Waiting For Love (Wild Creek Ranch Book 2)

Chapter Twelve

Throughout the meal, he couldn't drive the feeling out of his mind. He saw that something was holding her back. She didn't interact with him spontaneously. Every now and then she would get lost in her own thoughts. The sparkle which should have been constant in her emerald eyes were missing. He saw only a glimpse of it every now and then when she forgot herself like the time when he asked her to eat the entire pie without sharing with him. Her childlike happiness had won him over. He tried to make her happy throughout the course of the meal, narrating hilarious tales of their childhood. He wanted to see the sparkle in her eyes again and again. They finished their meal and Rex paid and they walked slowly towards Rex's car in the parking area. 

"You don't play football anymore?" She asked him curiously when he spoke about everything but football. Rex stared at her with shock. How did she know that he played football? He hadn't mentioned once to her about football. It was a topic he hardly talked about. After his knee injury, he had been banned from playing. He was selected for the Montana State Football team but his goal was to join one of the NFL teams. However, as fate would have it, at the practice session of his first big match, he had injured his knee. After three months, he was fit enough but couldn't ever play. His hopes and dreams had been shattered for ever. It was his dad and granddad who helped him cope with his mental depression. Since then, he had never talked about football. It was a banned topic at home and also amongst friends who knew him. 

However, after years, hearing about the game which had been his heart and soul didn't invoke the feelings which it used to before. He was stunned. Talking of football didn't hurt him at all! 

He pinned her with his stare. His arms on either side of her, holding onto the car trapped her against it. "How do you know that I used to play football, Ember?" He asked her, his face inches from hers, watching her with a hawklike stare. 

Ember was in a dilemma. Should she tell him that she knew him? Should she tell him that fourteen year old girl who had a crush on him and watched him from afar for a whole year, till he disappeared from her life? His finger touched her chin in urgency, forcing her to look up at him. "Have we met before, Ember?" He asked, almost pleading with her. How did he not remember having met her before? He would never have forgotten if he would have met her.

"You don't remember me, Rex? I'm Ember Fischer, Zoe and Stacey Fischer's granddaughter. I was at Fordsville High with you. You dropped me home one day," she said softly, in almost a whisper, trailing off. She couldn't say anything more. Let him figure the rest out. He wouldn't remember her. 

"Ah, of course, now I remember you. You've changed a lot, Ember. For a whole year, I tried to talk to you but you always stayed far away from me. I wanted to be friends with you but you didn't give me a single chance," complained Rex, releasing her and standing straight with a smile on his face, remembering the young Ember who watched him from far. He had noticed her many times unknown to her. Her eyes were still beautiful then but not quite as beautiful as it is now though. 

"Why did you stay away from me, Ember?" He asked her curiously. Ember blushed and looked down at her shoes, playing absent-mindedly with her bracelet. It was a habit which she did when she was embarrassed and nervous. Rex found it too adorable to ignore and his hot gaze remained fixed upon her little gestures that endeared her more to him. 

"I.. ," she started but couldn't continue. What could she say? I stopped because while I fell in love with you while you were busy with that beautiful cheerleader?

"Tell me the truth or else, we can stand here the whole night," threatened Rex. He had to know why she stayed far away from him for an entire year.

"You had a girlfriend and I didn't want to disturb you," she admitted while her face heated up profusely. If she could, she would have evaporated from the site. Rex stared at her as if shocked by her answer.