Quitting the Quarterback (The Nash Brothers #4)

CHAPTER 59 Tanner Banks

To the Future

It's just the two of us after a long day together, and I’m nervous.

I have a question to ask her. A proposition of sorts.

Miller and Spencer headed out right after lunch and flew directly to Seattle to meet up with the rest of our teammates. I watched the game with Cassie and my parents in the sportsbook, the part of the casino with huge television screens set up for betting on the outcome of games, and after the Storm pulled out a victory, I knew it was time to finally ask my question.

I shouldn’t be nervous. This is Cassie, and she showed up for me today. But what I want to ask her isn’t just about her . She comes as a package deal, and the whole idea of all of this is still really new.

But it also feels right.

I just hope it feels right for her, too.

The timing may not be perfect on a day like this, but the events of the last few days also proved to me that there is no perfect time. If you don’t say what you need to say when you have the chance, it may be too late to ever say it.

And I won’t make that mistake again.

I’m taking her to Skybar, one of my favorite rooftop lounges in Vegas. We can look down over the Strip as we sip tequila and talk, and I can finally give her what’s been setting my pocket on fire for the last few days.

We’re shown to the table I reserved, and it’s nestled in a private corner. The chairbacks are high, so it’s like we’re in our own little world as we stare out over the view together, and the service is top-notch as my tequila and her margarita arrive shortly after we order.

I hold up my glass, and she mirrors my movements.

“To the future,” I say, and she taps her glass to mine.

“To the future,” she echoes, and we each take a sip.

I take a second and a third before I set my glass down and turn away from the view and toward the beautiful woman sitting beside me. “How have you been over the last week?”

“Awful,” she admits, and she shoots me a wry smile.

“Same. Where are Luca and Lily?” I ask.

“With my parents tonight, and they’ll go to Alex’s this weekend.” She glances up at me from lowered lashes. “They miss you, you know.”

My chest tightens at that. “I miss them, too.”

“I just want to clarify what I meant when I said those awful things, Tanner. I regretted that they were going to be hurt, not that I introduced you to them. You are incredible with them, and they adore you.”

I nod as her words confirm what I had suspected but didn’t really believe. “Thank you for saying that. To be honest, those were the words that cut the most, even though eventually that was the conclusion I came to.”

“I’m sorry for what I said. ”

“Water under the bridge,” I say with a shrug, quoting Missy Nash in some attempt to model the forgiveness I saw between her and my mom. “Can I ask you a question?”

She takes another sip of margarita, and then she asks, “Is it a one sip or a finish my drink first type of question?”

I chuckle. “Just a sip. I know how important your career is to you. Have you found a job?”

She blinks and averts her gaze to the window as she shakes her head, and she drinks a little more margarita. “Jess suggested maybe I look into working with student-athletes at the place where Lily does gymnastics, but they’re not hiring. I’m not really sure what I want to do, but I do know sitting at home sulking over losing everything in one fell swoop isn’t it.”

“You didn’t lose everything, and maybe you didn’t lose anything,” I say quietly.

Her eyes dart to mine, and her brows are pushed together in confusion.

“Come work for me. Be my personal physical therapist until I’m able to get back on the field, and then you can shift to my trainer. It’ll be a full-time position, and I know I’m no picnic to work with, but I need someone who can handle me. You’re the only one, Cass. And it’ll be reduced hours so you can be with the kids and still have time for your own life.”

“Tanner, that’s not a full-time position,” she protests.

“Okay, then open your own practice,” I blurt. “And I’m just one of your clients. You could work with other injured athletes, or you could bond with the wives of athletes, or you could work with gymnasts. And I can help you get started.”

Her eyes widen as she stares at me like I have two heads for a beat, but she seems to soften a bit as she thinks it over. “Your trainer and my own practice?”

I reach into my pocket and finally pull out the little box, and I flip it open and remove its contents. I slide it across the table toward her, and she stares down at it as the shiny metal glints in the dim light in here. “And my roommate.”

She gasps as she picks up the key and turns it over in her hand. “Roommate?” Her eyes shift from the key to me.

“I bought a place in San Diego, and I was hoping maybe you’d be interested in moving in with me. I haven’t even told Miller yet. It’s close to your place so the kids won’t have to change schools, and it has a pool so we can partake in our favorite swimming activities, and there’s a kid-friendly fence around the pool. It’s got a few extra bedrooms for, you know…growth, or guests, or an office, or whatever. And if it’s too soon and you don’t want to, that’s totally fine, too, but I felt like Miller and I deserved our own spaces, but I’d love for this space to be yours and the kids’, too, and—”

She cuts me off. “Oh my God, Tanner, stop. Yes!” She leans across the table and presses her lips to mine. “Of course yes. To all of it,” she says, holding her forehead to mine for a beat, and then she moves to pull away, but I pull her back into me for a lingering kind of kiss. She looks a little dazed once I let her go, and she finishes her margarita. She glances over at me. “Can I be honest with you about something?”

“Always. Everything.”

“But I need you to promise me you aren’t going to go all caveman apeshit on me.”

My brows furrow. “When have I ever gone caveman apeshit?”

“Any time I bring up my ex.”

I drain my drink at the mention of his name. “Okay,” I say icily. “Bring it on.”

She sighs. “He’s been watching me via the doorbell camera, and it made me wonder if he has other cameras around the house.”

“I’ll fucking kill him. ”

She purses her lips and rolls her eyes. “See? But anyway, I’ve been thinking maybe it would be best to move. Start over. I just wasn’t sure where to go, and I didn’t want to uproot the kids when they’re in the middle of a school year.”

“I get that. And if you want to move in first to get used to it with the kids but without me there, that’s fine too. I want to make sure everyone is comfortable with the living situation. Except Alex. I want him to hate it with every fiber of his being.”

Her brows pinch together. “Without you there? Hell no, Tanner Banks. It’s your house that you invited us to.”

I shake my head. “No, Cass. It’s our house. I bought it for us.”

She looks surprised at that. “What if I said no?”

“Then I would’ve sold it.” I shrug. “But I told you, I was gearing up to fight for you. I know what we shared, and somewhere deep down, I knew that house was where we belonged together.”

“Can I see it?” she asks softly.

I pull my phone out of my pocket, and I navigate to the listing to show it to her. She gasps at the first picture, and I do have to admit, it’s pretty damn impressive.

I know I’ll need to tell Miller, but we’ve been here before. When I moved out of the place we shared together in Arizona after I moved in with Heather, I signed over my half of the house to Miller. We’ll do the same thing here if he wants to stay, or we’ll sell it and move on.

Who knows? Maybe he’ll even end up in the house we’re sharing now with Sophie.

If he ever gets up the nerve to shoot his shot. Maybe I need to do it for him like he did for me.

But not tonight. Tonight, my focus is entirely on the woman sitting beside me and the future that we’re going to create together.