Page 114 of Roughing the Player
She tilts her head to the side. “And if I don’t?”
I jam my hands in my jeans pockets. “I don’t think we can stay together.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Really.”
“Okay.”
Okay? What’s that supposed to mean? I rack my brains trying to figure it out while we pack up the house, make arrangements to sell it, hire workers to move our stuff. At night, we make sweet love in the bedroom. Days, we listen to Kaylee chat with Mitch. When her transfer to her new school is confirmed, Kaylee dances around the house like it’s Christmas, the Fourth of July, and her birthday all rolled into one.
After five days in the hospital, Butch comes home. Moving a little slower than before, but still moving. Pretty much ignoring Ellie and me, he spends his days in Kaylee’s bedroom, only coming out to eat and do his business in the yard. The way she continuously blabs at him would make my ears bleed, but he just gazes at her with this adoring look on his face. And that’s exactly the way it should be.
To my surprise, Ellie decides to call it quits at her sports agency. After years of college and full-time jobs, she’s more than ready for a break. Sometime after the baby is born, she figures she’ll go back to work. Given her credentials, something’s bound to turn up.
Two weeks later, it’s time for me to fly back to Charleston. Training camp is starting in a couple of days. Ellie is staying to deal with the last of the packing, but she and Kaylee and Butch will drive down in two weeks. Ruth will remain behind to handle the sale of the house, hers as well. Once that’s all taken care of, she and Steve will move down to Charleston. I’ve offered them a place in our home since it has plenty of room. But Ruth has her eye on a cottage by the water where she won’t be far from us.
When it’s time for me to leave, Ellie and I head off to O’Hare. She still hasn’t said the ‘L’ word. So being the bigger person, I say it. Again. “I love you.”
She smiles back.
Fuck it. I’m not going to beg. I jump out of the car, grab my bag and huff it into the airport without looking back.
Training camp with the Wolves is just as brutal as the Outlaws’. Except it’s worse because it’s ninety degrees in the field. We get longer breaks, but by the end of it, all I want to do is go home and chill with Ellie and Kaylee and Butch. As many times as we’ve talked since I left Chicago, she’s never once said she loves me. But I’ve finally come to terms with it. She doesn’t have to say it. I have enough love for the both of us.
I pull up to the housing development’s front entrance, expecting the gate to go up. But to my surprise, the guard flags me down.
“What’s up?” This guy knows who I am. Been in and out a zillion times.
“Hello, Mr. Parker. Just wanted to let you know. We got word from the front office. You won’t have to worry about those, err, ladies dropping by anymore.”
“Good to know.” Suspecting a guard at the front gate had been taking bribes, I’d filed a complaint with the management company. It appears they’ve finally worked it out. “That would be a problem since my wife’s here now.”
He grins. “I know. Go on through.” He lifts the gate and I ride through.
What was that all about? That codger had not once smiled at me, but today I could see all his front teeth. I shrug. He’s probably just trying to earn a big Christmas tip.
As I get closer to my house, a bunch of people crowd the sidewalks and the road, almost like it’s a parade. Where are they going? As it turns out, the ‘parade’ ends at my house. My driveway’s so crowded with people I can’t even pull up into it, so I park on the only free spot on the street. Is Ellie having a garage sale? It is Saturday after all. Nah, she donated a lot of stuff to Goodwill before we left.
When I step on the sidewalk in front of my house, the crowd parts. They’re all grinning ear-to-ear. What the hell’s going on?
As I take the path to my front door, I notice a whole bunch, and I mean a whole bunch, of casserole dishes on the lawn. Empty dishes. In all shapes and sizes. And colors. Maybe she is having a garage sale. But that sure is an odd way to lay them out, scattered as they are all over the grass. That’s when I realize they’re spelling out words. Three words to be exact.
Ellie loves Brock.
She’s telling not only me, but all of our neighbors. Probably the entire world too. Because as sure as I’m standing here, with a goofy grin on my face, somebody’s already posted it on the internet.
Ellie’s waiting for me at the top of the porch steps, holding a plate in her hands. I’m not close enough to smell it, but I know it’s apple pie.
I walk up the path, struggling to remain cool. When I get there, I climb up one step so we’re eye to eye. “Apple pie?”
“Yes.” A light glows in her eyes.
I nod toward the lawn. “So you do love me?” Dying to kiss her, I content myself with cupping her face and brushing a thumb across her satiny cheek.
“I’ve always loved you, Brock.” Her breathless voice is sexy as fuck.
“Since when?”
