Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Eden
I’m nervous. Today is my first-ever football game, and my man will be out on that field.
It’s just preseason, so it doesn’t count—or that’s what I’ve been told—but I’m still nervous.
Hence, the reason our bed is covered in clothes.
All items I’ve tried on and decided against wearing before tossing them onto the bed.
I groan as I look at the mess, and I still don’t know what I’m wearing.
I have a jersey with his name and number on it, and he told me he couldn’t wait to see me in it, but is that what the other ladies wear?
We were supposed to plan a shopping trip, but sick kiddos happened, and life, and well, we never got around to it.
My phone rings, and I sigh, grabbing it and seeing Sloane’s name on the screen.
I smile even though I’m annoyed with myself, because Foster’s friends’ wives have brought me into their lives as if I’ve always been there.
I have more people in my life than ever before, and damn if my cup is not running over with love and happiness.
“Hey,” I answer.
“Let me guess, you’re sitting on the floor of your closet, trying to decide what to wear?”
“Been here, have you? And no, I’m staring at the pile of clothes that I’ve already tried on but decided against.”
“We’ve all been there, Eden. However, I have the fix. I’m at your front door.”
“What? You’re here? Why?” I ask, already moving toward the door. I rush down the stairs, pull open the front door, and sure enough, Sloane is standing there. She grins, ends the call, and slides her phone into her back pocket.
“Am I late?” I ask, thinking maybe I got the agreed-upon time wrong.
“Nope. I’m just early. Corie and the kids are waiting in the car while I give you this.” She hands me a gift bag.
“What is it?”
“A little something I’ve done for each of the ladies in our group. Now, go grab a pair of jeans and some sneakers. Wait, put what’s in the bag on, then jeans, sneakers, and the jersey, and you’re all set.”
“Don’t I have to make some kind of fashion statement or something?”
“I mean, you can if you want to, but we’re not about that life. We dress in what makes us feel good. Our men don’t care as long as we’re there, with their name and number on our backs.”
I take a look at what she’s wearing, and sure enough, Baker’s jersey, jeans, and tennis shoes. Her hair is down in soft waves, and suddenly I feel ridiculous for making such a big deal out of this.
“Go. I’ll be out in the car, helping Corie keep the kids occupied—well, Cam. Alexander is sleeping unless my son has woken him up.” She grins before turning on her heel and heading back to her SUV. I wave at Corie, who waves back. I shut the door and run back upstairs with my gift bag.
Back in our room, I remove the tissue paper from the bag and pull out a bra. It’s in that dark Rampage yellow color, with a wide band. On the band, it says VAUGHN, written in black embroidery, and I chuckle. Sloane’s right. Foster is going to love this.
I look back into the bag to make sure I didn’t miss anything.
Reaching inside, I pull out a pair of panties in the same color.
On the back, they have Property of 25 in the same black embroidery.
“Looks like I’m getting lucky tonight,” I say to myself as I pull off my jersey, strip naked, and step into my new gift.
I quickly get redressed in the jersey Foster bought for me, slide into my favorite pair of jeans, and rush to the closet for my shoes and socks.
Five minutes later, I’m sliding into the back seat of the SUV beside Camden.
“Hey, buddy.” I smile at him.
“E!” Camden says, handing me his stuffed Rowdy the Rhino. I kiss Rowdy, lean over, and drop one on Camden’s cheek, as well, before handing Rowdy back to him, who also gives kisses to him.
“Thank you for the gift,” I tell Sloane.
“You’re welcome.” Her eyes meet mine for a quick glance in the rearview mirror before her eyes are back on the road.
Corie turns to look at me. “She’s done that for all of us. Trust me when I say you’re in for a fun night.” She winks.
“I thought the same thing.” I laugh. We chat about our week—not that we all haven’t talked several times this week already.
I even watched Alexander for a few hours while Corie had a meeting with the Rampage about her position and travel.
Now that she has Alexander, she doesn’t want to travel with the team and leave Alexander for days while both of them are out of town.
They’re working out a system to keep her.
She’s an essential part of the Rampage family.
Foster said the team really cares about its staff and players.
It’s not that I didn’t believe him, but after hearing how they’re working with Corie, it felt more real.
It could be that she’s married to their quarterback, but honestly, I think it’s just the organization and how they run things. It really is one big family.
Inside the stadium, it’s loud, and people are everywhere. But Corie and Sloane take charge, leading our little group to the entrance of the suites. When we walk in, Rowan, Bellamy, Coral, Amanda, and Mia are already there waiting for us.
The kids toddle off to the corner that’s filled with toys. “Nice setup.” I nod toward the kids.
“Yeah, it keeps them occupied.” Bellamy smiles.
“Okay, whose baby am I stealing first?” I ask.
“I’m taking this one,” Rowan says, taking Alexander out of his car seat.
“Gimme,” I tell Amanda, and she laughs. “Come here, sweet Mia,” I coo. “We’re going to give Mommy a break, yeah?” I ask the baby. She just stares up at me, wide-eyed and so damn cute.
Conversation flows easily, as if I’ve known these ladies all my life. They each tell me about their personalized gifts from Sloane, and how it all started with Corie and Knox.
“We’re still waiting to find out the gender,” Rowan says, placing her hands on her belly. “Landry’s on board, surprisingly.”
“Yeah, I see him wanting to know,” Bellamy says.
“He said there are very few true miracles in life, and that our baby is one of them. He wants to be surprised.”
“He’s such a softie,” Corie says. “When we lost Mom, after already losing Dad years earlier, he was so good,” she tells us.
“He was there for me. He was essentially my big brother and my parents, even though I was technically an adult and had graduated high school. He’s the fun guy, but he’s also so much more than that. ”
“And that’s why I fell in love with him, for real.” Rowan laughs, and I do, too. Since the first time I met these ladies, they’ve brought me into the fold. They each told me their love stories, and I know that Rowan and Landry started out as fake but ended up in everlasting love.
I’m one of them. I’m a part of this group, and damn if my heart doesn’t feel all mushy just thinking about it.
It’s nice to belong, to have more than just Carrie and her family to lean on.
Foster and his amazing group of people gave me that.
And for a girl who always wanted a family, that means everything.
“Here we go,” Corie says as the Rampage runs out onto the field. I spot Foster immediately, and he looks up here. I don’t know if he can see me, but he knows that I’m here for him, and that’s all that matters.
Tears well in my eyes because the man I love has held himself back for so long.
I know Coach Pruitt and his wife, Hope, came to watch him play, but tonight is different.
I’m not just here for a game; I’m here for the season.
For every season he plays, I’ll be here.
Cheering him on, loving him, watching him play the game that’s given him so much.
“It’s a lot, huh?” Sloane asks, sliding her arm around my shoulders. “You’re good for him. You were our missing piece,” she says, and I swallow hard.
“Stop. You’re going to make me cry.”
“That’s okay,” Sloane tells me. “We won’t let you cry alone.”
I know she means that she hates for her friends to cry in front of her, and that makes her upset, but there’s also a double meaning.
They’re not just here for their husbands, but for Foster, for me, for the team.
They’re my people. She’ll never know what that easy acceptance means to me.
Then again, when she winks and smiles, I think maybe she does.
The game starts. The Rampage has the ball, and I’m on my feet. I’m swaying back and forth with Mia in my arms. When Knox passes the ball to Foster, and he sprints off toward the endzone, I cheer, and Bellamy laughs.
“Give me that baby,” she says, and I hand Mia over so I can jump and cheer for my man.
We have the best seats in the house, and I cheer for the entire team, not just Foster.
He only makes one touchdown, but he has high receiving yards for the game—that’s what Corie tells me, and I believe her.
I have so much to learn, and I will. I want to know every detail of what’s going on out on that field.
When the clock winds down, the Rampage takes home the win by fourteen points.
We all cheer, and Camden and Coral cheer with us.
I’m not sure they really understand. Camden says, “Daddy wins,” but does he know what that means?
Possibly, he’s a clever little guy, but either way, we’re all cheering for our Rampage.
“Now what?” I ask, practically bouncing on the balls of my feet.
“Sometimes we go down and wait for them, but when we have the kids, we stay put, and they come to us—after showers, press, those kinds of things,” Rowan explains.
“I have to go down there and get to work. I’ve been on call the entire game.
Luckily, there were no injuries. I don’t get to do this often, but tonight, I got away with it.
” She hugs each of us before heading for the locker room.
“I have so much to learn.”
“We got you,” Corie tells me.
“Thank you. I need all the help I can get.” I laugh.