Chapter 26 Maddox #2
Every word is more breathless than the last.
“Fuck, Gabrielle,” I say as I grab one of her legs, bringing it up and around my hip to help her lower back. “I love you.”
My eyes widen and I let her leg fall when I realize what I said. And before I can wonder if I actually said it, or if I can take it back—because what kind of fucking jackass says I love you for the first time during sex—Gabi stops moving.
“Gabi…I…”
I’m scrambling, trying to figure out how to take it back—I seem to do that a lot with this woman—but I can’t get another word out.
Because Gabi’s hands are around my neck, and she’s pulling me into her so hard I think I might crush her.
I quickly roll her to her side so we’re facing each other, knowing how uncomfortable she’s been now that her stomach is really starting to pop, but our lips never disconnect until Gabi slightly pulls away.
“I love you, Maddox. I love you so much it’s crazy.”
Those are the last words either of us speak—well, the last coherent words—because with her admission, the dam breaks. Our kisses become hard, but not desperate. It’s like we’re trying to make sure we seal our words with a kiss so intense, so passionate, that neither of us will forget this moment.
Like I ever could.
“Come here,” I mumble out, scooping her into my arms so I can adjust us to the end of the bed. “I need to feel you under me.”
“Yes,” she moans as I stand on the floor with Gabi at the edge of the bed, adjusting her legs around me.
“Are you okay? Do you need a pillow?”
She shakes her head. “No. I just need you.”
Those are the final words I hear before I bury myself inside her.
Her back arches slightly as I start thrusting in and out, her hands grabbing onto my biceps so hard they’ll leave a mark.
Good. I want her to mark me. I want to take that with me into camp.
That way, when I see her nail marks on my skin, I’ll think of this.
I’ll think of our eyes connected, never wavering as I fuck her with every ounce of love and feeling I have for her.
I’ll remember her tits bouncing and her stomach hitting mine.
I’ll remember how it took me a matter of minutes to send my girl, and me, into orbit.
But most important, I’ll remember hearing those three little words for the very first time.
“So, what are the next few months going to be like?”
I thought Gabi had fallen asleep on my chest, and I was two seconds away from joining her. “In terms of?”
“Football. Your schedule,” she says, her fingers tracing absentmindedly on my bare chest. “Wait, am I a WAG now?”
“Damn right you are,” I say as I kiss the top of her head. “Speaking of, I need to get you a jersey.”
“Maybe get it in a size up,” she says as she rubs her stomach. “I swear, every day a new pair of pants doesn’t fit.”
“I’ll get you every size you want. And one in every baby size for Tiny Tot.”
That makes her smile. “Put that in your baby to-do notebook, but for after camp.”
“Noted,” I say. “But the season is actually pretty predictable. Camp is a beast in itself.”
“And I’m really not going to see you for a month?”
“Except for when I FaceTime you, which is going to be every night,” I say.
“The Fury used to stay in town for camp, but players wouldn’t take it seriously.
When Coach McAvoy got hired, he moved camp to a college campus a little bit outside of town so we have to stay in a hotel the Fury rents out for the month.
Some guys apparently hated it at first, but it’s worked really well.
We bond together. Focus completely on football.
It’s part of the reason why we’re the best.”
“Then that’s what you do,” she says as she leans in for a kiss. “And the season?”
“Season is the easy part. Games, mostly on Sundays. Off on Mondays. Light days that consist mainly of meetings on Tuesdays. Full practices Wednesday and Thursday. Light day Friday. Travel or meetings and a walk through on Saturday. Game Sunday. Rinse. Repeat. The only way it deviates is if it’s a bye week or if we play on Thursday or Monday. ”
“Good to know,” she says, but I can tell by her telltale bouncing eyes that something is going on in her head.
“Gabrielle…”
She knows she’s been busted by the tone of my voice. “You know I’m not the person to bug you for every little thing.”
“I do. I wish you’d bug me more about things. I don’t know if you’ve realized this about me, but I’m a pretty make-things-happen kind of guy.”
That makes her smile. “I was just… What happens if you’re at practice, or traveling, and I need you for baby purposes.
And just to let you know, we’re talking about a major emergency.
I’m not going to try and get a hold of you just because I want those cajun fries you got me addicted to.
I’m talking if—God forbid— something bad happens.
Or, the more real possibility, that I go into labor and you aren’t here. ”
Shit. In all the things I looked up and wrote into the baby notebook, it didn’t even dawn on me that I could be away from here when she goes into labor. “In meetings we can have our cell phones, so always text me first. But like, with a code word.”
“Considering I never came up with a code word for when I wanted to sing in Vegas, I’m not sure that’s our best plan of attack.”
The memory makes me smile. “I nearly forgot about that. How did you remember?”
She shrugs with a coy little grin on her face. “I remember a lot from that night.”
I groan into her neck, which fills the room with her laugh. “What do you remember the most?”
I can tell she’s trying to keep her composure, but the open mouth kisses I’m leaving on her neck aren’t helping.
“Focus, Gallagher. But it’s the way you ripped my dress when I was pinned against the door.”
“Fine…” I say as I’m already planning a babymoon in my head where I can recreate this for her.
“We’ll figure out a word. Or a signal. Or just text me in all caps MADDOX IT’S TIME.
I’m going to find someone on staff who will always have their phone with them and make them your emergency Fury contact.
An equipment manager or someone from the social team.
That’ll be the first thing I do tomorrow.
And if I don’t respond to your message in four seconds, you call them. ”
Her smile softens as she runs her hand down my cheek. “I love you.”
I place my hand over hers. “Not nearly as much as I love you.”
We come in for a kiss, and I refuse to rush it.
Every year before I leave for camp, I’m always excited like it’s the first day of school.
That another season is starting. But for the first time in my professional life, there’s a little bit of sadness.
Because I now have someone I’m leaving. Sure it’s only for a few weeks, and I’m going to talk to her every day, but…
it’s hitting me that this is not just about me. It’s about Gabi. My son. Our fam—
“Oh! He’s kicking!”
I pull away as I hurriedly put my hand on her stomach. I swear I miss it every time.
“Where? I can’t feel it.”
Gabi moves my hand to the right, and the second she does, Tiny Tot gives me a good one.
“Oh…that’s…oh my…”
I couldn’t keep the tears from my eyes if I tried. It’s like he knew I needed to feel this before everything changes.
“We’re having a baby, aren’t we?”
She chuckles as the tears come for her too. “We’re having a baby.”