Chapter 25
HUDSON
Truthfully, while players get to head home and be with their loved ones for a few days, I know I don’t get to enjoy bye week the same way. Sure, my schedule is a little lighter than normal, but I will still need to strategize the season so far.
At least I get to head to Lake Spark, and I know Piper is already there, as she headed up first thing in the morning since she was already on the north side of the city to see her grandmother.
Arriving at my house, I open my car door and take a deep breath of lake air. The leaves are falling, and it’s been a few weeks since I’ve been here. I’m happy Piper is keeping the house alive in my absence.
When I arrive inside the house, it’s quiet. I know Piper is here, though, because she sent me a text, and I can tell she had a coffee in the kitchen.
“Piper?” I call out her name.
I drop my small bag on the ground and throw my keys onto the side table before I nearly jog up the stairs to my room.
Arriving at my bedroom door, I stop in my tracks when I see that Piper is sleeping peacefully on top of the blankets with one leg hooked over a pillow and her arms splayed over her head.
Her heels are on the floor next to the bed.
The light from the windows makes it clear that it’s the middle of the day, which makes it all the more amusing that she fell asleep, because she doesn’t nap.
Slowly, I approach my bed and the corners of my mouth tug just as my hand lands on her back to give her a soothing stroke. The mattress dips when I sit next to her. As much as I don’t want to wake her… I need to. Our conversation can’t exactly wait.
She must sense my presence, as she begins to slither in her spot, a groggy noise escaping her mouth.
“Hey there, sleepyhead.”
Her eyes flutter open, then she adjusts to the fact I’m in front of her. The moment she registers that I’m here, she sits up.
“I must have dozed off.” She yawns and stretches her arms over her head, causing her shirt to rise and her belly button to be on show. “Crap.” Her hand comes to her forehead. “I was planning on surprising you with something new.”
My brows knit together. “New collection new?” I’m hopeful.
“Something like that. I think we’ve established I’m not really good at timing surprises.”
I swoop her hand into my own. “It’s okay.”
Her eyes connect with mine, and after a beat, she begins to speak. “Hudson, I’m sorry if I’ve been out of sorts, or rather cautious of a lot of things.”
“I don’t want you to feel like you have doubts.”
She squeezes my hand. “The thing is, I don’t have doubts. I know that because it seems my life has been slowly interweaving with your own. I’ve been setting up the steppingstones this whole time. I just needed to think clearly and realize that.”
Her words are confident and everything to me. I kiss her hand like a gentleman would, but make no mistake, my plan to show her my satisfaction with her words is aligned with the brain of a dirty sailor.
“How did you realize it?”
She smiles shyly at me because she knows I like when she says it. “I’m insanely in love with you.”
“What a coincidence, because I feel the same.”
“That’s good because I’ve kind of decided that I’m going all in on a future with you. I know I want to be waiting for you at every opportunity, and by chance, the old suit shop went on sale, so I decided to phone a realtor and make an offer. I don’t know if I’ll get it, but I gave it my best shot.”
I can’t control the approval flooding my face. “That’s… great.” It’s commitment that she wants her life here with me.
“I think so. I could really make it a boutique and base for all my online orders. Plus, an endless supply of coffee from Jolly Joe’s across the street.
And an easy commute home, because that’s what it feels like.
Here, I mean, with you. Home.” I love her words.
They thrill me, and it unlocks the chains that have me trying to sit here politely and listen.
I pat her arm with my hand, an indication that she needs to scoot over. But side by side is not going to happen, I need to be between her legs with her eyes on me as I drive myself inside of her.
I coax her thighs open and walk my arms forward and swing my legs up onto the bed until I’m between her legs, with my head resting on her stomach.
“It’s not easy. I know that. But I wouldn’t have let us continue if I didn’t think you had it in you to be by my side,” I admit.
She rakes her fingers through my hair. “You take care of people, guide people, but right now, let me do that for you.”
“I’m not used to that, believe it or not. Leading the way is more my style.”
“Oh, gee, I hadn’t noticed.”
I grab hold of her shirt with my teeth and pull it up for a tease before releasing the fabric.
She laughs. “What in the world is in your hair?” Her fingers seem to grab something from a few strands, and we both inspect it when she holds it up into the air.
Pine needles.
“It’s that fucking tree by the driveway,” I groan.
“Ah yes, killer pinecones and needles.” She tosses the needle to the side.
I lift my body onto my forearms because we both have a task to do.
“Take it off, Piper.” I hear the desire in my voice.
We both take everything from the waist down off. Slow and sweet will be for later.
I get a glimpse of her lace panties that were just flung to the floor and then give Piper a curious look.
“I have full intention to check if you’re wearing a matching bra later, but right now…
” I touch her clit with my finger and feel that she is already soaking onto my fingers.
“My focus is on being inside of you.” I align myself and cradle her head in my hand, with my thumb planted on her bottom lip.
Her body tilts up when I slide into her, the sensation of me going deeper causing us both to moan and our lips to collide. For some reason, this feeling is more intense than usual.
I look at her mouth when I pull away and a sultry smirk begins to form on her swollen lips. “Keep going. Ruin me. Ruin me for other men.” God, her playful tone slays me.
“Baby, I did that the first night I laid eyes on you.”
Our eyes hold as I slam into her again and again, her legs tightly wrapping around my waist, offering herself to me, and I take every piece she’ll give.
And lucky for me, she gives it all.
I look down at the eggs in the pan, going for over easy today.
The autumn sun is illuminating the kitchen, a solid track is playing on the Bluetooth, and the smell of coffee is strong.
I told Piper to let me sleep in, as it will be my only chance as we head into the rest of the season, but I’m not made for long mornings in bed and still woke before her.
Glancing up from the sizzling of the skillet, I notice Piper straightening her hoodie and searching for her car keys
“What are you doing?”
She ignores me as she grabs her sunglasses. “Going into town for something.”
“You look like you’re trying to go undercover or something.”
She freezes, her hand on the keys, and she peers up to stare directly at me. “Because… I don’t want to be noticed.”
“It’s Lake Spark, nobody cares.” I grab my coffee mug and indicate that there’s a spot next to me. Taking a sip with one hand, I hold out my other arm to invite her to join me.
“Maybe I need to get something without anyone catching wind, and I was going to go first thing, but I slept in, Coach.”
I chuckle under my breath. Every time she calls me that I know she is going to say something to surprise me.
“I know I haven’t lost my touch if you’re worn out after a night like last night.”
We didn’t really leave the bed, except for some dinner downstairs when I whipped up some pasta and pesto with chicken.
We talked about what she’ll do if she gets the shop on Main Street, what my schedule looks like in the coming weeks, which games she will be at, which dinner with sponsors, and what she can expect.
All the things that we talked about before but this time she is committed.
She’ll even meet me at some away games, which is an effort since she can’t travel with me due to team rules but can stay in my room at away games.
Slowly she walks to me. “Uh-oh. You have John Mayer on and you’re wearing an apron to cook eggs?”
“I know you like it.” I look down at my This coach has a foul mouth and a big heart apron. “Don’t divert the topic. Again, what’s with the outfit?”
She ignores my comment and approaches me tactfully. “So, I’m going to come at you from the blindside here.”
“Ooh, she’s talkin’ football,” I tease her.
Her wry smile stays stoic.
I turn the element off and move the pan to a cooler spot on the stovetop. “So, what’s the deal? Why do you need to head to town?”
“The thing is, I wanted to do the whole buying property, moving into your home without asking, showing up to games thing for the right reasons, and even though they are risks, it’s okay because I want it all and knew it would be okay.
And since I’m confident with all the possibilities that could happen, then I think I need to address another elephant in the room… ”
I’m not catching on. “As in?” I rest my hands on her shoulders, soothing her.
Her unusual look doesn’t change. “We haven’t been careful.” I don’t respond until her eyes bug out.
“No complaints,” I answer.
The remnants of a smirk on her lips inform me she thought I would say that.
“I thought I wasn’t pregnant, even took a test the other week.
For some reason I don’t know, I was kind of disappointed but also thought it was for the better, so I could make all these decisions without a baby being part of the equation.
Last night I went to sleep knowing that I had confirmed my future with you, and we talked about it yesterday. Everything feels right.”
“What are you saying?”
“My body kind of did this weird thing where it felt the need to gag at the thought of toothpaste, and then I realized I lost the box with the second test, so now I need to sneak around and buy another…” she rambles.
I feel my heart pounding. “Wait… hold up.”
Piper takes a deep breath. “I’m not sure that test was correct, because it was maybe too early, so I need to take another one,” she clarifies.
I blink a few times then something clicks me into action mode. “I’ll go.”
She doesn’t get a chance to protest and two minutes later I’m back in the kitchen grabbing my car key. Piper never left her spot.
“Hudson!” she scolds me.
“What?”
Her eyes assess me up and down. “Did you not get the memo about being on the down-low for this outing?”
I give myself the once-over and realize my error. I’m literally wearing a hoodie that says Coach Arrows, not exactly subtle.
“Solid point.” I guess I’m a little nervous. “I’ll go change.”
Piper shrugs. “Just, I don’t know, buy a few things, then maybe nobody will notice. Like literally walk down the aisle and grab a box like a football pass, you don’t even need to stop.”
“I’ve totally got it covered,” I assure her. “How about you just eat some breakfast and I’ll be back before you know it.”
She nods nervously, and I kiss her forehead.
Fifty-three minutes, a cinnamon roll pick-up, and a diversion of one morning fox later, I find myself staring out my bedroom door to the balcony and turning my head when I hear the bathroom door click open. I’m calm, though definitely excited at the prospect too.
Piper’s face is unreadable. She takes one step closer.
“And?”
Piper’s face erupts into a wide grin. “Looks like you’re going to be a dad again.”
My heart swells right before the reminder sinks in that I missed the young years with Drew, so this is just as new for me as it is Piper. I reach out and grab her wrists to pull her into my arms.
“The baby has good timing too, as he or she should arrive just on time in the middle of off-season.” Tears form in her eyes, the good kind, because her mouth is stretched into a ridiculous grin.
I cup her cheek with the palm of my hand. “You really know how to make me happy, huh?” She nuzzles into my hand, the lids of her eyes closing. “We’re getting married tomorrow.”
Her head perks up. “W-what?”
“I’m not wasting time. You’re having my baby, and there is only one way that I want this to go.”
She scoffs at me, but her face says she’s entertained. “We can’t get married tomorrow. You can’t even legally arrange it that quick unless we go to Vegas, and no, I’m not going to Vegas.” She gives me a warning glare.
“We can get a license at the county clerk’s office in the morning and then Pete can marry us.”
“The owner of Jolly Joe’s?”
“Yeah, he’s a retired judge… the candy shop is a retirement hobby.”
Piper blinks her eyes several times. “Oh… you’re serious about everything you said in the last minute?”
I pull her tight then lift her up onto the dresser, setting a hand on each side of her body. “Of course I am.”
Her fingers play with the tie of my hoodie that does not say coach. “I know you are.” She kisses the corner of my mouth. “And lucky for me, I don’t want to take the risk of you losing your patience, otherwise a wedding cake will magically appear anyway.”
I kiss her forehead and interlace our hands. “Is that a yes you will marry me then?”
“Is this the proposal?” She cocks an eyebrow at me.
“Not even the beginning,” I promise.