Hope for Him (Hope Series Book #2) Read Online Free

special, but did she, and how special?
    Who am I kidding?
    No way around it, this was complicated.
    When we were together last night, it wasn't messy or weird or complicated. We fit together perfectly. I knew we both felt it. I saw it in her eyes, but we were both too chicken shit to admit it.
    We passed through the airport gate and panic rose in my throat. My mind raced over things to say, but nothing came to mind because nothing had changed.
    We lived so far apart. With her in Texas and me in Florida, we would never see each other, at least not during the season. After the season, I would graduate and then prepare for the NFL draft. After that, who knew where I'd end up?
    I had run down the list a million times before. Bottom line, we couldn't be together. A year had passed since Josh and the attack, and we were better, but we weren't over it and we never talked about it.
    It was better this way. I needed to keep my focus on campus. 
    We pulled up to the curb at the airport.
    "You okay?" I asked.
    "Yeah." She leaned over and kissed me, her fingers wrapped around my bicep and pulled me closer. I kissed her harder, tasted her tongue and conjured images of her last night and this morning, but the kissed ended and it felt so final.
    "Thanks for last night," Carrington said.
    "Thank you."
    "It was pretty great, right?" she asked.
    "Only slightly better than this morning."
    She lowered her eyes and smiled. Why did she hide from me? I sighed and lifted her chin. I studied her face for any sign things had changed for her. I didn't see anything. It pissed me off. I sighed and rubbed her cheek with my thumb. Her soft skin made me smile. 
    "Call me when you get in."
    "I will." I leaned over and placed a quick kiss on her cheek and got out of the car.
    "Jackson."
    Oh shit.
    This was it. This would be the moment where she would say what we were both afraid to say, and it would be on. Despite my list of excuses, I would throw it all away if she told me she wanted me.
    She hesitated and I knelt back in the car. My hand snaked behind her neck, and I kissed her. She moaned as my tongue touched hers, and she deepened the kiss, grabbing a fist full of my t-shirt and pulling me closer. I landed three more quick kisses before I pulled back.
    She lowered her head and kind of pushed me away.
    She didn't say anything right away.
    "Good luck on your exams."
    "Thanks." I closed the door and stood on the curb for a minute to gather my thoughts. Before I could think of doing something, she pulled away from the curb. I watched her car until she turned out of the terminal.
    I headed into the airport.
    When I went through security, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dropped it in the tray. A missed call illuminated my phone.
    I gathered it on the other end, read the caller ID, and groaned.
    It's way too early for this.
    True to form, she called right back.
    "Hello."
    "Jackson," Tiffany said.
    "What's up?"
    "I wanted to make sure you made your flight. You have an exam this afternoon, right? Did you get to study for it?" I pulled the phone away from my ear and cringed at the sound of her high-pitched singsong voice. 
    "I'm at the airport."
    I met Tiffany Chandler a couple of months ago and because I only slept with her, she was under the distinct impression she was my girlfriend. I just never bothered to correct that assumption.
    Before I left, Tiffany had picked fights with me all week, asking questions and making comments about Carrington and Jack. She didn't understand our relationship. I never fully explained it to her. I blew up at her and ignored her calls and texts for two days. Perhaps, now she understood some things were off-limits. Sometimes she wasn't too bright.
    "You're not still mad at me?"
    "No." I felt nothing for her. I was mad at myself.
    "How's Carrington ...and little Jackson?"
    "Tiff, my flight’s boarding. I'll talk to you when I get home."
    "Oh, okay," she said, her voice low and throaty.
    "I'll call you when I get back to