Blindsided: A Sports Romance (18 page)

I reach down and rub my belly. I’m due any day now, and my little girl has been doing everything in her power to let me know that. The kicking never stops. I feel like once she’s born that I’m going to sleep for a year, but I know that’s not going to happen. I’ll be even more exhausted, but a million times happier.

Sam runs outside and plonks himself down by my side on the deck. It’s one of those afternoons where the light is so bright and orange that it feels like we woke up and found ourselves in a photo. The sun is warm on my face.

These days, Sam has stopped wriggling away any time I try to hug him. He’s obsessed with his baby sister already. He’s coordinating the nursery decoration project in our new house.

Our home. It’s a modest place. When I checked the balance in the trust account, I found six zeros blinking back at me, just like Jake said. But you know how I feel about splurging. Instead of buying a palace, I found a little place in the suburbs with a large backyard and four bedrooms, so we can all have our own room with a spare room for when friends come to stay.

Right now, Van is staying with us to help out. I don’t know which one of us is more emotionally unstable right now—me with my pregnancy or Van with the lawsuit. But we’re trying to be there for each other as best we can. I know it’s not easy for her losing her home and her successful career in one swoop and I feel guilty that I’m to blame, even if she insists it’s Jackson’s fault for being a giant asshole.

Sam wriggles around. “Hey, Aunt Van.”

I tilt my head and grin. She’s wearing an old sweatshirt and track pants, both of which are covered in fresh pink paint.

“I got started on the nursery.”

“Van, you didn’t need to do that. You’re a guest.”

She shrugs. “I needed to do something. I’m going crazy here. That non-compete agreement is killing me. I’m sure Jackson knows exactly what he’s doing.”

I shake my head. I can’t help but agree with her even though I don’t want to say it aloud. Preventing someone like Van from working is the equivalent of stopping me from eating all of the crazy foods I’ve been craving. It’s cruel. She’s a workaholic. Although I’ll be the first to tell you that I’ve benefitted because she’s launched herself into all of my DIY projects to keep herself busy.

“You’ll beat this. Then you can set up a new company with all of the clients you could possibly handle. And more.”

She smiles. “Thanks, Rose.”

“Hey, Ms. Gray. You better not abandon my account when you’ve got all these new clients,” says a deep voice behind us.

We all turn around. Sam rushes at him and clasps his little arms around Jake’s huge thighs. “You’re back.”

“You’re back,” I echo, standing clumsily. These days it’s all I can do to heft my bulk around the house.

Van is beside me in an instant, grabbing my forearms and pulling me up. She freezes as Jake comes up beside her.

“I’ll attend to my woman,” he says in a booming voice that makes Sam giggle and turns my core to liquid.

She steps away. “I’ll leave you guys alone. Finish the nursery. Sammy, want to help me?”

He grimaces. “Why’s it have to be pink.”

“Because it’s a girl, sweetie.”

“Yeah but it’s my little sister. She’s gonna be cool and like sports and…” he trails along behind her, dragging his feet.

“He’s right, you know,” Jake says when we’re alone.

His hands circle my waist.

“I feel like a whale,” I whisper.

He shakes his head. “You don’t look like one. Not unless I’m totally wrong and whales are goddamn attractive.”

I smile. It’s good to have him back. I tell him that.

He pulls me to him and kisses me deeply. “It’s good to be back. I’m not leaving your side again. Not until after our girl is born and I’ve had a good long talk to her about how she better like sports better than pink stuff.”

“But she can’t play football,” I protest. “I don’t want her to get crushed.”

He rolls his eyes. “She can do anything she wants to. Okay, maybe not football. But only because there’s no professional women’s league and I know she won’t settle for that. Soccer maybe. We’ll see.”

My heart soars just like it always does when he talks about her. When he does, she’s a real little person with hopes and dreams. Just like she will be soon.

“I love you, Jake. Thanks for fighting for us.”

He smiles and rests his forehead against mine. “I love you too. And I’m sorry it took me so long to realize what my priorities really were.”

We made it, I think as I watch Rose sleep on the outdoor couch. A slight breeze rustles past and I get up to throw a comforter over her.

It’s not long now, only a week to go before the doctors will induce her. But Stevie tells me that it’s okay, it’s nothing to worry about.

I smile and get up to get a beer from the refrigerator. As I pass the hallway I can hear Van and Sam chattering in the room that’s going to be the nursery.

I shake my head. I’ve been trying to convince her to let me set her up with one of my teammates, but she won’t hear a word of it. I don’t know what else I can do to show her how much I appreciate her help in getting my family back. I smile. Not that setting her up with one of those animals would be a reward or anything. More like a curse.

I open the bottle and stroll back through our open-plan kitchen to the deck. That was something we both wanted—a bright sunny space where we could laze outside on summer evenings. This place is a quarter of the size of the mansion the team put us up in, but it’s a hundred times more homely. It’s all we could want.

Even though our money problems will soon be a thing of the past.

We assumed I’d be kicked off the team. That was why we’d done the photoshoot with Howdy. Two million for a couple of hours of posing and talking bullshit was the best deal I’d ever made in my life. Darla had jumped at the idea as soon as she heard how much money was on the table—I think she was growing bored of living with a guy who was never going to pay her any attention. And it wasn’t like she could go out and play around with anybody else—her contract terms were as rigid as mine and Rose’s.

But no, Coach Fox had an about turn when he realized we’d stitched everything up perfectly and there’d be no negative press for the club. When he heard that we were planning to make it up to the magazine by allowing them full exclusive access to any future wedding between me and Rose, he ordered us out and conferred with Charlie and Manny for a half hour before inviting us back in and telling us to consider ourselves very lucky. I sure as hell don’t like the guy, but we tolerate each other these days. I don’t want to leave the Grizzlies and the guys if I don’t have to.

And the magazine plan worked. Oh, the editor and publisher had been pissed when they heard about the press conference, but they backed down once we told them about the wedding rights. Then we’d laughed all the way back to the hotel suite Van had booked. Because there was no wedding—or it was so far in the future that it was a surreal event that none of us had really thought of.

Until now.

I drop my beer on the table and freeze. I had wanted to do it after the baby was born in front of all our friends, but this feels right. At our home.

My hands start to shake as I reach into my pocket and pull out the ring box. It’s nothing like the big gaudy bauble they gave me to present to Darla. It’s far better. I turn around so I’ve got my back to Rose and open the box. It’s simple and elegant. Just like Rose.

“Hey, Sam,” I call, careful to keep my voice down so I don’t wake Rose.

“Yeah?” he comes running to the door, eyes wide. The kid’s been anxious ever since we told him about the baby.

I grin at him. “It’s okay. It’s not the baby. Come here.”

He steps closer and my heart warms. I can’t believe I spent all those years thinking my father would be proud of me only if I won that championship for him. I know that if he’s looking down on me, he’ll see my little family and think I’ve come good. We came second in the league this season. But when we
do
win the championship? Well, that’ll be a major bonus.

But I don’t have time to think about that right now. Sam is looking up at me as if I’m crazy.

“Here,” I say, holding out the box. “Go wake your mom and ask her if she’ll marry me.”

He’s halfway across the floor before he stops and spins around. “What?” he says.

I wink. “You heard me. I’ll be right behind you.”

I watch him rush outside and shake her shoulder gently. My heart surges as she opens one eye and stares up at him, still groggy from sleep. She thinks she looks gross at moments like that—she has no idea how much I love her first thing in the morning or in the middle of the night when she wakes up to pee for the third time and wakes me up in the process.

“Mom, Mom,” he hisses.

“What is it honey?” she says, yawning.

He holds out his arm. “Jake wants to know if you’ll…” he falters and turns back to me.

Rose takes the box from his hand and looks from him to me and back again. “What is this?” she asks, turning it over in her hands.

I smile and walk out of the house to join her. I take the box from her shaking hands and open it, sinking to one knee in front of her as Sam whoops with excitement.

“Rose Allen, will you marry me?” 

I stare at Van in the mirror. I don’t know if it’s because I’m jittery as hell, but something seems off to me. Maybe it’s my imagination, but she seems more nervous than I am. Totally unlike her—the woman is usually ice cold.

“What?” she demands.

I stare into her eyes, looking for clues. I know now that I’m not imagining it. Her nostrils flare. Her pupils are dilated.

“There’s something up with you.”

She shakes her head. “Don’t be crazy.”

I sit forward, careful not to move too quickly and ruin her handiwork. “Yeah there is.”

“You’re just nervous.”

“I’m not,” I say. “Well, I am. But that’s not it. I know you. Something’s going on. Spill.”

She pauses and stares at me in the mirror. “This isn’t about me. It’s your wedding day.”

I shrug. Even hearing those words makes me want to jump up and down and shout off the rooftops. I’m marrying Jake Thorne. And I want the entire world to know.

There’s a knock at the door. We exchange glances. The entire world
will
know, thanks to the deal Van and Jake struck with Howdy. That’ll be the photographer, right on schedule.

“It’s not too late to back out,” she says, biting her lip.

I grin at her. “Yeah it is. It’s far too late.”

Van juts her hip out. “It’s not. Nobody’s gonna force my best friend to do something she doesn’t want to do on the biggest day of her life.”

“It’s fine,” I whisper. “I don’t mind. It’ll be cool to have something to show Sophia when we’re old and wrinkly. That way I’ll be able to prove that her momma looked like a movie star at least one day in her life.”

And I do. I’ve already had my makeup done by a contact of Van’s. My hair color. Nails. Facial. Van wanted to book a celebrity stylist, but I had to shoot her down on that one. I had a better idea. I wanted her to do it.

Van and I have spent countless hours doing each other’s hair and gossiping about boys. I wanted her to be the one to do it on this day too.

There’s another knock.

“I’ll just go get that.”

She pushes me down in the chair, hands on my shoulders. “You will not. Don’t be crazy. I’ll let them in. But only if you’re sure.”

I stare into her eyes. “When you tell me what’s bothering you.”

She lets out a little breath. “I’m pregnant,” she says, not meeting my eyes.

Two seconds later, she’s opening the door to the hyperactive Howdy magazine crew and I have to coax my eyes back into my head from where they’ve bugged out.

Van?

Pregnant?

I stare at her in the mirror and I can tell she’s deliberately avoiding my eyes. I want to usher the photographers out and corner her, but we don’t have time for that.

“Okay, let’s get some of the maid of honor and the bride getting ready.”

Van sits down in the chair beside mine and stares at her reflection in the mirror. I glance at her sideways, trying to assess her frame of mind. She’s as inscrutable as ever. She’s wearing a silk floral robe that matches mine, and her hair is piled on top of her head in curlers.

“I didn’t even know you were dating anyone,” I mutter out of the corner of my mouth.

She stares straight ahead.

“Come on ladies,” the photographer says, sounding nervous. “It’s your wedding day. Smile.”

Usually when somebody tells me I should smile, I get the urge to punch them. Not today. Just the reminder that I’m getting married makes me grin like a fool.

“Okay, maybe more of a pout. Like this,” he says.

Van and I snort with laughter. Out of the corner of my eye I see the doubtful look on the assistant photographer’s face.

“Sorry. I’m not really the pouty type. But I’ll try.” I pull an exaggerated duck face and Van and I collapse into peals of laughter.

I said I was cool with them shooting my wedding. I never promised to be anybody other than myself.

***

When the photographers leave, I try to get more information out of Van. You can guess how well that works. She’s more evasive than ever, fussing around the room and coming up with inventive chores to attend to. Finally, we’re both dressed and ready, sitting on the white chaise longue in the corner as we wait for the signal that it’s time.

“You want me to stop bugging you?” I whisper, gripping my full champagne glass.

Jake ordered a bottle of Dom Perignon for us, but I’m too nervous to even take a sip.

She shakes her head. “No, it’s fine, honey. It’s… like I said. Today is about you. I didn’t even want to mention it, but it slipped out.”

“So you’re excited?”

She grins. “Yeah.”

I shake my head. “I didn’t even know you were dating.” I freeze. “Do I know him?”

She grins like a kid and nods her head.

“Is it Jackson?”

“Oh, hell no. That loser? I haven’t heard from him since the judge threw out his case against me.”

“Is he…” I sit forward. “Is he a football player?”

She closes her eyes. The woman is beaming from ear-to-ear. She’s loving every minute of this. “Yes.”

“Does he have a beard?”

Her eyes snap open. “We’re not playing Guess Who here you know.”

“Answer the question!”

There’s a gentle knock at the door. My chest flutters with nerves. “Come in.”

The door opens and Sam peeks around the door.

“Come in sweetie. I want to see that suit.”

I clutch my chest at the sight of him dressed in a miniature version of Jake’s wedding suit. He looks so grown up.

“It’s time, Mom.”

My skin breaks out in goosebumps as I stand and walk across the floor to my son. Mom is waiting outside the door with Sophia. My heart is going to burst. I’m surrounded by the people most precious to me in the world and I’m about to marry the man I love.

I bend over and kiss her gorgeous little cheek.

“Are you gonna be a good girl for Auntie Van while I marry your daddy?”

She chuckles and gurgles as Van lifts her out of my mother’s arms and takes her pudgy little arm. She’s still a little unsteady on her feet, but there was no way I wasn’t having her as my second bridesmaid.

Across the hall, I heard the band pick up. Here Comes the Bride. I grin like an idiot.

“It’s time, honey,” Mom says, taking my arm.

I glance back at Sophia, who’s wobbling on her feet and staring up adoringly at Van.

“She’s fine,” Van grins. “Go. You don’t want to keep that man of yours waiting too long. He’s scared enough as it is.”

I laugh. I can’t imagine Jake scared. But she’s right—I can’t wait any longer. I take Sam’s hand and clasp Mom’s arm tighter. And we walk to the doorway. And the aisle.

***

I thought I could keep it together, but my eyes well with tears at the sight of Jake, standing with Dale and Denny at the top of the aisle. The music is beautiful and haunting. It’s a folk band that Jake knows. I swallow back the tears, not wanting to smudge my makeup for the pictures. I glance around. I’m surprised at how the Howdy magazine crew has blended in with the guests—I thought they’d be a lot more intrusive.

Not that it matters.

Nothing can ruin this day.

I walk up the aisle, smiling like a crazy person at the people who’ve come out to see us get married. Beside me, I hear Mom sniff. I smile at her.

“Don’t set me off. If I start crying I’ll never stop,” I whisper.

She laughs and her tears come even faster. “I can’t help it, honey. I’m so happy for you.”

Sam reaches into the pocket of his miniature suit jacket and pulls out a silk handkerchief, presenting it to my mother. “Here,” he says solemnly. “Jake told me I should keep one on hand just in case.”

I burst out laughing, causing alarm to sweep over the faces of the assembled crowd.

Behind me, Sophia mimics me, cackling and babbling away, despite Van’s gentle shushing.

When we reach the celebrant, I’m about to burst with emotion. Mom kisses me on the cheek and I bent to hug Sam before he goes and takes his place beside the other groomsmen, a tiny little figure beside those human giants.

Jake looms before me. I stare at him as he takes my hand. I can’t hold back the tears now and I don’t care about the pictures anymore. I can’t believe it. It feels like a dream. But it’s real. Jake is mine and I’m his and nobody’s going to keep us apart ever again.

“Ready Mrs. Thorne?” he whispers, leaning over and kissing me on the cheek.

I try to answer but my voice comes out as a hoarse, emotional crackle. Instead, I nod my head emphatically. Am I ready? You bet. I squeeze his hand tight and smile up at him.

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