Page 94 of Mad Love

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

OFF DAYS

SADIE

The first time I second-guess my decision about keeping my relationship with Weston a secret is the following week when it’s a home game and everyone’s going but me. My family, his family, and even some of Sutton’s family from Landmark Mountain will be there. I’d told Weston I wasn’t going, but he got me a ticket anyway, in case I changed my mind.

I never knew how pricey the tickets were for the players. Before I knew Weston, I assumed there was a family section of seats that were free or that the suites were reserved for family and also free. So naive. Those excellent seats and beautiful suites are a fortune. Weston’s making more than enough to pay for the tickets, but a lot of the players don’t make anything close to that, and I feel bad for all those wives and girlfriends who don’t get to go to the games.

“Just come, Sadie. I don’t give a fuck what everyone thinks about us.”

He’s leaning against the bathroom counter watching me comb my hair after our shower. He’s already dressed, about to leave for the team’s hotel the day before the game. Since I’ve moved all my things into his bedroom and bathroom, I have to say, I haven’t minded sharing space with him one bit.

“Give my ticket to someone who needs it. What about that one wife I met at practices this summer? I think she was married to that defensive lineman who didn’t get to play last year. I can’t remember their names. Scott? Trisha Scott? Give it to her.”

His jaw tightens and I hate the disappointment I see in his eyes. I turn and put my hands on his waist, leaning up to kiss him.

“Caleb and I will be watching every second, I promise.” I kiss him between words. “You’re gonna kill it out there.”

He tugs me closer and deepens our kiss, growling at the end. “I don’t want to give your ticket away in case you change your mind.”

“Joan’s right. It’s too soon.”

“I disagree.”

Our foreheads touch and he sighs.

“I love you,” I whisper.

His eyes soften and he kisses me again, melding my body against his and leaving me breathless when he pulls away. “I love you, beautiful. You’re not changing your mind, are you.”

I shake my head, and he rubs my cheek with his hand one more time before he steps back.

“You better answer my call before I go on the field,” he says from the doorway. “You’re my good luck charm now.”

“I always answer your calls.” I narrow my eyes and put my hands on his waist, pushing him out of the bathroom. “And you played just fine before you ever met me.”

“You’re my pre-game ritual now,” he says with puppy-dog eyes.

I groan. “Go. You have so many pre-game rituals I don’t know how you make it onto the field.”

When he first told me all the things he does before a game, I didn’t believe him at first, and then I laughed my head off.

He wears the same pair of—clean, thankfully— socks every game. This is the pre-game ritual I’m most concerned about because what happens when those socks disintegrate? He has an order of how he puts on his clothing. He kisses a picture of his family and now one of Caleb and me that he keeps in his locker. When he closes his locker, he taps the ceiling above three times. He calls me after this, and we talk for maybe two minutes. When he hangs up, the team huddles together and says a prayer and a team chant. As they walk down the tunnel, he taps the side of the wall once when he enters and one more time before he’s out.

Once he’s on the field, he’s all focus.

“I’ll be at away games the next two weeks,” he says when we get downstairs. “It’ll be three weeks before I have another home game. Think about that one at least, okay? We’ll be into mid-October by then.”

He’s persistent, I’ll give him that.

I kiss him instead of answering. I don’t plan on going to any games this season, but he doesn’t want to hear that. It’s the closest we’ve come to arguing.

“Tell Caleb I love him when he wakes up,” he says.

“I will.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow night,” he says.

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