Page 77 of Six Wishes

CHAPTER35

Three months later

Chloe

“Van, I am so nervous about my mom visiting!”

I have been running around Van’s quite large apartment all day long. My mom is flying in, she is in fact supposed to land in a couple of hours, and I want the place to look perfect.

I moved in with Van about a month after our weekend in Las Vegas. Mom went wild when I told her that I had something to tell her. She thought for sure that we’d gotten married there, and she was fully prepared to rip us both a new one, as she put it. Van’s mom was not any better.

“Baby, I thought being anal about where things should be was my job,” Van grabs me from behind just as I am about to run a dusting rag over the side table by the couch one more time.

“I don’t know why I am this nervous. And I am always so messy. I just want her to be proud of me, I guess,” I shrug, then break out into goose bumps when he kisses my shoulder.

“You know she’s proud of you, Chloe,” he reassures me. “You can see it on her face every time she looks at you.”

“I know, I just…” I try to find how to explain better what I am feeling right now. “I feel guilty. For leaving her there.”

“What are you talking about, baby?” Van turns me around so he could watch my face when we talk, but I try my hardest to hide my face from him. “Chlo, seriously now,” he chastises me like I am a small child.

“It’s just, she is there by herself. She was so happy that I had moved back home.”

“But you were not living together…” He sounds confused now, and I feel the same.

“I know, I don’t get it either,” I am ready to cry. “I guess it’s because I was just across town. I could pop in if I needed to. If she needed me to…”

He watches my face carefully and sighs. “Do you want to move back there? We could make it work long distance too. I’ll fly you here on the weekends I am home… To the away game… Whatever works.”

“Van,” and now I am really crying. “I love you so much. Do you know how sweet you are?”

“I just want you to be happy,” his hands are on my hips, thumbs rolling around on my hipbones.

“I am happy. And I couldn’t go back like that anyway,” I remind him. “I signed the agreement with Lexi Cavalli, remember? I am kind of stuck here now. You’re stuck with me here, dude,” I tease him.

Lexi Cavalli offered me an amendment to my initial contract with Kalypsos, and she made it worth my time in a big way. Document my life in New York City on social media while also incorporating their clothes and nutritional products. The fact that everything is high quality is coming in very handy.

“I love being stuck with you, Chloe Montgomery. You’re my favorite person in the world,” Van kisses me on the forehead. “Anyway, your cleaning is done. And trust me on this, if I declare it all clean enough, it honestly is. You know you can trust that. So drop it.”

I decide to take his word for it and put all my cleaning supplies away. I take a shower, jumping in surprise when I walk back into the bedroom and see Van sitting on the bed. He is looking so sexy in his light wash jeans and long-sleeved t-shirt with his team logo on the front. I have to say that the Sliders really scored with their team colors. Very complementary, I must say.

“Whatcha up to, handsome?” I tease him, but make sure the towel I have wrapped around my body is safely secured in between my boobs.

“You know I have to leave tomorrow, won’t be back until Friday. That’s three days, Chlo,” he whines.

“I know that, baby,” I assure him. “I will miss you tons, I promise.”

It’s so weird how quickly I adjusted to Van’s schedule. He is usually out for practice of some sort at the ass crack of dawn. Then his game schedule is insane. He’s got home games, which I do attend, away games, which I sometimes attend. I am still new at it, but I think I am doing pretty damn good.

“Why aren’t you walking around naked then?” Van inquires from his perch on the bed. He’s got his legs open and he is leaning back on his hands. I’d really be all over him under normal circumstances. However…

“We can’t, Van. We have to go pick up my mom from the airport,” I remind him.

“I can be quick,” he insists. “I’ll still make you feel so good, swear to God. You know I’m good for it,” he winks playfully. I throw the balled socks I have in my hand straight at his head, but he dodges them easily.

“I don’t know what to wear,” I look through my underwear drawer like it is going to talk to me.

“Chlo,” Van calls my name, more urgency in his voice this time. “I need to show you something.”

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