Page 14 of Fourth Down Forever
"I understand, Samantha. Anything else?"
"I will need you to pay off my college debt and any future classes I need."
"Got it. Also, how about for the next year, you quit your job and just focus on school?" Her eyes go wide from my suggestion. I'm assuming that she thought these conditions would keep me away, but I continue, "You won't have to worry about anything then."
"No. I'll keep working."
"Come on. What will it look like if my wife is working when I make millions of dollars?"
"It will look like I'm a very independent woman."
"Fine. But really, you should take advantage of this and just focus on school."
"I'll think about it."
"Anything else?"
"That’s it. Do you have any conditions?" she asks, sitting back in her seat.
"You have to live with me," I say. I expect her to freak out, but she doesn't respond. It could be that she doesn't know what to say or she's just processing and the screaming might be coming soon. Either way, I continue, "We will present ourselves as a married couple at the team’s family dinner on Sunday."
Ignoring the family dinner comment, she focuses on the living together comment. "What do you mean that I'll be living with you?"
"It needs to look real, Sam. If you don't live with me, people will talk."
"How will people know?"
"I’m in the spotlight. You might have people watching your every move. Then they’ll talk. Our business might even post about it, like Kade’s wife is living in a separate building. They will question everything.”
"Fine. Fine. I get what you're saying. I'll move in with you, but I'm staying in the guest room."
"We’ll see about that," I tell her, giving her a wink, but she just rolls her eyes at me. The waitress brings us our dinner, and we spend the rest of the night eating and talking about nothing. But it feels nice, as if we are already comfortable with each other.
Chapter eleven
Samantha
It's only been a few days since Kade convinced me to stay married, but I haven't heard from him, which shouldn't surprise me. It's typical Kade. This time though, instead of wondering what he's doing, I drown myself in my studies. What actually surprises me is that I decided to go through with it. Over the last year, I was determined to keep my distance and now I'm here. What was I thinking?
When he first brought up the arrangement, I assumed there was no way he would agree if I had conditions, especially the no sex one. But he drove a hard bargain when he agreed to all of them and was willing to pay my school loans. Ihadto jump at the chance. It's a way to be debt free when I graduate.
I'm not sure I made the right choice, though. When he offered for me to quit my job, I knew I was in over my head because I'm paying for my dad's medical bills from his accident. Kade doesn't need to know about my family problems. It will be nice to not have to worry about the rest of my college and only focus ondad's stuff, though. Under no circumstances can I let Kade find out about it. He’d probably try to play the hero and pay for that too.
A knock on the door of my apartment breaks me from my thoughts. Opening the door, I'm surprised to see three men standing there. "Can I help you?"
"We are here to move you," he states.
"Excuse me?" I screech.
The man in front of me rolls his eyes at the way I respond, like I'm being dramatic or something—I'm not.
"Lady, we are the movers. We were hired to pack your stuff and move you," he says trying to push through.
Nope. I block his way into the apartment as I narrow my eyes at him. "I didn't order any movers."
"Yes, you did. See, it's all right here?" he says, pushing the paper in front of him. I grab the paper from him, clenching my jaw when I see Kade's name on it.
"That motherfucker! Who does he think he is?" I mutter under my breath, before plastering on my fake smile. "Hold on one minute."
