Love You

We win the last game of our circus trip and I laugh and joke with the guys. I pull off my gear, letting the burn and the aches of the game settle in. I was happy to get home after being away from home, away from Charlotte. It was her first circus trip and it was my first circus trip with a serious girlfriend waiting at home for me. It was good feeling knowing she was supporting me watching my games from home.

"You alright there Burr?" Sharpie tosses a Gatorade cap at me. I fling it back.

"Peachy." I reply as I continue to pull off my pads.

"You sure? You had heart eyes there for a minute." Kaner chimes in and the locker room hoots and holler. I laugh.

"I'm perfectly fine." I fire back and Buff lightly punches my shoulder.

"He's just thinking about little lady back home." Buff voice booms and the locker room gets louder with hoots and laughter. Buff gave Charlotte the nickname Little lady' and it stuck. The entire team- even Q knew Charlotte by 'little lady.'

"Whipped!" Fraser yells across the room.

"Some nerve! Your texting Carli right now." I shoot back. Fraser laughs as he tosses his phone in his bag.

~~~

I decided to go out with the team and celebrate at a nearby bar by the hotel. The bar is pretty mellow with the home team losing. A few t.v's show highlights of the game, some patrons giving our table the look of death. I finish my beer and get up to get another.

I make it there no problem, the bartender nodding my way. I held up one finger and he nodded. I look up at the t.v seeing our team dominate.

"Is that you up there?" A smooth feminine voice speaks behind me. I turn meeting the look of a petite blonde woman. She was easy on the eyes; big smile, wide eyes, and a perfect pair of breast. I smile at her.

"That is. You watch?" At this point the bartender slides me my beer.

"A little every once in a while." She flips her hair over her shoulder, giving perfect view of her neck.

"Can I buy you a drink?"

"You sure can."

~~~

The girl, Lauren, clings to me all night. After I talked with her at the bar, she invited herself to our table and pulled a chair up next to me. The guys attention immediately goes to her and she loves it. She rubs my thigh every minute or so, going higher each time. She does it again and this time, she full on gropes me, relaxing her hand and keeping it there.

I was used to women coming on to me and she was no different. I'm not gonna lie, she's gorgeous and I'm more than willing to give her what she wants. She gropes me again and whispers in my ear.

"Lets go to my place." Her breath is warm against my skin and she rubs me once again. I nod.

~~~

Lauren gets frisky in the cab, kissing my neck and unbuckling my belt. She slides her hand under my shirt and leans down to kiss my bellybutton and little bit below. She unbuttons my pants and slides my zipper down but my phone ringing stops her in her tracks.

"Ignore it." She whines but I continue to pull my phone out my pocket and it's Buff calling me. I answer.

"What's up man?" Lauren pouts but continues to rub my arm.

"The sky. Anyway I called to give you words of the wise." Buff breaths out.

"What?"

"Are you really gonna sleep with that girl? Burr your girlfriend is at home probably under the impression that your in bed, excited to get home to her tomorrow."

"I am excited to-"

"Then don't fuck that girl Burr. You can wait a few hours to put in work and it should be with the faithful woman at home."

"Buff guys do this all the time on the road. She knows what she signed up for."

"But your not every guy. How would you feel if Charlotte was getting ready to suck a famous guys cock for the pleasure of saying she did it?" I fall silent. Buff continues.

"Like I thought. Now get your white ass back here, shower, get in bed and say goodnight to little lady. If I don't see you in ten minutes, your clothes are in the shower. Got it?"

"Got it." At that point the cab arrives at Lauren's house and she grabs my hand.

"Lets go in baby."

"You can go ahead. I just realized I forgot to tell you I have crabs." Lauren punches me in my chest and slams the cab door. The driver laughs.

"Can you drive me to the Hilton? I'll triple my cab fair."

"No problem. Got a girl back home?"

"Yeah. A beautiful one that I don't deserve." I look at the time on my phone and my lock screen is Charlotte and I on her graduation day. I sigh, the guilt begin to settle in.

~~~

I walk into the lobby of the Hilton and Buff is there waiting for me. He smiles at me and pats my back.

"You deserve a medal Burr. You got here in three minutes! I was beginning to think you were going to keep going with Blondie."

"Yeah but-"

"You thought about little lady? How did you get out of that one?"

"The seven day itch." Buff laughs and slaps my back.

~~~

"Hello?" Charlotte sweet voice fills my ears and I smile. I love the sound of her voice, it was feminine with a hint of innocence.

"Hey babygirl. What are you doing?"

"Reading. Good job on the game tonight."

"Thank you. What did you do today?"

"I did some grocery shopping and went to the book store and got a few novels."

"Nerd."

"You love it though."

"Yeah I do. Do you miss me?"

"Do you miss me?"

"Of course. I've been thinking about you all trip. By far it was the worst."

"Yeah. It was shitty back here. I got to babysit Matt, Peyton and Sara at the same time because I felt like being a good aunt. Plus I didn't have anything to do."

"I would have loved to see you do that. Auntie Charlotte."

"Oh don't start. I never heard my name that many times in a day."

"I'm sorry baby. But I guess I got to go to bed."

"It's okay. I miss you."

"Back at you. But I'll see you tomorrow, St. Louis isn't far from there."

"I know. I love you."

"Love you too baby."

~~~

I drive to the flower shop once we get back in Chicago. I pick up orchids for my girl and I go to Walgreens to get more rubbers. I knew that once I got home, I wasn't gonna let an amateur mistake stop me.

~~~

"Adam!" Charlotte squeals and runs into my arms and I pick her up off the ground, and kiss her perfect little lips. She wraps her arms around my neck and I rub her back. She pulls away and slides off of me. She was in my huge unworn robe, a present from Carmen and Troy. She looks so sexy, eyes wide and on me. I kiss her again and again.

"I missed you." She hugs me and due to her height, she buries her face a little below my chest. I stroke her hair and she looks up at me.

"I missed you too. You got me flowers!" She sounds like a little baby and I give her the flowers. She sniffs them and goes into the kitchen, getting a vase and I follow her. I look at the steaming cup of coffee on the counter. It was nine in the morning and I was ready for her. I wrap my arms around her.

"You look so good this morning." Her waves frame her face and the robe gives me a great view of her chest. I open the robe and she moans.

"So do you."

"I want you bad." Charlotte turns and kisses me. She untucks my shirt and slides her hands up my shirt. She drops down to her knees and begins undoing my belt and fly, kissing exposed skin.

She pulls my pants down to my ankles and she gets to work, hollowing her cheeks and taking me deep into her throat. I tangle my hand in her hair and throw my head back. God I was happy to be home.

~~~

After our 'I missed you' sex, Charlotte and I talked about what we did during the trip. I had my arms locked around her and she kissed my chest when she wasn't talking. It was the little things that she did that made me a lucky man. She's amazing.

"Charlotte?" I call her name after she didn't reply to my previous question.

"Hmm?" She sleepily replies.

"You tired?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. I gonna let you sleep. But when you wake up I'm gonna give you a foot massage and make dinner. Okay?" I whisper quietly and I rub her back.

"Okay." She closes her eyes and sleeps and I watch her.

"I love you." I tell her even though she's far gone.

After ten minutes when I was sure that Charlotte was in a deep sleep, I quickly got out of bed and grabbed her phone. I went into the kitchen and scroll through her contacts and press Sydney's name.

"Hello?" She picks up on the first ring.

"Hey Sydney it's Adam."

"Hey Adam. How are you?"

" I'm doing fine and you?" I didn't know how to go about asking her for help.

"Just fine. I'm starting to show a bit and my morning sickness has stopped. Anyway I don't want to sound rude Adam but where's Charlotte?" Sydney questions.

"She's sleeping but I need to ask you a big favor." I run my fingers through my hair and Sydney stays silent for a few moments.

"What is it Adam?" Sydney sounds cold.

"Well I've been thinking about things between Charlotte and I lately and were getting very serious." I start.

"Go on."

"And I was going to ask her to marry me and I have two questions. One: Do you think she'll say yes? And two: Will you go ring shopping with me so I can find the perfect one?" I couldn't believe myself. Sydney sniffles.

"Oh my goodness Adam. Are you serious. Are you going to propose to Charlotte?"

"Yeah. I mean we've discussed it lightly and I really love her."

"Adam are you sure? You don't seem like the marrying type, don't get offended. But marriage is a lot of work and your with that person for the rest of your life. You become a team and being married is completely different from dating. Your both 26 and in love but are you sure?"

"Yeah. I've been thinking about it a lot and I know that I don't want anyone else. I love Charlotte so much and I want to take the next step."

"Well yeah. She would say yes because she loves you Adam. I feel honored that you came to me to ask for advice on picking out her ring." I can practically hear Sydney smile.

"Thanks Sydney. I appreciate it." I relax in relief.

"No problem. When do you want to look at rings?"

"In a few weeks. I plan on proposing some months from now. I just need to plan and prepare."

"Smart choice. I'll keep in touch Adam. Just call when your ready to look for the ring."

~~~

I don't know when I came to my senses that I wanted to marry Charlotte. I don't know if it was her graduation, the way she looked at me or the night of her graduation when the guys took her to the Cubs game. Maybe it could be when I took her to Madison and I taught her how to skate. Or over the summer she worked out with me, decorated our condo to where it fit the both of us, in the morning she woke me up with kisses and coffee or now she makes me lunch after practice, take pregame naps with me and go to my games.

All I knew is that she was the woman for me and I loved her.