Page 132 of Passed Ball

"A happy accident that worked perfectly into my plans to get you cuffed up before Spain."

I have no idea what she's talking about, but honestly, I can't bring myself to care. If she wants to take credit for getting us together, she can have it. All I care about is that I get to keep Xavier and Holland.

Chapter 56

Xavier

They say there's a first time for everything.

I've never told my coach no--not once in my entire career. But one look at the text from Vivienne changed all that. After winning our division against our biggest rivals, the LA Diablos, Wilson found me in the locker room, still sticky from champagne to tell me I was up for postgame press and I looked him dead in his stony face and told him no before I grabbed my keys and bolted for the door.

There will be consequences to face in the morning, but I don't care. There is one place I need to be right now, and it's not in a room full of reporters.

Xavier:

I'm on my way.

The drive home is a blur, my only focus locked on getting home to the girls.

Vivienne's on the couch with Tenley's head in her lap, stroking her hair.She's okay.Tenley's okay.My eyes linger for a second, and she gives me a sad smile, nodding towards the stairs.

With a glance back at Tenley and Vivi I take the stairs two at a time to get to my daughter. My whole body seems to go slack when I see her sleeping, completely oblivious to the panic around her.

She's fine. Everyone is okay.

My elbow propped on the crib rail with my hands braced on the back of my neck, I stare down at my sleeping daughter, safe and sound in her crib, her little chest rising and falling in perfect rhythm.

Soft footfalls pad up the stairs and then Vivienne steps up next to me, our arms brushing as she glances down at my daughter.

"She's okay. I called the police and requested extra patrols." Vivienne's hand lands on top of mine. I flip it, linking us together, because that's the only way we get through this. We don't step back from the crib, neither of us ready to let Holland out of our sight.

"Tell me what happened."

Vivienne breaks down everything she knows, patiently explaining it to me for a second time, when I ask her to go over it all again, and answering all my questions as best she can. Collin's going to be getting a text as soon as Vivienne leaves, so I can let him know what's going on and see if there's anything else we should be doing. "Tenley can fill you in on anything I missed before I take her home."

"You're not staying?" I ask.

Her mouth pops open and I'm hanging on, waiting for whatever she's about to say, only for her to press her lips together and glance back down at Holland. When she looks back up at me, I'm struck by the sadness in her eyes.

"I want to . . . more than anything, but Tenley was really rattled, and she asked if I'd take her home. I think she just wants the comfort of her own bed tonight," she says softly.

Selfishly, I want to tell her to ask Tenley to stay here in the guest room so I can have her for a few hours, but I need her back here to watch Holland when I leave for Cleveland. And if Tenley needs a minute on her own to process tonight, then I guess I can wait until tomorrow to spend time with Vivienne, because I have the day off and there's no way I'm letting this or anything else keep us apart.

"Take care of her. I owe her everything for making sure Holland was safe tonight." A flip twists my stomach thinking about what might have happened if Tenley hadn't followed her intuition. I have no idea if the threat she felt was real, but I intend to get to the bottom of it to make sure neither of them is in danger. Because as much as she gives me a hard time, she became part of our family over the summer. "And thank you for coming when she called."

"Of course I would come--even if it hadn't been Tenley that called." She looks down at my daughter and there's so much love radiating off her. I know she would do anything for her, just like I would. The urge to tell her how much that means to me--how much she means to me is overwhelming.

I turn to face her cupping her cheek. The words are right there, ready to spill out. "Vivienne . . ." There's a heaviness to her name that's never been there before. She must hear it too because her lips part on a gasp and her fingers encircle my wrist.

"Xavier, if you're about to say what I think you might, don't. Not tonight." She takes a step closer, her other hand covering my rioting heart. "I want those words when it's not fueled by fear. Please. We deserve that, don't we?"

"We do," I say hoarsely. It doesn't change anything, this woman owns me completely. But she deserves to hear those words when it's about us, about how far we've come, about everything we can be.

Vivi wraps her hands around my waist and whispers up at me, "Meet me for lunch tomorrow. I'll skip out of work for the afternoon and we can hang out--the three of us? Let's have a nice, normal day together."

"That sounds perfect. I'm going to need to meet with Wilson in the morning after my disappearing act tonight, and I've got to call Collin, too. But if you're willing to play hooky, you know I'm not going to turn you down."

"I've literally never done that before, so you should feel very special.."

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