Unstoppable Love: The Kelley Family Series

Epilogue

Cameron

There was a time in my life when, as soon as my alarm went off, I jumped out of bed and started my day with a workout, a protein smoothie, and a mammoth breakfast. I couldn’t wait to get my day started, take on the world, break records, and help build a team that would be something that would be talked about for years to come. The Colorado Mountaineers, the NFL’s best franchise in the history of the league. More Super Bowls than any other team.

I wanted it so badly, I woke up tasting that dream on my tongue.

Those days were soon to be long gone, nothing but memories, but the way I woke up now was better.

So much better.

Nuzzling my nose in the crook of Ava’s shoulder, she curled into me, and my arms wrapped around her, holding her tighter.

“Morning,” she whispered. Her voice was thick from sleep, and her hands came up and covered mine. “Can we skip today and stay in bed?”

As much as I’d tried to reassure Ava that I wasn’t giving anything up and that I wasn’t doing it for her, but for the life I wanted us to have, she doubted. “I wish. But after the press conference, we can come back here and spend the rest of the day in bed. How does that sound?”

“We can’t,” she groaned, stretched and rolled over until her breasts were pressed to my chest and her hand was on my stomach. She pushed up on her other elbow and smiled down at me. Hair wild from the sleep and our previous night’s escapades, Ava’s blue eyes glimmered as she smiled down at me, a tiny line showing her worry between her brows.

I brushed the pad of my finger over the spot. “Don’t worry. It’s all good.”

“You’re sure?”

It was more a question than a statement, and I slid my hand up her neck until I was cupping the back of her head. “I’ll miss it. I know I will, but I’ve told you since last summer that when my time was done, I’d walk away. I want the life we can have together. And after what happened…” I cleared my throat. Last fall had been painful, and it wasn’t my leg or the knee surgery or the physical therapy that followed after. That was nothing compared to the work Ava put in for herself and the terrors she still had whenever she had to think about Jimmy.

Who was currently rotting away in prison until his upcoming trial that his lawyer kept managing to get pushed back.

“My life is with you,” I told her, careful of how I was touching her and not leaning in to kiss her like I wanted. She could still shut down on me when his name was mentioned, when she thought of him, and I had quickly learned what that looked like, so I didn’t spook her further. “There are no regrets about any of it, I promise you. The announcement today is a formality. The team already knows.” And hell, half the NFL had already predicted I was retiring.

The injuries on my leg were bad enough I still wasn’t sure I’d even be able to play again, at least not without living a career as a backup and that wasn’t what I wanted. I was healing, but to take the hits I’d have to take to stay a starting quarterback, it was still anyone’s guess. Maybe if I pushed myself harder with physical therapy, there’d be a higher chance.

My team’s season ended in the second round of the playoffs. We’d gone from being Super Bowl contenders to them fighting their way through every second of every game in their last seven regular-season games. They’d won four, but those losses were enough to push them out of first place in the division. The battle had been tough, and as soon as I was well enough, I’d been on the sidelines. I’d spent time with Potter, and I’d done everything I would have if I hadn’t planned on already walking away.

The day I hobbled into Ava’s parents’ home and saw her bruised and terrified and flinching from my touch was the day I learned that nothing, not a damn thing in this world, was more important than spending the rest of my life protecting her and loving her and simply being with her.

“I know.” She sighed and leaned down to brush her lips over mine.

I held her there, deepened the kiss, but not too much. We had to get moving, and we weren’t alone in my Denver home, which I’d be selling as soon as possible. Gavin and I were already working on floor plans to build a home for Ava and me. Not on my family’s land like Caleb had done, but on our own smaller acreage closer to town.

I pulled back from her kiss and ran my fingers through her hair.

“Mom’s probably already awake, making breakfast.” My parents had driven in, along with Bryce and Dalton, to be there with us during the press conference.

“Right.” She gave me a sleepy, glazed-over smile. “Let’s get moving then.”

She turned, rolled out of bed, and was on her feet. I took a moment to appreciate her curves, her body exposed to me because she hadn’t bothered to redress last night after I removed her tank top and sleep shorts.

I reached for her across the covers, letting the sheets fall below my hips. “On second thought…”

Ava laughed, shaking her head. She glanced down, saw how hard I was for her, and indecision flickered in her eyes before she turned those beautiful blues back on me. “Good try, hotshot. But I’m hungry.”

“Me too,” I groaned and laid back down in my bed.

Ava’s laugh echoed through the bathroom before the door clicked shut behind her.

At least I had her laughing and no longer worried. I didn’t have a single doubt about the decision I was making, but that didn’t mean the press conference was going to be easy to get through.

I’d spent my entire life fighting to become one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. To go out after only playing one full season? Yeah, that sucked. I was going to miss football.

But that didn’t mean I wasn’t looking forward to what was coming next. We’d spent most of the winter in Denver since my physical therapy was strenuous, but we spent every weekend back in New Haven. It’d taken Ava a full month before she was willing to step back into her home again. Her dad, Isaiah, and I made sure it was perfectly clean, no sign of Jimmy left there when she went back, but that first night we’d been back, she’d spent it like a robot, moving mechanically through her house, so much so I’d finally asked her if she needed to leave.

“No. I have to do this. Be here. It’s my home, and he doesn’t get to ruin it for me.”

That night, we’d gone to bed, and I stayed on my side of the bed. It took an hour of Ava tossing and turning before she rolled toward me, scooted closer, and set her hand on my stomach. It was the only touch she’d allow, and by then I’d known not to reach for her.

The next day, she’d started calling therapists and started seeing someone as soon as we returned to Denver.

I rolled out of bed, swiping my hands through my hair. I needed to get moving.

Get showered and dressed. Eat breakfast.

And then retire from a career I’d dreamed of since I was five and figure out exactly what my post-NFL life would look like. But as long as Ava was by my side, I’d spend the rest of my life shoveling horse shit and do it with a smile.

My mom had her hands clamped tightly around one of Ava’s and one of my dad’s. I had to stop glancing their way as soon as I started my speech. My mom’s eyes started shimmering as soon as I started speaking. Blowing out a breath, I finished up and glanced at my coach.

My now-former coach.

He reached out and clapped my back firmly a couple of times. “It’s been an honor having you on my team. And we all know that whatever you choose to do next, you’ll do it with the integrity and character in which you’ve led this team.”

I cleared my throat. Damn, this was hard. Harder knowing the women I wanted to comfort were crying, even if they were a mixture of happy and sad tears.

“Thanks, Coach.” A frog had somehow leaped into my throat, making speech difficult.

Clearing it again, I turned back to the microphones. “I’ll take a few questions, if there are any.”

Clicks of cameras erupted, and hands shot into the air.

Next to me, Coach Callahan chuckled. “Guess that’s a yes.” He pointed to a reporter sitting near the front row.

She immediately stood. “First, I’d like to say Colorado will miss seeing you on the field, but I’m guessing you’re not going far?”

There was a shine in her eyes at the question.

“Is that your question?”

“People want to know what you’re doing next. Any plans?”

I looked to Ava quickly, who was biting her bottom lip. Streaks ran down her now-dried cheeks and her chin wobbled, but there were no more tears. “I’m heading home.” I adjusted the microphone and leaned in closer. “Right now, the plan is to go back to my hometown and work with my family. Anything after that, we’ll see.”

“And does this move home have to do with your family? Or your current girlfriend?”

News broke about Ava and me being together as soon as Jimmy’s arrest hit the local news. Of course, that news hit because it was New Haven, and people were always curious about my family and how we lived and the town we grew up in. Once the connection was made between him, Ava, and me, there’d been a decent swarm of media attention surrounding us.

It’d calmed down, mostly with the help of Ava’s insanely intelligent and incredible lawyer.

Since Ava and I had already talked about keeping her mentioned as little as possible, I only replied, “Like I said, my plan is to move back and help my family. But it’s always a good thing to be surrounded by people you love who love you back.”

I flashed a grin, one that never had a problem helping me get the attention of women or rendering them speechless.

It worked, too, because the reporter sat down, and someone else immediately stood. My jaw tightened, and a loose growl slipped from my throat—something low enough only Coach could hear it. From the side, I caught the way he glanced in my direction.

But this dipstick standing up was the same guy who’d pushed me about taking the bench early last season.

“It’s been said you’re really leaving the sport because of the alleged assault against your girlfriend. Any truth to that?”

That low growl turned louder, and next to me, Coach cursed. I wrapped my hand around the microphone and wished it was this guy’s throat. “I believe I’ve already said why I’ve chosen to retire.”

The asshole’s head cocked to the side. “But that’s not the whole reason, is it? Any comment you want to make on the fact her alleged assault came the same night you were out of town? The night you yourself were injured? Is that why you’re really retiring? Because you’re too afraid to leave your girlfriend alone?”

Alleged. That word had never sounded so vile.

And yes, yes, it was. It wasn’t fear, it was the burning need to keep Ava safe that burned deeper than anything else I cared about in my life.

But this asshole…

I leaned in, not bothering to hide my glare. Let him and everyone else see how much the question pissed me off.

The microphone was tugged out of view, and then Coach was saying, “As previously discussed, there will be no questions or comments regarding the legal matter of anyone connected with Mr. Kelley. This conference is solely to discuss his decision to retire. Do you have anything specific about that?”

The reporter opened his mouth, but Coach didn’t let him finish. “Next question,” he said, and gestured to someone on the opposite side of the room. “Go ahead, sir.”

Another reporter stood, and as I turned, leaving the first guy slowly sinking back to his chair, the room went cloudy and hazy before clearing.

“Mr. Kelley, you’ve noted retiring due to your injury. Can you tell us why it is you don’t think you’d be able to make a full recovery?”

Now this… this I could handle.

With a deep breath, Coach slid the microphone back in front of me, and I leaned in. Gave the guy the answer he wanted, not the truth of it. That I still wasn’t certain I could play to that level and wasn’t risking it, and the press conference continued.

I’d almost been able to forget about the first asshole who had stood and asked about Jimmy by the time I was done and wrapping my arms around Ava, but then she whispered, “You should have told him the truth. Said everything you needed to.”

“Can’t.” I wish I could have. But every word we spoke about Morton was dissected and could be used against us, and I wasn’t doing a damn thing to risk that asshole getting out of jail. “Love you, Sunshine.”

She squeezed me back. “Love you too, Cameron. Let’s go home.”

Home. Because since the day I hauled my hobbled and broken ass off that airplane to get to her, we hadn’t spent a single day alone. We were at her house in New Haven, mine in Denver, and hopefully, by the end of the upcoming summer, we’d be settled in our new home, not on Kelley property, but with enough acres for Ava to have every single thing she’s always wanted. I’d never asked her to move in with me or let me live with her, it happened as naturally as loving her did.

Ava

I jolted awake with my hand at my throat and my chest pounding a wild beat inside my rib cage. Next to me, Cameron was snoring softly. It was common that he’d wake up when I did, like he could somehow sense my nightmares before I did, but it didn’t always happen.

Thankfully, tonight he didn’t wake up. Fortunately, the nightmares came less often, and I was thankful Cameron didn’t wake up with me right then.

He’d had a long enough of a day, and while I knew Cameron lived and breathed to take care of me, sometimes I needed to process this alone. I needed the time and the space to work through the dreams, search for the trigger, and then sit with not only the memory of what Jimmy did and more, what he’d tried to do, but also the realization that it hadn’t happened.

He hadn’t hurt me, not in a permanent way, and he hadn’t ruined me like he’d threatened.

I slipped out of bed and tiptoed out of the room before Cameron woke. On nights like this, I headed downstairs, the vast view of the lights of the city helped me remember I wasn’t alone. In the kitchen, there’d be hot chocolate set out somewhere for me to easily prepare. Cameron had taken to leaving out a packaged mix or a Keurig cup for me when it started to be something I wanted after my first few nightmares. Those nights when I woke up drenched in sweat, screaming so loud, my voice would be hoarse the next morning.

Those nights were fading, and tonight’s wasn’t nearly as bad, but as I popped the hot chocolate K-cup into the machine and waited, it also didn’t take a genius to know what triggered tonight’s dream.

That reporter. The insinuation that Cameron was giving everything up for me. The further insinuation of the alleged assault, as he’d called it.

There was nothing alleged about what Jimmy attempted to do to me. I respected our justice system, always had anyway. Innocent until proven guilty, in theory, was something I believed in. However, the fault came in that if defendants were innocent until proven guilty, there was also the implication, perceived or spoken, that victims were liars until proved honest.

And that part sucked. I hadn’t expected it. Sure, I’d anticipated much of the fight I’d already fought, from pressing charges to having to answer questions like what I’d done earlier that night, how much I drank, and what I’d been wearing for Christ’s sake, as if Jimmy breaking into my home and wanting to hurt me was entirely dependent on what outfit I had on the moment he saw me. Like he hadn’t already decided to do it before he ever saw me. How much I drank or what I wore meant absolutely nothing.

Alleged.

So easy to be dismissive about being attacked in your own home. That man had no idea the terror I’d felt that night. The reality of what could have happened if it hadn’t been for Isaiah.

After I pressed charges and after Jimmy was arrested, more than a dozen other women came forward. He was now facing multiple trials, one of the main reasons he was still being held in jail until his trials began. Two women he worked with at the bank came forward, one pressed charges for assault, another for intimidation. Two women from nearby counties came forward admitting how he’d touched them in bars and how he’d followed one of them home. The list of women he’d scared and touched without permission after being told no, grew every day for weeks after his initial arrest.

There was a relief in not being alone, but my heart hurt every time another woman came forward. This was not a club any of us wanted to belong to.

I poured my hot chocolate and headed toward the living room, taking a spot in the corner of the couch I’d woken up on back in July, with Cameron towering over me. God, to think that day was seven months ago. Back then, the summer heat blasted down on me when I left his house. Now, there was a thick blanket of February snow covering his backyard patio. There were some days I was more comfortable in Cameron’s home than I was in my own, but every day I wasn’t in New Haven, I missed it.

Movement came from the corner of my eye, and I turned, already knowing I’d find Cameron standing back, giving me space.

“You should have woken me,” he said. “I thought tonight would be hard for you.”

He knew. Somehow, he always knew, with a sixth sense of when I needed space, when to move slow. When to reach out.

I patted the seat next to me on the couch.

Sometimes, I flinched from his touch, but those moments were few and farther between than they’d been at first. I trusted him completely, loved him more than it made sense to myself sometimes. But whether I was leaning in or needing space, Cameron was always there, waiting for me to be ready for him.

He took the seat next to me and draped his arm over the back of the couch. I fell to his shoulder, turning so my bent legs rested on his thighs.

“Was it a bad one?” His hand slipped through my hair as he asked.

“No. Not bad.” In the beginning, I’d wake up screaming and sweating, clawing at my chest and the air in front of me, fighting harder than I’d tried. Now, there was a darkness that left me struggling to breathe, but there was no visual of Jimmy. I no longer woke with the scent of whiskey swirling in the air in front of me, and I no longer raced to the bathroom to throw up.

“Okay.” His lips pressed to the top of my head. “Wanna talk about it?”

I didn’t, but it helped. So in the dark room, nestled in Cameron’s embrace, with the flickering lights of Denver beyond, I told him everything. I gave it to him, let him have it, and to Cameron’s credit, he didn’t tense, and he didn’t curse, and he didn’t get angry on my behalf.

He simply let me unload and was there to support me through it.

It was only one of the reasons why I loved him beyond reason.

When I was done, my hot chocolate cold, and the nightmare no more than an annoying memory I’d probably always carry, I leaned into Cameron and tilted my chin up to see his face.

“I love you,” I whispered and kissed his chin.

He tipped his chin down and grinned against my lips. “I love you, too. Always. Forever.”

I kissed him back, loving the way in moments like this, Cameron let me take the lead. At no other point in time did I want to be in charge, but on these nights, Cameron gave up his bossiness and followed, waiting until he knew exactly what I was ready for.

“Take me to bed,” I whispered against his mouth. “Let’s put this day to rest.”

In the dark, his eyes gleamed. “I can take you to bed, but I can’t guarantee rest.”

I slid off the couch and onto my feet, taking his hand in my hand. “Perfect.”

He shook his head. “No, Sunshine. That’s what you are.”

He crouched, his hands went to my backside, and then I was lifted, my thighs tightening around his hips as he carried me through his house. “Thank you for loving me so well.”

“Thank you for giving me the chance last summer to do so.”

God. Seven months—a spectacular seven months it’d been despite the hard times. Despite the way we both had our worlds shaken. But through the storms and the shaking and the trauma and the fights we still had in front of us, Cameron had been there.

My rock.

My anchor in the storm.

In a way, I had no doubt that he’d be that same sexy and bossy and stable and dependable man every day for the rest of our lives.

Thank you for reading Unstoppable Love! I hope you love Cameron and Ava as much as I do.

If you would, please remember to leave a review.