Quitting the Quarterback (The Nash Brothers #4)

CHAPTER 61 Cassie Fields

Christen the Kitchen

It’s a whirlwind weekend in Vegas. Between putting in hours with the Nash and Banks families and spending a lot of time naked with the quarterback—plus catching a couple of shows while we’re in town—the weekend flies by.

I find myself walking through the airport with Tanner. He’s recognized, and I don’t have to hide. I can hold his hand in public, and there’s something both sweet and empowering about it.

I’m more than just his physical therapist, though that designation also applies. For the record, I did make Tanner do his stretches. Some of them were naked. That whole rehab before romance line doesn’t have to apply anymore since we’re making the rules as we go.

In fact, he seems extra motivated when he’s naked. Or when I am. It’s a toss-up.

We land back home in San Diego on Sunday evening, and instead of heading right for my place or his, he takes us to our new place .

He closed on it last week before he went to Vegas. It was a quick sale, all cash, and I had no idea it had been in the works for quite some time.

He’s quite the secret keeper, I guess.

The house is perfect with its panoramic sea views, eight bedrooms, training room, and sparkling pool, and as I twirl around the gourmet kitchen, I can’t help my wide smile. I can’t believe this is really ours.

It feels like some sort of dream—a fantasy, really. The hot, young quarterback falls for the older single mom as she navigates her new life post-divorce.

Yet here we stand in the house he bought for us to build our future in.

“When are you thinking we should move in?” I ask as I take it all in. It’s huge—over eight thousand square feet—and this might be some sort of dream. I’m trying to make sense of it all as if making the plans around it will make it real.

“Whenever you’re ready. Tomorrow? This weekend? Next month? Whatever you’re comfortable with.”

“God, why are you so perfect?” I whine, and he chuckles.

“Born this way. And by the way, it came furnished, so we can keep it as is or make it our own.”

“Maybe a combination,” I say as I glance around. The kitchen is perfect, but I know the kids will want to pick bedrooms and bring all their stuff from our current home when we move.

“Can I ask you a question?” he asks as he moves in behind me, setting his hands on my hips.

I lean back into him, my head settling near his neck, and he nuzzles me a little. “Of course.”

“Are you okay with us sleeping in the same bed together when the kids are here? ”

I spin around in his arms. “Just you try to stop me,” I say, my voice full of sass.

He chuckles as he leans down to press a kiss to my lips. “I wouldn’t dare.” He moves to lift me onto the counter, and I stop him by holding up a hand.

“No lifting,” I remind him, nodding to his knee, and he rolls his eyes as I lift myself up onto the counter.

He pushes my legs open with his body as he moves in between them, and he slides his hands along my torso as he leans down for a kiss. “There are eight bedrooms here, you know,” he says softly.

“For guests?” I guess.

“Well, I figured you and I will share one.” He holds up one finger as he ticks off which bedrooms are in use. “One for Lily, one for Luca. We can convert one to an office for you, maybe another one for me.”

“That’s five,” I say, threading my fingers through the open hand he’s holding up. “What about the other three?”

“One can be a guest room.”

“And the other two?” I whisper. I think I know where he’s going with this, but it’s not really something we’ve ever discussed, and I don’t want to make assumptions.

He’s only twenty-nine. He’s still young, and maybe someday he’ll want kids of his own.

And maybe someday I’ll want those kids with him.

But I’m not getting any younger, and if we’re going to do this…well, we don’t have endless amounts of time.

He clears his throat. “I know we just got back together like five seconds ago, and I know this is still new, but I also know that you are my future. And I was never sure what that future looked like until I met the person who was meant to be in it. Well, the people. You, Lukey, and CC.”

My chest warms at his nicknames for my kids .

“You’re such a good mom, and if it’s in the cards for us, and if it’s something you want, I think it would be a blessing to fill those other two rooms with a couple more kids.”

Tears pinch behind my eyes. His words mean everything to me. He’s really thinking about a future with me, with my kids, and with the potential for more kids, and the more time I spend with him, the more I see it. The more I want it.

“I thought I was done after Lily,” I admit. “But the more time I spend with you, the more I see more kids. Ones with your eyes and your charm. Ones with your smile and that great hair of yours.”

His lips turn up into a smile before they collide with mine, and as his mouth opens and his tongue glides along mine, I can’t help but think that right now seems like the perfect time to start practicing.

We christen the kitchen counter before we head out, and he comes to my place with me to stay the night.

We spend Monday getting things in order around my house, and when it’s time to pick up the kids from the bus stop, he walks with me to the corner to wait for them.

Jess’s eyes look like they’re about to fall out of her head when they spot his hand clutching mine, and as each new parent walks up to the area where we gather daily to see our kids off to school and welcome them home, I introduce them to my boyfriend.

He gets involved in a conversation with one of the dads while we wait, and it’s incredible how he just seems to fit into every aspect of my life.

Jess leans in toward me. “Looks like the trip was successful?”

I smile. “Oh, girl. I’ve got news. Big news.”

Katie walks up, spots my rather tall and lean hunk of man, and raises her brows at me. “Does that belong to you?” she whispers .

“In fact it does.” I can’t wipe the silly smile off my face, and it only gets wider as the bus pulls up and both my kids spot Tanner standing beside me and run to him first.

“Tanner!” Lily squeals, and he grabs her up into a big hug as Luca tugs at his arm.

“Come on, let’s get home so I can show you what I built in Minecraft!” he practically begs, and the two of them start walking toward home—Lily still in his arms as he carries her, backpack and all, and Luca’s little hand in his.

“Mama!” Lily says, reaching her hand out toward me, and I squeeze it before she loops it around Tanner’s neck.

I absolutely love the fact that they love him.

And he loves them. I see it in the way he grins at Lily as he holds her in his arms, at the way he looks down at Luca as he chatters on about Minecraft, tugging on Tanner to get him to the house.

They don’t know the background here, and they have no idea that we’re about to tell them that we’re moving in with Tanner at a new place. They don’t know that I ended things only to realize my mistake and find a way to get him back in my life. They don’t know that I had these visions of what I wanted my future to look like when my marriage ended, and how one person completely flipped all that upside down in just one night.

I still want financial independence, and I’ll have that with the salary Tanner’s going to pay me. I still want what’s best for my kids, and I’ll have that as we work on becoming a new version of a family, maybe even with more kids in it down the line.

I see my entire future as I watch them walk away. There will be hard times, for sure, but there will also be the easy times like this one, where he just takes charge and somehow makes life just a little easier on me.

“Damn, that ass is fine ,” Jess murmurs as she watches him walk away .

I purse my lips and glare at her. “That’s my ass you’re talking about there.”

“Yeah, but he’s got a twin brother, right?”

I laugh, and I’m about to reply with something about how I don’t know if our family is ready for two football players when Lily starts to yell.

“Stop it, Luca! Let me talk!”

And then Luca fires back. “All you do is talk!”

I giggle as Tanner turns to look back at me rather helplessly. “I guess that’s my cue,” I tell Jess.

“Saved by the fighting kids,” she mutters, and I laugh as I rush over to intervene.

I grab Luca’s hand and ask him about his day as Lily babbles on to Tanner, the close call with the arguing children averted. Tanner glances over Lily’s head at me with a smile as his free hand slides into mine, and I can’t help but think back to the night we met in Vegas.

When I walked hand-in-hand with the football star whose real name I didn’t even know as we looked at flower arrangements at the Bellagio before he took me upstairs for a one-night stand, I never imagined this would be where we’d end up just five months down the road.

But here we are, so much more than just a one-night stand, more than a physical therapist and her patient, more than a football star and his trainer. This is just the start of forever.