Page 244 of Steeling Her
“And who’s fault is that?” He raises an eyebrow, challenging me for the answer we both know. I exhale harshly, knowing that this fuck up has left me in limbo.
Do I get my chance or not?
“Look, I know you’re a good guy. Better than him, hell, I fucking told her that. I nearly lost it with Danielle when I found out she set them up—”
“Wait, what?” I ask.
“Not important.” He shakes his head, wanting me to not go there. “Look, you and I both know she needs to make a decision on what she wants, but that’s her decision. You made one five years ago that made you stand right here and confess to me how much you love my sister when you should be telling her that, not me.
“That decision has tarnished your reputation and taken the trust she had with you away. I know you were forced into it, I get that when you were young, you thought there was nothing else you can do other than take the choice, but you did choose, and you didn’t choose her. She’s the type of girl that doesn’t want to get in the way of someone else’s dream, but it still hurts her. And while it wasn’t the first time it happened to her, it hurt for her even more because she loved you, Nick. And I know you’re trying to make up for lost time, I can see that you’re really trying, but I’m not sure that it’s enough.” He systematically shatters my hopes.
“So, what do you suggest I do?” I ask him to help me.
“I suggest you ask her that, not me.” He sends me a tight smile and continues to walk down the tunnel. “And I know you don’t have another girl waiting for you in your hotel room. Perez can be a dick sometimes—he’s young, stupid, and hasn’t fallen in love before—so he doesn’t understand. If he could run on the field like he runs his mouth, he’d be one hell of a player, that’s for sure.” Chris snorts and goes back to his goofy self.
“Daddy!” Taylor screeches and it echoes loudly through the tunnel.
“There’s my princess!” Chris crouches down to lift up his little girl into his arms after running as fast as she could. When she reaches him, he surrounds her face with small pecks of love that she so clearly enjoys. When we get to Danielle, he engulfs her too and gives her a long kiss.
“Hey, you played so amazing!” She rubs his cheeks and he leans in to kiss her forehead as a sign of how much he cares for her.
“Yeah, Daddy played so good!” Taylor slaps her dad. “Hi, Nick!” She waves hysterically over at me. She never fails to make me smile.
“Hi, Taylor,” I greet her and give her a high five.
“You played unbelievable tonight, Nick. I don’t think I’ve seen you play so good in a long time. You just seem to get better and better with every game.” Danielle squeezes my arm.
“I must be getting more used to the team these days,” I thank her as she begins to take Taylor back from Chris, who begins to walk over to the car we’re riding in.
“Well, your game didn’t go unnoticed.” She winks after her cryptic sentence. I look at her in confusion as we walk over to the vehicle, so she smiles. “You’ve also gained another fan.” She points to her daughter, who grins largely back at me in delight. “She was cheering for you for the most part. Sorry Chris, you got demoted to second string for most of the game. I thought I lost her to Jackson for the rest of the game,” she playfully jokes to Chris, who begins to tickle his daughter, making her screech in laughter.
“My own daughter would never betray me,” he jokes as he listens to the sound of her laughing uncontrollably in the car seat.
I slide into the back beside Danielle while Chris is up front with the driver that will take us back to the hotel.
“So you’re not going out tonight?” Danielle asks me, and I catch Chris’ eyes look at me through the rear view mirror and smile to myself.
“No, but if you and Chris are, I can be on babysitting duties,” I offer. Danielle shoots a look to Chris, who rolls his eyes.
“She’s all yours, Jackson!” Danielle throws a fist in the air just as we move off.
“Thanks, Jackson,” Chris says sarcastically and I wink back at him.
“Anytime.”
Chapter Forty-Eight
My One Out Of Ten
Nick
After babysitting for Chris and Danielle, I’ve now realized in great detail that, yes, I would love to have kids sometime, but just not right now.
Taylor is so adorable and cute, but she has me driven me mad as soon as her parents left to go out and join in on the celebrations with the rest of the team and their other halves. As much as I wanted to celebrate, I wasn’t in the mood—especially not tonight.
Taylor was a big ball of energy for the most part, until she crashed hard and fell asleep on the sofa. I had to carry her to her bed and tuck her in to make sure she was alright. Danielle had changed her into her bed clothes before she and Chris left.
I sit alone in the room and watch TV while keeping one eye on her. I’m not even in my own hotel room. I’m watching the game we just played and picked on what I could improve on. I picked out other things that I saw from other players, both on my team and the opposing one. Taylor had inputs, too, when she was awake.
