Page 54 of Learn the Play
“You still have some time to get used to the idea,” I remind her.
“Call me,” she says, after another quick hug.
Closing the door behind her, I make my way to the kitchen, where Reid has everything cleaned up. “That went well,” I tell him.
“It did. How are you feeling?” he asks, gripping my hips and lifting me to the counter.
“Good. Relieved,” I confess, wrapping my arms around his neck.
“The realtor sent me a few houses for us to look at. How about I grab my laptop, and we can have some of this cheesecake and look through them?”
“You make it hard for a girl to say no,” I say, pecking his lips with a kiss.
“Good,” he says, grinning. He lifts me off the counter and smacks my ass lightly. “Go settle in. I’ll be right there.”
“I can help,” I offer.
“And you can let me take care of you. Off you go.” He moves to swat at my ass again, but this time, I’m ready for him and jump out of the way, laughing as I move to the couch, pull the blanket into my lap, and settle in, just like he asked.
Chapter Fifteen
Reid
“I think that’s it,” I tell Bellamy, glancing around her empty apartment. I paid out the rest of her lease, which took some convincing. Since we finally have a home game this week, every day after practice, and when she gets off work, we’ve been packing and deciding what to donate and what to keep.
“Yeah,” she agrees, as she, too, spins to look at the now-empty apartment.
I just took the last box down to my truck. The guys offered to help, but I knew this was going to be hard for her—giving up her space to come to mine—so I wanted her to have the freedom to process her emotions without an audience. There’s a teenage boy who lives in the apartment across the hall, and I paid him a couple of hundred bucks and an autograph to help me carry the furniture down to my truck.
I wish we were moving into a house, one that was ours alone, but that takes time. I couldn’t wait. I needed her with me. I was too impatient to wait, and my dream girl wanted that, too. She’s pushing back at her fears, choosing to trust me, to trust us, and that’s something I’ll never take for granted.
“You need me to give you a moment?” I ask, sliding my arm around her waist and pulling her close. She rests her head on my chest and sighs.
“No, I’m okay. This is just a big step, and it’s so fast.”
“Not fast enough,” I grumble, and she laughs.
“I’ve slept in your bed every night since we found out,” she reminds me.
“Our bed, Bell, you’ve slept inourbed. No other woman but you has ever slept there,” I assure her. She peers up at me under long lashes. The sparkle in her brown eyes shines bright, telling me she’s happy. I’ll do everything I can to keep that sparkle there.
“Let’s go home,” she says. Her voice is strong, resolute, and it takes everything I have not to toss her over my shoulder and race us down to the truck.
After leading her to the door with my arm around her waist, we step out into the hall and lock up the apartment for the final time. When we reach my truck, I open the door for her and help her inside. “What do we do with the keys?” I ask.
“I need to drop them off at the main office up town.”
“Do you want to do that now?”
“Do you mind?”
“Not at all.” I kiss her softly before closing the door. As I walk around the truck to take my seat behind the wheel, I glance up at her place and grin. She’s coming home where she belongs. If she notices my excitement, she doesn’t comment as I drive us across town.
Sunday. Game day. And I’m ready. I’ve never been this amped up to play a game, and I know why. She’s going to be here. Mydream girl is going to be up in the suite with Corie and Sloane, while Rowan will be down on the field with us. Corie will have to step away to work some, but she’s assured me it won’t be much, and that’s okay, because Sloane will be there to keep her company.
I know that convincing her to come to the game was hard, and I’m so damn proud of her for being here. Not just for me, but for her, too. In her eyes, the game I love ruined her life. Now, it’s going to be a huge part of hers, and she’s facing her fears. I wish I had the words to tell her what that means to me.
More than her just being here, we’ve agreed that tonight, after the game, we’re going to try to get Coach alone and tell him about the baby. Not because she wants her father to know that he’s going to be a grandpa, but because I may need to take time off to be with her. Maybe? I know for sure I will when the baby is born, but thankfully, our little peanut is due at the beginning of our off-season. I’ll have several months to help her heal and for us to bond as a family. I’m fucking stoked.
