Chapter 38 #2
She doesn’t fight it, just rests her head against my shoulder as I carry her upstairs. Heather follows, helping April brush her teeth and change into her pajamas while I wait in the hallway.
When April is finally tucked in, Heather kisses her forehead. “Sweet dreams, sweet girl.”
“Good night, Mom. Night, Grant.”
“Good night,” I say from the doorway.
I take Heather’s hand and lead her to my room, closing the door behind us.
She turns to face me, still wearing my jersey, and she’s looking at me like I’m the only thing in the world that matters.
“Come here,” I say, already pulling her close without waiting and wrapping my arms around her.
We stand like that for a long moment, just holding each other. Then I tip her chin up and kiss her slow and deep, taking my time. There’s no rush tonight, and nowhere else we need to be.
I slide my hands under the jersey and take a few seconds to appreciate how warm and soft she is everywhere.
“I love this jersey on you,” I murmur against her lips. “Almost as much as I love taking it off of you.”
She helps me pull it over her head, and then I shrug out of my own shirt. The rest of our clothes end up scattered on the floor around us, and then it’s just skin and heat and the two of us exploring each other all over again.
I take my time, worshiping every inch of her with my hands and my mouth, committing every sound she makes to memory. She arches beneath me, her fingers digging into my shoulders, my back, anywhere she can reach.
When I finally sink into her, her eyes lock with mine as we move together, slowly and deliberately.
And when we finally fall over the edge together, she calls out my name while I cover her mouth—and then her entire, beautiful face—with quick, light kisses.
After we’re both cleaned up, we lie wrapped up in the sheets together, with her head on my chest and her heartbeat mingling with mine.
“Stay,” I say, then kiss the top of her head. “Don’t go back to your room.”
“Okay.” She smiles up at me. “I’ll stay.”
I wake before dawn because my internal clock doesn’t know how to sleep in, even after a game. But instead of immediately getting up and starting my routine, I take a moment to just lie here.
Heather is curled on her side and still asleep, facing me with one hand tucked under her cheek. Her hair is spread across my pillow, and she looks just as beautiful now, like this, as she does with a full face of makeup.
I don’t want to risk disturbing her, but my body eventually wins out.
I slip out of bed and carefully pull the covers back over her, then grab my workout clothes and head downstairs.
As much as I’ve come to enjoy having other people in the house, there’s still something I hold special about this quiet, peaceful part of the morning. I start a pot of coffee and then move to the basement to do a light stretch routine while it brews.
I’m taking things slow and easy today—not just because we won last night, but because I don’t want to irritate my knee. Whatever the issue was during that away game last week seems to have healed, but I don’t really want to push my luck.
A half-hour later, I’m back in the kitchen and just pouring my second cup of coffee when I hear a key in the front door. Colin lets himself in, carrying his usual caddy of cleaning supplies.
“Morning,” he says with a brisk nod as he hangs his coat by the door.
I take a sip and return the nod. “Morning.”
He moves into the kitchen and starts organizing his supplies under the sink. We’ve fallen into an easy routine over the past couple of years. He comes in and does his work, and we talk sometimes. Other times we don’t. It’s comfortable.
Today, he’s smirking—a lot like the last time I saw him. The time he almost caught more than an eyeful of me and Heather together.
“What?” I ask, trying and failing to keep the defensive tone from my voice.
“I watched the game last night.” He straightens up and gives me a knowing look. “Saw you kissing the glass like some lovesick teenager.”
There it is. And I have nothing to say in my defense. “You and a couple million other people, I’d imagine.”
“And she was wearing your jersey. Looks better on her, I have to say.” Colin shakes his head, but he’s grinning now. “You’re completely smitten, aren’t you?”
All I can do is nod. “Yeah. I am. But nobody uses the word ‘smitten’ anymore.”
“They should. It’s a nice word.” He grabs a rag and starts wiping down the counter. “Anyway, it’s about damn time you let someone in. Heather’s made you smile more in a few weeks than I’ve seen from you in the past two years combined.”
He’s right again, but I don’t want to give him too much credit all at once. Instead, I settle on another easy truth. “I’m really glad she’s here.”
“Well, then.” He nods, satisfied. “Don’t screw it up.”
“I’m not planning on it.”
“Good man.” He moves toward the living room just as I hear footsteps on the stairs.
As if she’s been summoned by our conversation, Heather appears in the kitchen doorway. Her hair is still messy from sleep, and she’s wearing one of my old t-shirts that hangs nearly to her knees. She’s rubbing her eyes, looking soft and sleepy and absolutely perfect.
“Good morning,” she says, her voice still rough.
“Good morning, Hurricane.” I stand and pour her a cup of coffee, adding cream the way she likes it. “Did you sleep okay?”
“Really well, thank you.” She accepts the mug and takes a sip. “I thought about sleeping in later, but it’s no fun without you.”
“We can go right back up there,” I growl, jerking my thumb in the direction of the stairs. “And I can think of about five or six fun things we can do along the way. But sleeping in isn’t one of them.”
Before either of us can say anything truly filthy or incriminating, Colin comes back to fetch the vacuum from the utility closet in the hallway.
“Good morning, Heather.” He pops his head into the kitchen and gives a little wave. “You’re looking as lovely as ever.”
Heather starts to blush, no doubt remembering how we both looked the last time he saw us together. But to her credit, she holds it together perfectly.
“Thank you, Colin. Has anyone ever told you how much of a charmer you are?”
He grins. “My late wife used to say that all the time, bless her. I keep telling Grant he needs to take some of my advice when it comes to women, but now I see he’s already punching above his weight.”
“Careful, old man,” I grumble, but he just laughs.
“Maybe we can work on his sense of humor together.”
“I have a sense of humor.”
“Since when?”
Heather is shaking her head and pressing her hand against her mouth to hide her smile.
“You’re fired,” I tell Colin.
“You’ve been trying to fire me every other week for over a year now, and it hasn’t worked yet.” He picks up the vacuum again. “I’ll just be in the other room if you need me. Try not to be too grumpy, Grant. You’ll scare the poor woman off.”
“Too late for that,” Heather says, still smiling. “He’s stuck with me now.”
Colin pauses in the doorway, and his mischievous expression turns almost serious for a moment. “Good. He needs someone to put up with him.” Then he’s gone, humming to himself as he heads down the hall.
I shake my head and turn back to Heather. “Sorry about all that. He likes to embarrass me anytime he can.”
“Don’t be sorry. I like him. He’s sweet.” She sets down her coffee and crosses to me, sliding her arms around my waist. “And so are you. Even if you are wound tighter than a drum.”
“I’m working on that.”
“I know.” She stands on her toes and kisses me. “You’re doing great.”
“I’ve been thinking.” I run my hands up and down her back and fight the urge to slip the t-shirt right up over her head. “We should do something today. The three of us.”
“Really? What did you have in mind?”
“Maybe that indoor trampoline park April mentioned the other day. Or the roller rink. Whichever one she’d prefer.
” I pause, waiting to see if she has any objections.
“She said some of the kids from her class go there on weekends, so I thought it might be good for her to check it out. We could even invite one of those kids along if she wants.”
Heather goes still in my arms, her expression shifting into something softer. Warmer.
“You remembered she said all of that?”
“Of course I remembered.”
“Grant, that was almost a week ago. She mentioned it once, in passing, while we were eating dinner.”
I shrug. “I pay attention.”
“You…” She shakes her head, but she’s smiling now. “You’re really something, you know that?”
“Is that a yes to the trampoline park?”
“It’s definitely a yes.” She reaches up and cups my face with both hands. “She’s going to be so excited. She’s been trying so hard to make friends at the new school, and I know it’s been slow going for her. This will really help.”
“That’s what I figured. Plus, I’ve never been to a trampoline park. It could be fun for all of us.”
“You’re going to jump on trampolines?”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re a professional athlete who needs to protect his body.”
“I’ll be careful.” I pull her closer. “Besides, I want to spend the day with the two of you, doing normal family stuff.”
Her eyes get a little shiny, and I realize what I’ve just said. Family stuff. Like we’re a family.
But instead of backtracking or clarifying, I just wait. Because it’s true. That’s what this feels like—that’s what I want it to be, anyway.
“Okay,” she says quietly. “Let’s do it. Let’s have a family day.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” She kisses me, soft and sweet. “I appreciate you so much. For listening and remembering and caring about what matters to her.”
“You don’t have to thank me for that.”
“I know, but I want to anyway.”
We stand there for another moment, just holding each other, before she finally pulls back.
“I should go wake up April and tell her the plan. She’s going to lose her mind.”
“Good.” I let go of her reluctantly. “I’ll make breakfast.”
She heads upstairs, and I move to the fridge, already planning out what to make. Pancakes, probably. April loves pancakes.
It only takes a few minutes before I hear an excited scream from upstairs, followed quickly by April’s animated chatter that never fails to filter through the whole house.
I love that she has questions and opinions about everything, and I want to encourage that side of her, to let her explore the world around her and find the place where she feels like she fits in the most.
She’s so excited for the trampoline park that she doesn’t stop talking through the entire breakfast. Or once we’ve finished breakfast, cleaned up the dishes, and are heading out the door.
“Sophie said there’s a foam pit you can jump into, and Mason said there’s dodgeball on trampolines, and Emma said there’s this thing where you can dunk a basketball while jumping—”
“Breathe, sweetheart,” Heather says, laughing as she helps April into her jacket.
“I am breathing! I’m just so excited! Can we really invite someone? Like, can I ask Sophie if she wants to come?”
“Sure,” Heather says. “I’ll text her mom on the way.”
The excitement continues all the way to the truck. April climbs into the backseat, still chattering about foam pits and basketball hoops and whether or not she’ll be brave enough to try the high-jump trampolines.
I pull out of the driveway, and Heather suddenly frowns, then reaches up to adjust the visor.
“Is everything okay?” I ask even though I already know where this is going.
She sighs. “I forgot my sunglasses. Again.”
Before she can say anything else, I reach over and pop open the glove box. I pull out a pair of sunglasses and hand them to her.
She blinks down at them, surprised. “You keep extra sunglasses in here?”
“I keep several pairs in here. And in different rooms of the house.”
“Several pairs?”
“You forget them constantly.” I glance at her and try not to smile, then look back at the road. “So I got extras and stashed them everywhere. That way you’ll always have some when you need them.”
She’s staring at me now with her mouth slightly open and the sunglasses still in her hands. “Wait, what? You bought multiple pairs of sunglasses and hid them in your truck and around your house for me?”
“It wasn’t a big deal.”
“It’s a big deal to me. You did all of that just because you saw that I forget my glasses all the time? It blows my mind that you even notice things like that, let alone go out of your way to fix them.”
I’m not sure what to say, but April chimes in before I have time to think about it.
“Problem solved!” she announces from the backseat. “See, Mom? We should definitely keep him around.”
Heather laughs, then slides the sunglasses on and turns to look at me. “You know what? That’s not a bad idea.”