Chapter 41
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Ivy
“I’m so nervous! Aren’t you?” I ask Wyatt as I pace around his apartment, glancing at my phone every few minutes to check the time.
It’s been a few days since we met with Nash at my parents’ house, and since Cleo reached out to the woman blackmailing Wyatt. Today’s the day she’s supposed to meet her face-to-face.
We might already have a lead. The woman agreed to meet with Cleo but said she’s no longer in Phoenix and asked her to come to L.A.
instead. Nash suspects that’s where she’s really based.
He’s already been in touch with the local police, and they’ve agreed to assign someone to the case.
He and Cleo flew out early this morning, and Nash is assisting with the surveillance.
I grabbed a lift to Phoenix with Nash yesterday, and while Wyatt has a training session in just over an hour, I’m hoping we’ll hear something before he has to leave.
“You need to stop pacing,” Wyatt says, taking my hand and guiding me into the living room.
I glance over at him. “You’re not nervous?”
He gives me a small smile. “Not nervous, exactly. I’m just ready for all of this to be over. I want our life back.”
“I want that too.” I smile, letting him ease me down onto the sofa beside him. “I want to come and watch you train again.”
“Then come with me today,” he offers. “You can sit in the family section. It might help take your mind off everything.”
I wrinkle my nose. “I don’t know. Won’t the press be there?”
“They will,” he admits, “but you won’t have to deal with them.
We’ll go in through the players’ entrance, and the family area has its own private access.
No cameras, no questions.” He hesitates, then adds quietly, “It would really mean a lot to me. I’ve never had a girlfriend come to watch me train or play.
And I know you were there last week, but I didn’t know then. ”
His eyes search mine, full of hope. I hold his gaze for a moment, then nod. “Then I’ll come,” I tell him.
I might be nervous about going out with all that’s happening, but I know how much this means to him, and I want to be there.
An hour later, we’re in Wyatt’s car, heading toward the stadium. It’s still radio silence from Nash, not that we really expected anything so soon, but I’d been clinging to the hope that we might get a breakthrough. He did warn us it could take time. I just want this all to be over.
Wyatt’s hand slides onto my thigh, his warm touch instantly calming the anxious swirl in my chest.
“You okay?” he asks, glancing over at me.
I turn to him and smile. “Yeah, I’m good. Kind of excited to see you in your kit, actually.”
I raise my eyebrows suggestively, earning a laugh from him.
“Oh, yeah?” He grins.
I nod, biting my lip. “I think you should bring it home sometime. I’d enjoy helping you out of it.”
“Ivy James!” he exclaims, the grin on his face stretching wider.
“What?” I say innocently. “You look ridiculously hot in it.”
He laughs. “Maybe I’ll have to sneak it home then.”
I smile. “Can’t wait.”
When we arrive at the stadium, Wyatt bypasses the spot we parked in on my birthday and heads around to the back of the building.
A security barrier lifts as we approach, and he drives into an underground parking garage.
Once he kills the engine, we both climb out, and I wait while he grabs his bag from the trunk.
“Should I have dressed up more?” I ask, glancing down at my jeans and his team jersey, suddenly second-guessing my outfit for the private family enclosure.
Wyatt grins. “Absolutely not. You look sexy as hell. You know how much I love seeing you in my number. I wouldn’t want you wearing anything else.”
I smile, relaxing. “Okay.”
He laces his fingers through mine, and we walk together through the garage into the stadium. We’re far from any public areas, and I let him guide me down a series of long, echoing corridors.
“This place is a total maze,” I say, laughing. “I’m never going to find you after practice.”
He gives my hand a squeeze. “I’ll come find you. I promise.” Stopping in front of a door, he nods toward it. “This is the family enclosure. Let’s see if anyone’s here. I’ll introduce you.”
He pushes the door open and steps inside.
“Sienna, hey,” he says to a stunning blonde woman cradling a baby.
“Wyatt. Good to see you,” she says warmly, crossing the room and greeting him with a quick kiss on the cheek. “How are you holding up? I saw all that mess online.”
I exhale quietly. “Yeah, we’ve had better days.”
Her eyes soften before shifting to me. “You must be Ivy.” Her smile widens as she bounces the baby slightly on her hip. “I’m Sienna, Lewis’s wife, and this little one is Lila.”
“Lewis is our quarterback,” Wyatt adds helpfully.
I nod with a smile. “It’s really nice to meet you. And hi, Lila.” I glance at the baby girl. “She’s gorgeous.”
“Thank you,” Sienna says, beaming.
I say a quick goodbye to Wyatt before Sienna beckons me further into the enclosure, which looks more like a stylish lounge than anything else.
Plush seats line the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the field, and a buffet-style counter sits against one wall, offering coffee, pastries, and fresh fruit.
A few other women are already seated, chatting easily, while a couple of toddlers play on the carpet.
“Make yourself comfortable,” Sienna says, lowering Lila into a highchair. “They’ll be out soon. This is one of the longer sessions, so you’ll have a good view.”
I grab a glass of water before moving toward the window and taking a seat. A few minutes later, the players start to come onto the field. I spot Wyatt in his full kit, and my stomach flips. He looks so focused and powerful as he runs on with his teammates, tossing the football from hand to hand.
“Is this the first time you’ve watched him train?” Sienna asks as she sits next to me.
I shake my head, my eyes glued to Wyatt. “I came last week, but I sat out there on my own and it was a little overwhelming. It was a surprise. He didn’t know I was coming.”
She smiles. “I love watching Lewis. He’s completely different out there. Confident and intense. Kind of like your own personal superhero.”
I laugh. “Yeah, it does feel a little like that. It’s weird, though… watching him like this with everything going on outside of here. The lies, the media circus. It’s like none of it touches him here.”
She nods. “The field is their escape. At least, that’s how it is for Lewis. Same for Wyatt, I’d imagine.”
My fingers press against the cool glass in my hand as I watch Wyatt sprint across the field, effortlessly catching the ball mid-air.
There’s something calming about seeing him like this, in his element, confident and in control.
He’s powerful and capable out here, but I know the man behind the game too.
The one who’s held me through the chaos of the past week with those same strong arms. My favorite place to be.
“Thanks for making me feel so welcome. I was nervous to come under the circumstances,” I say quietly.
“Of course,” she replies. “Being part of this life... it can be… a lot, but it’s easy to see how much Wyatt adores you.”
I look at her in surprise. “Really?”
She nods. “Lewis and I were at the charity auction. He couldn’t take his eyes off you. It was clear for everyone to see.”
“We weren’t together then.”
She laughs. “Could have fooled me.”
Wyatt told me the night of the auction was when things started to shift for him, when his feelings began to change. But hearing Sienna say she saw it in him that night still surprises me. I know he loves me now, but back then, I was convinced he just saw me as Ash’s friend.
“I’ve never seen him this happy,” she says. “You light him up, Ivy.”
“I love him,” I say simply. “I never saw it coming, but now I can’t imagine my life without him in it.”
She smiles. “You two should come over for dinner one night. I think we’re going to be great friends.”
I grin. “I’d love that.”
We spend the rest of the training session watching the guys, chatting, and playing with Lila, who is absolutely adorable.
When the session wraps up, my heart skips a beat as I spot Wyatt glance up at the family enclosure and blow me a kiss.
I can’t help but grin and blow one back, noticing a few heads in the crowd turn in my direction.
“Told you he’d got it bad,” Sienna says, bumping her shoulder with mine. “He’s just blown you a kiss in front of sixty thousand people.” My cheeks flush with heat, and she laughs. “Help me grab Lila’s stuff, and we’ll go and meet the guys.”
Nerves twist in my stomach. “We’re staying away from the press, right?”
She takes my hand and squeezes. “Definitely. Straight to the guys.”
I nod, and excitement rushes through me.
I suddenly can’t wait to see Wyatt. I’m so glad I pushed myself to come today, despite how nervous I was.
Being here, surrounded by the energy of the stadium and the kindness of people like Sienna has taken my mind off the mess of outside, and it was something I so badly needed.