Quitting the Quarterback (The Nash Brothers #4)

CHAPTER 40 Cassie Fields

I’ll Tell Them You’re My Girlfriend

My heart breaks for him, and as a mother myself, it breaks for his mom.

At the same time, my heart is so completely full after the words slipped out in an unfiltered moment. I do love him, and I’m not sure when I would’ve gotten up the nerve to say it to him if it didn’t come out during an impassioned speech the way it did.

I get that he’s on pain meds and he’s just coming off surgery, but he didn’t hold back his anger with his mom or his stepdad. I just hope I got through to him.

I hope I made him see what I—someone on the outside—can so easily see.

But it’s always easy to see those things when you’re on the outside. It’s harder when you’re in the thick of it on the inside. And I have my own life experiences to add to the mix. Mother to mother, I see why she did it. I don’t blame her for doing what she thought was best for her kids.

Especially since she admitted that she’d never planned to reveal the truth .

Which begs the question…why did Eddie admit to it?

I don’t know much about the man, to be honest, and most of what I’ve heard isn’t great. He seems greedy and selfish, and if those two traits accurately portray him…then it makes sense that eventually he’d want to cut off his spending. The twins are nearly thirty at this point, and I’m surprised he paid her off as long as he did.

These are the thoughts swirling around my mind when my phone rings just after I finish the dinner dishes. I’m surprised to see it’s Tanner calling.

“Hey,” I answer, and I finish drying a couple dishes while I cradle the phone between my ear and my shoulder.

“Are you busy?”

I glance up and see both kids occupied on their iPads, so I say, “I can spare a minute or two.”

“That’s all I need. I have a few things I need to fill out for the school district to get my football program up and running, and my publicist thought it would be a good idea to get an in-district parent to write me up a recommendation. Know anyone who might be able to do that for me?”

“Hm, maybe one of your coaches?” I tease.

He laughs.

“I’d be happy to do it, though I don’t know why you’d need one since everyone knows who you are,” I say. “We can work on it tomorrow in between stretches if you’d like. That way you can tell me about the program, and I can include whatever you need in the letter.”

“Would it be okay if I talked to Luca about some of the ideas I have for the program? Just to see if it’s stuff he’d be interested in.”

“I think that’s a great idea. Now? Or do you want us to come by tomorrow or something? ”

“Well, there’s sort of one other thing…” He trails off, and I wait patiently for it. “I agreed to dinner tomorrow with my parents, and I’d like you there. And I know you have the kids, so I was thinking you could just bring them, and I could talk with Luca there.”

“The kids?” I repeat. “ My kids?”

“Well…yeah. I assume you don’t want to bring someone else’s kids.”

“I mean, that’s very sweet of you, but have you ever been to a restaurant with children?”

“No. Why?”

I chuckle. “Do you want to see for yourself? Or do you want me to tell you?”

“Oh stop. It can’t be that bad.”

“No, you’re right,” I agree. “It’s probably worse than whatever you’re thinking.”

“Is it any worse than dumping a bowl of spaghetti on my brother’s head at Olive Garden when we were in first grade?” he asks.

“Probably right along those lines,” I say dryly.

“Bring them. It’ll be a nice distraction.”

“How do you plan to explain to your mom and dad why I’m accompanying you to dinner with my children?” I ask.

“Easy. I’ll tell them you’re my girlfriend.” His voice is so flippant, so casual, and I freeze.

“Your…your what ?”

“What? You think you can just profess your love to me out of the blue and I’m not going to think of you as my girlfriend? Cass, there’s no one else. Okay? Only you. Hell, I don’t even have time for somebody else since you’re here all day, and you’re all I think about after you leave. So deal with it. You’re my girlfriend.”

Tears heat behind my eyes .

It’s way too soon for me to have a boyfriend. I just got out of a marriage, and I should probably take a little time on my own.

Except I’m starting to learn that society’s expectations of timelines are a load of trash, and I can do whatever the hell I want. I only get one life, and the more time I spend with him, the more confident I am in the fact that our lives were meant to intersect.

“Well, I guess I can’t argue with that.” I glance over at my kids. Luca is wearing headphones as he plays his game, and Lily is singing, so she isn’t about to hear a thing I say right now. “Boyfriend.”

He chuckles. “Hearing that word feels better than I was expecting.”

“Deal with it,” I tease, throwing his own words back at him.

A sense of joy climbs through me…even though reality sort of hits me at the same time.

“Would you really tell your parents that, though?” I ask. “Don’t you think it’s safer to keep it between us for now?”

“Us meaning you, me, my brother, and your cousin?” he asks.

I laugh. “Yes. That’s exactly what I mean.”

He chuckles. “Yes. I was mostly teasing when I said I’d tell them that. I don’t have to say anything at all, or I can say that I need you there since it’s my first venture out after surgery.”

“Whatever you’re comfortable with.”

“Well, I’d be most comfortable not going to dinner at all and instead getting you naked,” he says.

“That’s sort of off the table until next weekend. Unless I get a babysitter.”

“Do that.” His voice is low and needy, and it pulses an ache down low .

“Okay,” I agree. I don’t need any more convincing than that. It’s been a week, and I miss that intimacy with him. “Do you want to talk to Luca now, then?”

“Sure.”

“Hang on.” I pull the phone from my ear, and I walk over and tap Luca on the shoulder. He pulls his headphones off and looks up at me expectantly. “Hey, Tanner Banks is on the phone and wants to talk to you.”

His eyes light up as I hand the phone over. I listen to Luca’s end of the conversation, and I let them chat while I finish what I’m doing in the kitchen. They only talk for a few minutes before Luca calls me over to hand the phone back to me.

“Get everything you needed?” I ask.

“Not from his mother,” he mutters.

I giggle. “Let me get that babysitter lined up.”

“Listen, spend the morning with your kids tomorrow since I’m taking you from them tomorrow night,” he says.

My heart warms. “Thanks, Tanner.” I run through the list of stretches I want him to do, and I remind him to listen to his body and take it easy if anything feels off before we say our goodbyes.

My parents, who are the best, by the way, agree to watch the kids tomorrow night instead of tomorrow morning, so everything is lined up.

I decide to take the kids to one of our local waterparks in the morning complete with waterslides and a lazy river, and we spend the day laughing and splashing. I’m sun-kissed as I slip into a casual black dress for dinner, and my parents show up right on time.

I draw in a deep breath as I realize…I’m about to go to dinner with my boyfriend and his parents.