Chapter 27
It’s difficult to panic properly while Tanner is making condom jokes.
Nolan
I park my SUV in front of the stadium at Coastal State University. For the first time in my life, I don’t want to be at practice. I want to be with Terri. But she kicked me out of her office. Apparently, I was ‘hovering’. Whatever that means.
I’m itching to get my hands on the bedroom in her house I think would make a good nursery. I don’t want Terri to lift a hand. I want to take care of it. Of her. Of everything.
“Ahem!” Tanner clears his throat.
“Hey, Tanner,” I greet. I start to walk toward the entrance but I’m blocked by Brock. “What’s going on?”
He crosses his arms over his chest. “You got a woman on this island pregnant.”
I glare at him. “A woman? Terri isn’t any woman. She’s my woman.”
“Hold on. Hold on. Hold on.” Tanner waves his hands around. “Terri’s pregnant? The woman who rejected you multiple times?”
I growl and step toward him. Corbin blocks me. “Not worth it.”
“Disagree.” My nostrils flare. “He’s joking about Terri. How would you feel if we were joking about Siena?”
I expect him to deny his relationship with Siena – the way he’s been denying it for weeks now, but he doesn’t. He simply steps out of the way and motions toward Tanner. “Have at it.”
Tanner squeaks before ducking behind Brock, who quirks an eyebrow at him. “Do you seriously think I’ll save you?”
“You’re grumpy but honorable.”
Brock rolls his eyes. “Nice try, goofball, but no.”
Tanner looks to Gage, who shakes his head at him. “We agreed to warn Nolan; the entire team knows he’s having a baby with Terri. We’re not giving him a hard time about it.”
Tanner grunts. “Not even when he tapped it but forgot to wrap it?” he whines. “I came prepared. The man can read defenses but couldn’t read the condom box. He went from franchise quarterback to suburban dad in record time. This is why quarterbacks shouldn’t improvise. You hit—”
I dive for him but Brock wraps an arm around my waist to stop me. “Coach Knox will bench you if you get caught fighting.”
Tanner peaks out from behind Gage. “Some leader you are.”
I snap my teeth at him. “Seriously? You won’t let me hit him? I’ll aim for his soft tissue. No one will know.”
“You shouldn’t aggravate your shoulder,” Corbin says.
Shit. Does he know how bad my shoulder is? Do they all know?
“I’m working on it.”
“Never said you weren’t.”
I wish I was as confident as he is. It doesn’t matter. Confident or not, I’m starting this season. And I’m doing everything in my power to take us to the Super Bowl. This is our year.
Brock motions toward the entrance. “We should go. We don’t want to be late. Coach Knox will have us running circles around the field until we drop. And it’s already eighty-five degrees out.”
“Speaking of Coach Knox,” Tanner begins.
I know exactly what he’s referring to. All the players are talking about it. The rumor Knox is leaving. My gut clenches. I don’t want him to leave.
I hold up my hand. “Enough with the rumors.”
He sticks out his bottom lip in a pout. “But people are finally talking about other people besides me.”
I lift an eyebrow. “Because you’re actually behaving for once.”
He shrugs.
I don’t seriously think he’s behaving. I think he’s digging himself deeper into the hole he dug before we arrived in Smuggler’s Hideaway. But trying to talk Tanner out of anything is a waste of energy.
We enter the stadium and make our way through the hallways to the locker room. I go first, the way I usually do, and—
“SURPRISE!”
The entire team except for the assholes behind me shout. I whirl around to confront them. “What the hell? You told everyone?”
Brock grunts. “We warned you everyone knew.”
Thanks to goofball Tanner, I forgot the purpose of them surrounding me was to warn me. A warning would have been good.
Lamar, the center, lumbers forward. He hands me a package. It’s pink and blue and appears tiny in his hands.
“A little something to commemorate the occasion.”
I open the bag and pull out the tiniest pair of football cleats I’ve ever seen. “What if it’s a girl?”
He snorts. “My girl plays football harder and meaner than my boys.” He steps closer. “Let me give you some advice.”
I nod because he’s giving me his advice whether I want it or not.
“You should teach the baby to sleep through crowd noise immediately.”
Crowd noise? My nose wrinkles. My little mermaid isn’t going to be sleeping in big stadiums.
Except I play in big stadiums. Will Terri come to my games with the baby? She hasn’t accepted any of my invites to attend practice. I doubt she’ll attend a game.
I don’t know how this is going to work. I want to be there for her and the baby, but I won’t be there physically. Will she think I abandoned her when I’m gone?
Brock slaps me on the shoulder. “Learn how to install the car seat before the hospital. Trust me on this.”
I flip through dates in my mind. Our little mermaid is due to make her debut on March 12th. Football season – even if we make it to the Super Bowl – will be over by then. But my obligations aren’t over when the season ends.
I have sponsorship deals. Which will be even worse if the Seals play in the Super Bowl.
And I usually host a quarterback camp around March/April. Could I move the date? Or have I already committed to the location?
And if we win the Super Bowl? March will be a media storm of podcasts and television appearances.
Being present for the birth will be more difficult than I expected. But I promised Terri I’d be there. I can’t let her go through the birth of our baby alone. It’s bad enough I’ll be absent for most of the pregnancy.
Shit. I’ll be absent for most of the pregnancy. When she’s terrified she can’t carry the baby to term. What kind of Dad am I?
I’m exactly like my dad. After I promised I wouldn’t be.
Beck taps the mini cleats. “How long before they can throw a football?”
Lamar chuckles. “After they go through about a gazillion diapers.”
Surely, he’s joking. Isn’t he? “How many diapers do babies need?”
Brock chuckles. “More than you can imagine.”
“Maybe I should sign Terri up for a diaper service. Those exist, don’t they?”
Gage’s nose wrinkles. “On Smuggler’s Hideaway?”
“And diapers are only the start,” Brock adds. “You won’t believe how far a baby’s puke can travel.”
Lamar barks out a laugh. “I remember this one time my oldest boy projectile vomited and it got in my hair. I wasn’t even in the room.”
How is Terri supposed to handle this on her own? How did Mom handle five kids on her own? I should send her a gift basket.
Lamar slaps my shoulder and my knees buckle. The center is one of the biggest players on the team. He’s supposed to protect me. Not flatten me.
“Don’t worry. The wives have a group chat. I’ll add Terri to it.”
My sprite would promptly lose her mind if she was added to a group chat with the wives of the team members. She refuses to admit we’re in a relationship – which we are. She’ll think I’m pushing her.
“No, don’t.”
His brow wrinkles. “Do you not want Terri to be part of our family?”
I blow out a breath. “It’s not that.”
Tanner skips toward us. “It’s more Terri doesn’t want to be involved with our esteemed quarterback.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“And you’re not denying it. I win!”
“Allen!” Knox shouts. “My office.”
“Someone’s in trouble,” Tanner sings and I elbow him as I pass. He laughs as he falls to the ground. Drama queen.
I enter Knox’s office and shut the door behind me. “What’s up?”
He crosses his arms over his chest and leans back against his desk. “It’s true? You knocked up a local?”
I glare. “Not you, too. Her name is Terri, and she’s pregnant. Don’t disrespect her.”
He smiles. “Good answer.”
I roll my eyes. “Are you done testing me?”
He clears his throat. “Just wanted to check on the shoulder. You seemed to be in a lot of pain at the last practice.”
Because I was. But I’m not admitting it. “I’ll be fine.”
“You sure? This is going to be a tough season. Beck is improving.”
I bristle. “Beck is a rookie.”
“Whose shoulder isn’t ripped to shreds.”
“Let me worry about my shoulder.”
“You have a lot to worry about. Your shoulder. The weight of the Super Bowl expectations. Having a baby with a woman who lives far away from Steel City.”
“I don’t need the reminder.”
“You sure? Because you’re acting like nothing’s changed. Planning to play the season with a hurt shoulder and a baby on the way.”
“I have it handled.”
He lifts up his hands. “Your choice. But let me say this. I would do anything – and I do mean anything – to change the past and watch my son grow up. And watching Jade grow my baby?” He shakes his head. “I missed it all.”
His words hit me like a Mack truck. Will I regret not being here with Terri? Will she resent me? Will I miss the birth of my child?