Love Was Easy When We Didn't Make It So Hard

"Fuck." Eric muttered at the TV his hands running roughly over his face as he watched Illinois run down the field with the football they had just taken from Adam's hands. I bit my lip and closed my eyes, watching with Eric as we thought of his final game at TCF Bank Stadium, the day Illinois beat the crap out of them. This game looked a lot like the same and it was only the first half.

The Gopher Football team could sure use a guy like Eric out on the field, catching passes and running up the points for their side of the scoreboard. But he had graduated and it seemed like no one wanted to step up. Adam's confidence was completely gone and from what Eric told me, the campus had lost hope in their quarterback as well. From what Katie told me, Adam was feeling terrible and just wanted the season to end. Eric had been trying to do what he could from afar, but none of it seemed to be working, and it was harder on Eric than it should have been.

"I don't understand why he can't just pull his head out of his ass. He isn't looking for the open guy. He is taking way too many steps into the backfield, and his passing is terrible. His game has gone to hell faster than a steaming freight train." Eric stood up, running a rough hand over his face as I watched him with a reserved expression. Gabby perked her head up as Eric walked by, heading to the fridge and grabbing a bottle of beer. He popped the top, taking a long pull before joining me on the couch. "I'd rather have something a little stronger." He mumbled to me.

"Probably wouldn't be a good idea since you have a game tomorrow."

"No, but that doesn't take away the fact that this game is fucking brutal. Come over here and give me some loving." He pouted at me, grabbing the top of my arm and dragging me across the couch. I giggled as he settled me into his lap, lips pressing against my cheeks while his free arm wrapped around my waist.

I turned towards him, puckering my lips for a kiss as he sighed, the announcers confirming that once again something bad was happening for the Gophers. Eric squeezed his brown eyes shut, his eyelids crinkling from the pressure, mouth forming a deep frown that made me want to kiss it away. I leaned down, pressing my lips to the corners of his mouth, his lips sealed up tight.

"Maybe if we don't look, it didn't happen." I whispered to him, watching as the corners of his mouth tilted up slightly, a laugh bubbling in his chest.

"Maybe." He replied before his large hand slipped to the back of my neck, pulling my face down to his. "Let's make out like crazy teenagers."

"Okay!" I exclaimed, squealing as he flipped me quickly so my back was pressed into the couch. He hovered over me, his tongue hanging out of his mouth like a dog as he wagged it at me. "Oh babe, that is sexy." I laughed loudly as he leaned down, pressing his extremely wet lips against mine, giving me a sloppy kiss. "Oh!" I squeaked as Gabby hopped up, joining in the loving festivities, her tongue trailed over my cheek, leaving a trail of saliva after it.

"Oh hi puppy! You want some kisses too?" Eric asked her, grabbing her collar and running his large hands over her head. He leaned down, kissing at her head and then at her snout before puckering his lips for kisses of his own. I scrunched my face up in distaste as she coated his lips with wetness, shaking my head as he turned his puckered lips to me.

"Not happening."

"Oh really?" Eric asked, his eyes twinkling mischievously.

"ERIC! NO!" I screamed as I tried to wiggled out from under him. I couldn't see how that would happen successfully when his arms and large body were locking me into the couch tightly. So I flipped over, putting my back to him and smashing my face into the couch pillow.

"Come on babe, we're family."

"I don't care. That is disgusting." Eric finally got off of me, walking out of the room and moving towards the bathroom. I sighed in relief, looking down at Gabby who's mouth was open in a smile. "You enjoyed that didn't you." I glowered at her as she yelped excitedly, tail flapping around behind her.

My phone began to buzz on the table and I reached for it as Eric came out of the bathroom, teeth and mouth clean after his make out session with the dog. I grimaced as I looked at the caller id, seeing Jamie flashing across the screen. I pressed ignore and shoved my phone into my sweatshirt pocket, avoiding Eric's curious gaze.

"Who was that?" He asked, tilting his head to the side as he studied me.

"No one." I shrugged my shoulders once, thinking maybe he would drop it.

"Really? Can I see your phone?" He murmured to me, lips tilted slightly in a smile.

"No because it isn't a big deal." I insisted, rolling my eyes to try and play it cool.

Jamie and I had been hanging out for about three weeks now. We would meet up for lunch or take the dogs for a walk and get coffee afterwords. All of our time together was harmless and I made sure that he knew that there would be nothing happening between the two of us. I enjoyed spending time with Jamie and Oliver, and I knew Gabby appreciated it too. She was like me in the sense that she needed a friend, someone to hang out with when we both got bored. Jamie and Oliver were those things for us, but even though I enjoyed Jamie's company, I knew Eric surely wouldn't.

"Okay." He shrugged, turning towards the TV once again, his jaw set in annoyance. I sighed quietly and snuggled into his shoulder. I felt bad about lying to him, but what Eric didn't know wouldn't kill him. Right?
***

Later that night I stood in the bathroom, getting ready to go to bed. I washed my face, took out my contacts replacing them with my glasses before brushing my teeth. I stared at my reflection, listening to Eric move around in the bedroom, the jingle of Gabby's collar sounding as she followed Eric around. I spit out the foam in my mouth, giving it a quick rinse before wiping the liquid from my face. With a sense of cleanliness, I padded back into the bedroom, seeing Eric flipping through my phone as if it was his. He didn't even bother to hide the fact that he was not only flipping through my phone calls, but also my texts.

"Eric! What the hell!" I exclaimed, leaping onto the bed and snatching the phone from his grip. He rolled his eyes, studying me with a curious expression.

"Who's Jamie? Is she a new friend?" He wondered with more curiosity than anything else. I stared down at him, wondering if I should cross that line. The one where I blatantly lied to him or the one where I danced along it, weaving around his choice of words. Finally, after several long pauses, I figured it was better for him to find out now than later.

"She is a he." I mumbled, tossing my phone onto the night stand as Gabby trotted up onto the bed. She twirled around in three circles before plopping her butt down on the bed. She snuggled into the comforter, her nose buried in the blue fabric as she looked at Eric and I.

"What?" Eric asked, a snap in his voice that I hadn't heard in a couple weeks. I bit my lip nervously, hoping this didn't escalate into a fight. We had been doing so good, the best since we moved here, and had yet to fight since before my family came to visit.

"He's just a friend, Eric." I told him, placing a calming palm on his chest. I felt it rise and fall rapidly beneath my hand and I leaned forward to press my lips against his. "We met in the park one day, he has a dog that Gabby likes to play with, and I need a friend here." I shrugged at the last part, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. He still looked less than pleased, his eyes smoldering as he tried to hold back his anger.

"Did your new friend have to be a guy?" He snipped, sucking his top lip into his mouth. I sighed loudly, shaking my head and looking up at the ceiling.

"Who's ring am I wearing?" I asked him, my fingers playing with the hairs at the base of his neck. Usually it calmed him, but Eric seemed too far gone to find the touch relaxing.

"Mine." He huffed out, blowing out a sigh also.

"Exactly. I'm marrying you and I don't forget that for a second. I don't see Jamie like that." I whispered to him, leaning in close as I straddled his lap. "I love you, Eric. Being friends with Jamie hasn't changed that, and it won't."

"I don't like it, Riley. I don't like you hanging out with a guy I don't know. How can you trust him? He's someone you just met off the street." Eric shook his head at me, lips pursed in a disapproving look that made me feel as if I should hang my head. Typical of him to make me feel bad for trying to have a life outside of him.

"You don't even know him." I stated feeling the need to defend Jamie to Eric.

"Of course I don't. You never told me about him which is weird in its self. You tell me everything." Eric's brown eyes began to squint and I could see the conversation beginning to turn.

"Can we not talk about this right now?" I sighed, looking at the clock to see that it was already 11:30 and I was too tired to fight with him.

"When are you seeing him again?" Eric asked, making me feel like I was cheating, as if I was going behind his back this whole time and setting up dates when in reality it was nothing like that. It was two friends who had dogs that liked to hang out together. And surely, Jamie didn't think that we were something more.

"I don't know. That was why he was calling earlier."

"Call him back tomorrow, maybe we can all hang out together." Eric suggested, a menacing tone to his voice.

"Eric, be good."

"Riley, stop going behind my back." Eric snapped back, shifting me off of his lap and turning his back to me as he rolled over. I sighed loudly, groaning as he flipped off his lamp.

"Really? Is that how you're going to be about this?" I asked, pouting at his back even though he couldn't see the look.

"I guess so."

"I'm just trying to make my life here easier. I want friends, Eric. People outside of the team who don't feel like they need to be nice to me. I don't fit in anywhere, but when I'm with Jamie, I feel happy, I don't have to pretend to like him because he's a nice guy and he doesn't put up this fake personality. All the wives, all the players, they don't actually like me Eric." I stared at his back, watching his body rise and fall with his breathing. Eric didn't say anything to me, just kept his mouth shut as I defeatedly sighed once more before rolling onto my side of the bed. "You could at least try to be supportive." I mumbled into my pillow.

"It's not that I'm not supportive of you having friends, Riley. I get that all the people who have anything to do with my job aren't exactly your crowd, but it wouldn't kill you to try. Second, it's the fact that this Jamie punk is a guy. I don't share you easily with guys and I'm pretty sure your brothers would stand with me on this one. You don't understand how fucking beautiful you are. Guys take advantage of pretty little things like you all the time and I could not live with myself if I let that happen to you."

"Jamie isn't like that." I insisted.

"Yeah, not that you know of. Don't be that naive little girl who thinks the big bad wolf is really a puppy."

"Stop it, Eric!" I exclaimed, sitting up in bed and looking down at him again. "I know what you are trying to do. Stop trying to scare me or convince me that he's a bad guy. He isn't and I'm not an idiot. I'd like to think I'm a better judge of character than you seem to paint me." I snapped to him, throwing myself back into the pillows.

"I'm not trying to do anything." Eric told me, "if anything I'm trying to make you more aware. There are people out in the world that live off hurting others. What if he's one of those guys? You need to think about stuff like that before you jump into being friends with someone."

"Excuse me for seeing the good in people, Eric. And you wouldn't be this upset if Jamie was a girl. No, it wouldn't matter. You would be all, oh go shopping, have a girls day, do some crazy stuff while I go and throw away life as I used to know it and follow Tom around like some kind of puppy."

"Tom is my agent, Riley. I don't know how many times I need to have this conversation with you. Everything that he does for me is to make my career better."

"And take you away from me." I growled at him, laying on my back and glaring at the ceiling.

"Stop thinking he is out to get you."

"He is! He fucking hates me Eric! How can you not see it!? It's the way he looks at me, the way he is always trying to pull you away from me. Don't you remember at the draft, how he basically made sure I was left alone for hours. You didn't seem to be worried about me then." I snapped at him, shoving the covers off my legs and flying out of bed. Gabby stood at attention, hoping off the bed and following me into the living room as I held my pillow under my arm. "Have fun sleeping alone." I snapped at him before slamming the door, ready for another restless nights sleep in Chicago.
***

A wet nose woke me up the next morning, pressing against my face before a tongue slobbered on my cheeks, slapping at my face to no avail. I jerked my face away, my whole body sprawling around. I squeezed my eyes shut tighter, awaiting the fall to the floor in the living room but instead I stayed on thecouch bed, laying on my back in the middle of it. I stared up at the bedroom ceiling, squinting as the light from the window poured into the room in a very unwelcoming way. I turned to look at Gabby again, the puppy who was now three times bigger than when we got her, as she shook her butt at me, yelping for me to get up.

I sat upwards, looking around the room as my right hand ran over Eric's sheets, feeling them still relatively warm. I glanced at the clock, seeing that it was 9 in the morning and Eric would be leaving for the stadium in about an hour. I licked my lips thoughtfully, wondering if I could hide in here until he left. My hand ran through my hair, and I noticed that my hair wasn't held up in it's pony tail anymore, something that had been in place when I fell asleep at three in the morning. I also wasn't on the couch anymore, the place I had been resting since Eric and I had our rift.

A loud whistle sounded through the apartment to which Gabby's ears poked straight up and she bounded from the room, going to meet Eric in the kitchen. I pursed my lips, rolling back over in bed and closing my eyes, figuring I'd rather sleep than sit with Eric as he ate his pre-game breakfast. But my sleep was interrupted as Gabby jumped onto the bed, jostling it and me while the door creaked open. Eric entered and held up a tray of pancakes, syrup, coffee, water, and a red rose. I looked at him with one eye open, snorting and sitting up as he set the tray over my thighs.

"I made your favorite." He grinned at me, his bright smile trying to act as a distraction from my irritation with him. I looked down at the delicious looking pancakes and smiled slightly as he handed me my glasses. I slipped them on and looked into his apologetic face, his head hung slightly in shame. "Baby, I'm sorry. I do think it's great that you are starting to make friends. I just would have preferred if it was a girl, that's all." He shrugged as if it was that simple, which I guess it was.

"Eric, It's not like I went out looking for a guy to make you jealous or upset. Jamie was just there and he keeps good company." I smiled softly as he sat down on the edge of the bed next to my thighs. He nodded in understanding before flicking his brown eyes to me.

"I don't like it, but I'm not going to say that you can't be friends."

"Maybe you would feel better if you met him?" I suggested to which Eric immediately shook his head.

"No, I trust you and your judge of character." I grinned at him, wrapping my arms around his neck and being careful of the tray across my lap. I kissed his cheek and then his lips quickly, so proud that he was able to look past his feelings. That was my Eric.

"That is very mature of you, baby." I grinned at him before turning to look at my breakfast which Gabby was sniffing not so innocently. She looked up as I placed a hand on her head, pushing it away from my food. "No."

"Gabby, you already had some." Eric insisted to her, crawling over my legs and ruffling her fur. He settled into his side of the bed, leaning against the headboard and matching my position. Gabby twirled in a circle, sitting down and resting her head against Eric's thigh. He began to stroke her fur lovingly as I dug into my breakfast, moaning my approval.

"Damn, we should fight more often." I giggled, nudging his arm with my elbow. He laughed, shaking his head in the negative.

"I hate fighting with you, although its sexy, it makes me upset." He nuzzled his nose against the side of my neck and then placed a kiss against my pulse.

Eric sat with me while I ate my breakfast before Eric was forced to begin getting ready for the game. I watched lazily from the bed as he walked around the room after taking a shower, the white towel hanging low off his hips before he let it drop to the floor to replace it with a pair of black boxer briefs. I gave him a few cat calls, making him shake his tight butt at me. I helped him pick out a nice shirt and tie, opting to have him dressed in a black suit with a light blue shirt and completed with a gold tie. He looked so sexy, too sexy to let walk out the door without a mind blowing kiss.

His small peck wasn't enough for me, so I hopped out of bed and ran out to the living room and into the entry way, calling his name as he reached the door. He turned towards me, arms at the ready, and caught my flying body as I wrapped my limbs tightly around him, holding our bodies close while our lips mashed together. Our tongues entangled as my hands fluttered into his hair, twirling the short strands around and grinning into our kiss. We both pulled away gasping for air before I winked at him when my feet hit the hardwood once again.

"Play good, and you might be rewarded." I smirked coyly at him as his eyebrows rose onto his forehead.

"Oh, we're winning today." He chuckled before kissing me once more longingly and walking out of the door.

I watched him swag down the hallway, pulling his phone our of his pocket and attaching it to his ear. He greeted Tom a couple minutes later as he pressed the up button to the elevator before stepping on. He turned towards me, blowing a kiss because he knew I was standing there, my eyes boring into his back the whole time. I waved as the doors closed before sighing and pulling myself back into the apartment to make myself presentable for another football game.