Page 49 of Time Out

I nodded along like I understood, but he might as well have been speaking computer coding or something to me. I made a quick mental note to go home and study though. I should probably know these things.

“And what happens if you lose?”

“Both of us should make it to the playoffs, which means we’ll play each other in the first round of playoffs. Whoever wins this game will have home field advantage that first week.”

“So it’s important.”

“Yeah, Maggie.” Davis chuckled. “It’s an important game for me.”

A customer grabbed Lou’s attention at the other end of the bar and he took off.

“Next week, though, that’ll be our last regular season home game.” His fingers tapped on the sides of his glass and he bit his lip. “If you’re around, you could come?”

“Me?”

“There’s no one else I’d rather have with me if my family can’t be there and my dad might come down, but everyone else will be too busy helping Annie.”

“Oh… well, I guess? But I don’t really know anything about football. Or sports at all.”

“Just think about it, okay? I have a couple tickets if you and Belle want to come.”

Oh, well that’d be fun. Belle didn’t care about sports either, really, but I knew she went to games. Her company usually rented a box or whatever they’re called.

“I’ll think about it.”

“As long as the answer ends up being yes, take all the time you need.”

What a goofball. We snacked on fries, Davis had a second drink, and when we got back to his apartment, I was not only yawning, but Davis was starting to check his phone every few minutes.

“Eight centimeters. This kid needs to get here before I have to go to sleep.”

It was only nine, and I was fighting yawns left and right. “I should probably get going home before I collapse on my feet.”

“No. Don’t. Please?” Davis looked so excited and so stressed at the same time. His hair was a mess from constantly running his hands through it pacing back and forth through his home. The drinks were supposed to calm him down, but from the look of him, they might have been laced with speed. “Stay. I have a guest room, but when I get the news about Annie I don’t want to be alone.”

My heart squeezed. So cute. So painful. The man was so sexy and so young and sweet at the same time. He wanted me to share this moment with him.

How could I say no?

Chapter 15

Davis

It was selfish of me to ask Maggie to stay. I couldn’t find it in me to care. By the time ten rolled around and she was barely awake, I showed her where the guest room was and gave her a shirt of mine to sleep in. A Nashville Steel shirt that was too small for me, it still hung on her smaller frame and fell almost to her knees when she came out of the bedroom wearing it.

Perfection. I’d hugged her. Kissed her cheek when she asked if I wanted her to wait with me, but while I wanted the company, she needed her sleep.

So I’d told her no, I’d wake her when I heard anything after she made me promise, and then I’d gone back to not paying a single bit of attention to the ESPN highlights on television—mostly showing how awesome Tennessee’s hockey team was doing this year with little talk of football—and stared at my phone until the screen lit up.

When it did, it was two o’clock in the morning, I was starting to get worried, but Annie’s name flashed on a FaceTime call and I answered it with my heart lodged in my throat.

“Hey,” I whispered. She had to be tired. She’d been in labor for seven hours at least. “How you doin’, sis?”

She grinned at me, a smile that didn’t make her look sleepy in the least. “I needed you to be the first person to meet your niece,” she whispered and then flashed the screen around.

“Are you kidding?” Damn. I was crying. Or my screen was blurry.

“Nope.” Annie chuckled and then a smushed up face wearing a pale pink hat and slimy goop on her closed eyes came into view. My sister’s finger brushed over the puffy, full cheek and those little lips….

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