’ve wanted for so many years. I had the chance and I messed it up.

But I’m here right now trying to fix it. I want to call her mine, my girlfriend. I want to hug her until she falls asleep in my arms every night and kiss her like we’re the only ones in the room.

I love her. I’m in love with her.” He states back to him. So sure. So definite. No quiver in his voice. He sounded so confident that it takes me back a little while my heart is going a million miles per hour.

“Who’s her? Who is the lucky lady you’re in love with Carter? You’ll be breaking a few hearts once you say her name” he jokes.

Knox looks up to see the reporter waiting for the answer everyone in the entire world wants to know. Who is this girl? Who is she?

There is silence around us anticipating his answer.