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We were on our way back home when my phone dinged with an email. I looked through it and it was from James. Since publicly, he's practically taken the role of being Vince's assistant, he gets all the emails and has to forward them to be. He's always whining about it too.

"Oh, you're not free tomorrow anymore," I said, glancing at Vince.

He had a completely free day tomorrow but he doesn't now. He sighed, "Why? What do I have to do now?"

"There's a new sports academy opening near our stadium. They've requested if you and some other players from the team could come and play some sports with the kids. And then your mother is hosting a party tomorrow night."

"Why?"

I turned to him. "It's her birthday, Vince. Did you forget?"

He blinked in realization and then exhaled, "Shit."

I laughed softly, opening Prada's official website. Her favorite. "I'll order her a dress, hopefully, it's here by tomorrow. And we should go to the academy, don't you think?"

"It'll just be a field full of kids, Demi," he mumbled.

"So? These are kids that look up to athletes like you. Don't you think you should be there? I don't understand how you don't like kids. It's possible to have fun with them, you know. Especially when they're not yours," I chuckled.

His lips twitched to smile as we stopped at a light. "Do you want to go?" He turned to me, resting a hand on my thigh casually.

I stared at it then looked back at him. "Yeah," I nodded.

He sighed and nodded slowly, his fingers drumming on the wheel. "We'll go."

"They're having a proper opening for the kids and their parents, so James sent me the tickets for entry. It starts at eight-thirty in the morning, ends two hours later."

"I have to wake up early again?" He groaned, resting his head on the headrest.

"You'll be making their day, you know," I said, resting my head too but turning to look at him.

He closed his eyes, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed and hummed softly. He must be tired.

I didn't think twice before reaching over and tugging at his earlobe. He opened his eyes, turning to look at me. I chuckled softly, "You look so tired."

"You would know, wouldn't you? You're always there," he nodded softly and then laughed when I tickled him. He pulled away, grabbing my hand and bringing it down, holding it.

I didn't even know he was ticklish until now. Well, so am I. I hummed, nodding in agreement. "I am always there, aren't I?"

"Why?" he asked suddenly, facing me. "You don't have to be, that's not part of the job description."

"No, it's not but... it's what I want."

He stared at me, waiting for clarification.

"I want to be the shoulder you lean on when you're both mentally and physically drained. The one you lean on when you really need someone."

"Why?" he asked after a long pause. "That's a huge responsibility."

"It's not a responsibility, no. it's just what you do when you care about someone, Vince. I feel like you don't have that person. Everyone should have that person."

"Do you?"

I smiled softly, shaking my head. "No."

"Then... you be that person for me and I'll be that person for you. Fair?"

I snorted but nodded in agreement. "Fair."

He started driving, his hand going back to my thigh. After getting home and having dinner, we were heading to our own rooms. I was at my door when he called out from his, "Demi?"

"Hmm?" I looked at him down the hall.

"Can you stay with me tonight?"

I swallowed, blinking a few times. "You want me to stay the night with you?"

He nodded. "I'm really tired and I don't want to have another dream about..." he trailed off with a small shrug.

I nodded, "Okay, sure. Let me change."

He agreed and then went into his room. I changed and brushed my teeth before going into his room. What are we actually doing? Does he really want me there because of the dreams or is it something else?

Whatever it is, he said he wanted me there. So, I'll be there because I promised I would. When I opened the door to his room, he had just pulled his sweatpants up to his hips and was walking to the bed. He lay down with a sigh and then patted the spot beside him. I went and sat down, both of us just there in silence.

"Lay down," he ordered.

I scooted lower on the bed and rested my head on the pillow.

"Come closer," he demanded, rolling onto his side.

"Vince..."

"Closer, Demi."

I rolled onto my side and faced him, scooting closer until my body was touching his. "What are we doing?" I whispered while he put an arm around me, driving my hips into his. I took in a sharp breath, staring at him in surprise.

"We're letting it go," he mumbled.

"We're letting what go?"

He sent me a pointed look. I lifted a brow, wanting to hear him say it. "We're not lying anymore," he whispered, "okay?" I wanted to ask more questions, but he never let me. "Now go to bed. Whatever questions you have, we'll talk later."

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

"Where exactly is this academy?" he asked while I followed the directions on my phone and dictated them to him.

"In two-hundred meters, take a right. Your destination will be on the left," the automated voice announced.

"In two-hundred meters, take a right. Your destination will be on the left," I repeated, turning to him.

He glanced at me and let out a chuckle before following the directions. We didn't talk about last night. I woke up before him and went and made some breakfast for us. After that, we both got dressed and now we're on our way to the academy. "Who else is coming?" he questioned.

"Michael, Christian, and Logan. Lucas and Cody have their own photoshoots today and it's Cody's parents' anniversary, I think."

He nodded in understanding and parked the car once we arrived, recognizing Michael's car. I guess Christian and Logan aren't here yet. We both got out and entered the building. It looks like how you would imagine a very small, private school to look like but when we got inside, it seemed empty, but when we followed the signs and walked out to the yard, it was huge. We both stopped at the door, looking around.

"Oh. My. God," I mumbled before laughing, turning to look at him.

"What sports are these, Ms. Tiffany?" he asked.

"Um... paint... sports, I guess?"

This is every little kid's dream. There were stations, two of them. One for soccer, and one for track. All the stations had obstacles. Sort of. The soccer station's goalpost had tubs of paint and the track section had buckets of paints as hurdles, water balloon buckets too, a hose, and sprinklers. It's an obstacle course with paint for the kids here while playing sports.

"We're here to play sports in... paint?"

"I guess so," I smiled, turning to him. "Good luck, Mr. Hunter."

"Ms. Tiffany."

"Yes, Mr. Hunter?"

"I'm taking you down with me, Ms. Tiffany."

"No, you're not, Mr. Hunter."

"I sure am, Ms. Tiffany."

I huffed, ready to argue but stopped when Christian and Logan entered behind us. I noticed that Amelia was here with Michael, Maya was here with Christian, and Lucy was here with Logan. And once the guys see the paint, I know for a fact that we'll be dragged in to play alongside them. Oh, no.

There was one coach and around ten kids here right now, we were all led to the soccer area first. The coach explained that the kids wanted a fun day for their opening and one of the parents suggested using safe paint to make it more fun, so they'd be using paints.

We were all split up into teams, the kids were five on each team and Vince and Michael were set to play with one team and Christian and Logan with the other. Vince grabbed my hand, pulling me with him.

"No," I whined, "no, please. I don't want to be covered in paint."

"Come on, this is meant to be fun. What was it that you said last? We'll be making their day, we'll have fun with them. What happened now, Demi?" he smirked. Amelia seemed as reluctant as me but Michael managed to persuade her with his charming smile. Vince didn't even try his charming smile on me, he just pulled me into his side. I let out a fake cry, standing beside him and looking down at the kids.

We figured these would be the teams for the rest of the day, so we all went around introducing ourselves. Michael looked like he absolutely adored being around kids. They loved him too. Vince seemed a little on edge as he introduced himself and then it was my turn.

I sent them a small wave. "I'm Demi. His girlfriend," I smiled, jabbing my thumb towards Vince.

Suddenly there were gasps everywhere. "You're his girlfriend?"

"Vince Hunter has a girlfriend?"

"You're really pretty."

I grinned at the little boy who gave that last remark. "Thank you," I chuckled, ruffling his hair. "Let me tell everybody one thing. I know absolutely nothing about soccer. So maybe I should stand to the side, you know?" I shrugged.

Vince nodded in agreement. "She knows nothing."

I scoffed, bumping his hip with mine. "And you know everything, don't you?"

The kids giggled while Vince frowned at me, hitting my shoulder with his. We turned to the kids and decided where everyone would be. After that, we all split up. Amelia and I stood at defense and Michael stayed goalie, just like he does on the ice.

Vince stood towards the front and had kids all around him, asking him what they should do, which way to run, how to kick, everything. I watched as a little girl ran up to him, tugging at his shirt. He looked down and then crouched down.

She said something and then stuck her foot out.

He replied with something, lifting a brow and she smiled sheepishly, clutching her hands together under her chin, tilting her head to one side. I'm guessing she didn't say please and he told her to. He chuckled and then tied her laces, nudging her chin upward with her knuckles before standing back up.

She ran off after that, going back to her position.

And he says he doesn't like kids. Maybe he doesn't, but he's always been good with them. And they always like him too, in fact, they swarm around him like they did with Michael, like bees around honey.

A whistle blew loudly and then there were screams, little kids running around, and paint everywhere.

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