Page 92 of Zone Protection

“Me? Archie, I’ve never been so intertwined with someone before. It scares the hell out of me. It scares me so much that I’m going to move to another city to be with you and you’re going to be gone half the time. I’m scared that, one day, you’ll realize the party is over, and you’ll walk out the door, and the baby and I will be alone. I’m afraid that our baby will be sick and need a strong parent, and I want to be that person, but I don’t know if I can do this on my own. Not again. I can’t risk losing anyone. Not this baby and definitely not you.”

“You’re scared. I get it. Before we got to know each other, you only knew me as a player and not the kind of man who wouldn’t leave. But trust me—this is real, Emma.”

“How do you know? How do you know we’re not just playing house?”

“Darlin’, I don’t know how to explain it other than … I just know. When I saw you at that party that night, there was just something there for me. I know I’ve told you this already, and I know you never planned on seeing me again, but for me, it was different. I couldn’t get you out of my head. And it wasn’t just because of the sex. It was you. I love you, Emma.”

“But what if you really don’t know me? And then we have this baby, and you get to know me without all the hormones, and you don’t like who I am?”

“Well, I can tell you what I know, what I’m crazy about. Your weird toe, the one that’s longer than your big toe? I dig it. And maybe our baby will have your weird toe, and I love it because itwill obviously mean he or she will be a natural athlete, but also because it will be something from you.”

She pulls back to look up at me.

“And I don’t mind that you take all the red Sour Patch Kids out of the bag and leave the rest for me. Works out really because the orange is my favorite anyway.”

“Orange is gross,” she mumbles.

“That’s your opinion, darlin’. You got your favorites; I got mine.” I kiss her forehead.

“I also love the adorable little tattoo you have of Dora’s backpack on your lower back because I love the story that goes with it. Now, I will say, I hope you get over the craving you have to put peanut butter on pickles. Now, that … is gross. The 7UP and Powerade—I can get on board with that. It’s not bad at all.”

I rub my hand up and down her back.

“I’m still on the fence about your choice in who Meredith belongs with, but I love that you know the outcome and would still want to pick McSteamy over McDreamy.”

“You know all that about me?”

“I pay attention, Emma. But at the end of the day, I know it’ll work out and that everything will be okay because you and I will make it okay. We’ll work hard at making sure our schedules sync or whatever we need to do.”

“I don’t know, Archie. It just all feels stressful, and I’m used to having solutions and plans.”

“Maybe you should spend some time with the girls tonight. Do you think that would help or at least take your mind off of some of this?”

She looks up at me. “I don’t really want to sleep without you, but, yeah, maybe that’s a good idea. I kind of feel like I owe them all a catch-up too—you know, since I’ve been hiding big things from them the last several months.”

I bend my head and kiss her—it’s sweet and entirely too short. “If you need me, just call, and I’ll be there. Go have a night with the girls.”

She nods and steps back, then opens her door and gets into the car. I watch as she pulls out of her spot and wave as she leaves. I’ll give her tonight, but we will talk about this.

We have a lot to figure out, but I think I need to make a call to my parents and my agent.

I’m at my house with my roommates. It’s been a while, and I’ll be packing up the last of my things soon. Not having Liam in the house feels so strange. I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t checked in with him much, and I should make a point to do that soon.

Tonight, I’ll make dinner for my roommates, who now officially includes Charlie. She’s moved in completely. After the championship game, Beck wasn’t gonna let her go anywhere again.

Bo Callaway is planning to move in sometime right before training, but first, he’ll head back to California for a few weeks in the summer. It seems like he’s been hanging out around here a lot from what I can tell in the times I stop by.

I’m making burgers on the grill. I cut up some potatoes and put them in the air fryer that someone must have gotten for the house.

“What up, man? Good to see you.” Casey walks over and pats me on the back. “Do you need any help?”

“I’m good. Just need to get the ketchup and mustard out ofthe fridge.” I walk over and open the fridge door, pulling out what I need.

“How are you feeling about the draft?” He leans up against the counter, arms crossed.

“I feel really good. I have a meeting with my agent this week, so hoping to have some feelers. I talked with the general managers of the Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs and the Denver Broncos, but I’d like to stay closer to home.” I grab the spatula on the counter and a clean plate for the burgers. “Walk with me.”

“So, you want to get a conversation with Kansas City or Dallas then?” He opens the sliding door for me.

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