Chapter 37
brEAKING: HAPPILY EVER AFTER… WITH TERMS AND CONDITIONS Clause one: patience required
Alaia
“Just a sec,” I holler as someone enters my office. I don’t bother to look up and continue to type. “I just need to finish this.”
“Gorgeous.”
I smile up at Tanner. “Hey, charmer. Finished with practice already?”
“Finished. Showered. Had a beer with the guys.”
“Had a beer? Did you have a short practice today?” In my experience – limited as it is – practices tend to run long but never short.
He shakes his head. “It’s late. Your entire team went home an hour ago.”
My nose wrinkles. “They did? My assistant is supposed to warn me before she leaves.”
He shakes his phone at me. “Bonnie messaged me. She wasn’t convinced you heard her when she said she was leaving. You apparently waved her off and mumbled whatever.”
“Huh. I don’t remember.”
“Exactly. I came over because I didn’t want a repeat of the crawling out of the window incident.”
“Liar. You think that incident is hilarious. You literally have a picture of me laying on the floor in the hallway as the background on your phone.”
He grins. “It’s a cute picture.”
I roll my eyes. “A cute picture does not include me with my skirt pushed up and my underwear exposed.”
He smirks. “I beg to disagree.”
“There’s no reason to worry about me getting locked in again. I have keys to get out now, and I know the groundskeeper.”
He laughs. “Because you got lost leaving the office the first week you were here and ended up on the field. I still can’t figure out how you ended up there.”
I huff. “The stadium is a labyrinth.”
“A labyrinth?”
“And the signs are confusing.”
“You’re sticking to that excuse?”
I flick my hand at him. “You don’t understand. The only places you go are the locker room, the gym, and the field. Those are all easy to find.”
“I visit you in the office sometimes.”
He waggles his eyebrows and I hold up a hand. “Don’t go getting any ideas. The last time we got cozy in my office, you broke a lamp.”
“And you screamed so loud in ecstasy, a security guard ran in to save you.”
I glare at him. “I did not scream. They happened to be walking past and noticed my light was on.”
He raises an eyebrow. “From the lamp I broke?”
“Whatever,” I mutter. “Did you come here to tease me?”
“Nope. I came here to escort you home.”
I sigh. “I still need to finish the press release about Nolan.”
He settles into a chair across from my desk. “I’m shocked by his decision.”
“Trust me. Everyone is.”
“But I’m happy for him. He deserves a happy ending.”
“Everyone on the team does.”
He smiles. “Including me?”
“You already have a happy ending. You got the girl – aka me. And I moved to Steel City to be near you.”
“You moved to Steel City for this job.”
I shrug. “I would have moved here eventually.”
“The same way you’ll move in with me eventually.”
I groan. “Tanner, stop.”
He widens his eyes in an attempt to appear innocent. He’s never innocent. He’s always up to something. He keeps me on my toes, that’s for sure.
“Is it wrong for me to want the woman I love to live with me?”
“It’s too soon.”
“I love you. You love me. Time doesn’t factor into it.”
“Charmer,” I grumble. “Yes, it does. I have a brand-new job.”
“Which you’re excelling at.”
“In a brand-new city. I need time to adjust. My entire life is completely different than what it was a month ago when I was bartending at Mermaid Karaoke and writing a gossip column for the locals.”
He frowns. “Are you struggling? Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I’m not struggling, but it’s an adjustment. I can’t bike to work in five minutes. The barista at my favorite coffee place doesn’t know my order. She also doesn’t know my name and I don’t think she cares. And the coffee isn’t even as good as at Pirate’s Pastries.”
“My sisters don’t drop in a few times a week to scare the mermaid out of me. And everything is now, now, now. Fast, fast, fast. There’s no skipping out of work and going to the beach. The people around here probably don’t even know how to surf.”
He stands and walks around my desk. He pulls me out of my chair and into his arms. He rocks me back and forth.
“I’m sorry, gorgeous. I had no idea you were struggling.”
I grunt. I’m not struggling. Smugglers don’t struggle. We adjust to new circumstances. Usually, because someone let their sheep loose or someone dropped a load of fish onto the boardwalk by ‘accident’.
“How about I ask your sisters to come to the game this weekend? I’ll fly them up. They can stay in your apartment. You can stay at mine.”
“I’m not leaving my sisters alone in my apartment. They’d probably start a fire or get in an argument with the neighbors when they decide to blare demonic music at four in the morning.”
“It’s not your apartment. What do you care?”
I lean back to glare at him. “Destruction of property is never okay.”
“Sometimes it’s justified.”
“No. It’s not. It’s never justified to burn a teammate’s cleats.”
“It is if he put Icy Hot in your underwear.” He shivers. “I’ve never experienced worse pain.”
“You get hit by three-hundred and fifty-pound men on a regular basis.”
“I stand by my statement.”
He’s not wrong. I spent two days watching him lay on the sofa with ice on his crotch, whining and complaining the whole time. I’m concocting a work emergency when he contracts a cold. If I don’t disappear, I’ll have to gag him.
“What do you say, gorgeous? Shall I call your sisters? They’d love to visit.”
“I don’t know. I’m worried they’ll copy my credentials and end up in the locker room. I don’t want to imagine the destruction they’d cause.”
He grins. “Sounds like fun.”
Of course, he’d say fun instead of hell. Tanner is still a goofball. He’s no longer a player and hasn’t been in trouble lately. Except for small pranks against his team members.
But I’ve learned this is how men on a team bond. They prank and tease each other. As long as no one ends up in the emergency room, I let it go.
“We can ask your parents to come, too. They’ll keep an eye on Beth and Anne.”
I snort. “They will? How do you think the twins ended up the way they are? Let me tell you. It wasn’t because my parents kept an eye on them.”
“If I ask Dan to keep them in line, he will.”
“I love how close you and my dad are.”
“He’s a good guy. And an amazing parent. I’m taking notes.”
My heart thumps. “Taking notes?”
“For when we have kids.”
My chest tightens. I want to give him children, but we haven’t discussed it before.
“Kids? You want kids?”
“Yep. I want a boy to teach to play football.”
“What if he doesn’t like football?”
He shrugs. “I’ll learn whatever sport he wants to play.”
“What if he wants to do ballet?”
“I’ll sit in the front row of every dance recital and cheer him on.”
I study him. “You’re serious? It wouldn’t bother you if we had a son who dances ballet?”
“I know how it feels to have a family that doesn’t support you. It cuts deep. I refuse to be my father.”
I melt into him. “You’re going to be a great father.”
“Does this mean you’re ready to give me a child?”
My eyebrows practically fly off my forehead. “Ready to give you a child? We don’t even live together yet.”
He shrugs. “I figure I’ll convince you to live with me by the time your six months at the company apartment are up. My apartment is within biking distance to the stadium after all.”
I grunt. “Sometimes I hate how you listen to me.”
“You love it.” He winks.
I sigh. I don’t deny it. Having a partner who listens to your complaints, pushes you, but knows when to step back, is amazing. It’s everything I’ve always wanted but feared I’d never experience.
“I love you.”
He smiles. “I love you, too, gorgeous. I can’t wait to live with you. I can’t wait to create a family with you. But I will wait until you’re ready.”
I’m afraid I’m going to be ready sooner than I expected. I want to give Tanner a family. A loving family of his own. He deserves it. He deserves everything.
“Kiss me and then take me home.”
“Your wish is my command, gorgeous.”
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