Line of Scrimmage

She beat lightly on his chest with her fists. "I want a partner, not a protector." "Can't I be both?" "You're enormously exasperating sometimes, do you know that?" He grinned. "And you love me anyway.

Oh, poor baby,” she said, mimicking his drawl. “Whew. You’re back. There was this other Susie here a minute ago, and she was really nice to me. She scared the shit out of me.” She laughed. “They locked her back up in the loony bin.” “Good, because there’s only one Susie for me—the one who calls me on my crap and doesn’t let me get away with jack shit. That’s the Susie I need. That’s the Susie I’ve missed coming home to over the last year.” He kissed her. “And that’s the Susie who’s going to leave a gaping hole in my heart and my life if she doesn’t give me another chance.

Susie . . . ” With his hands on her face, he found her eyes. “If you make love with me and then go back to him, you’ll ruin me".

I get it now, Suze. I really do. I know what I had, what I lost, how I felt without it.” He brought her hand to his lips. “Do you know I still look for you in the stadium where you always used to sit? Whenever we scored this season, I’d look for you, wanting to share it with you. It was like losing you all over again every time I looked for you and you weren’t there

I love you, Susie.” “She rolled her eyes. “Save it.” “I haven’t given you much reason to believe it, but it’s true. I love you. I’ve loved you for so long I can’t imagine ever not loving you. When I saw you struggling to breathe yesterday, I was reminded again that a life without you is no life at all. So you don’t have to be civil. You don’t even have to talk to me, but I’m going to talk to you. I hope you’ll listen.