Chapter 13
TALIA
Iwanted to kick myself for falling hard and fast for Brady. If I hadn’t given in to my feelings for him so quickly, I wouldn’t have lost sight of why we were together in the first place.
No matter how often we’d had sex, I wasn’t his real girlfriend.
We started as a fake relationship and never discussed changing our original agreement.
Brady hadn’t made any promises—except maybe in the heat of the moment—so it probably wasn’t fair for me to be so hurt by the reminder.
But I couldn’t help how I felt, and I hadn’t been able to mask my reaction.
I did my best to bury the feelings as he brought me inside so we could speak privately, but it didn’t really work, judging by the way Brady was staring at me.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything about us fake dating in front of everyone like that. I’m fine now, though, really,” I insisted with a little sniffle.
“You’re far from fine, baby,” he disagreed, pressing a finger under my chin so I couldn’t look away. “And you abso-fucking-lutely should’ve said what you did. I needed to hear it to realize my colossal oversight in not laying it all out for you when I wasn’t balls deep inside your pussy.”
“I-I…what?” I stuttered, my cheeks heating.
His blue eyes burned with sincerity as he said, “I meant it each time I called you mine. I’m not going to try to hide behind some bullshit like it was the heat of the moment or anything like that.
I knew what I was saying…and I made the conscious decision to take you bare over and over again, knowing damn well that you could get pregnant. ”
It wasn’t as though I didn’t know the risks, but hearing him put it so bluntly shocked me, especially since it sounded like he wouldn’t have minded if I ended up carrying his baby.
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?
Because I don’t want to make any assumptions here.
Not when it comes to possibly building a family together someday. ”
“Fuck someday,” he growled, his hand dropping to cover my belly.
“If I had my way, you’d be pregnant already.
It’s your dream, and I want to give you that.
Not just for you, but for me too. I’ve pictured your belly round with my baby more than once.
I can all too easily see our children—and eventually grandchildren—filling our house as we grow old together. ”
I went from shocked to downright stunned. “Really? Don’t professional athletes get like…warned to be careful because of paternity suits?”
“It’s not as though I have to worry about that with you, do I?” He laughed softly and shook his head. “If you turn up pregnant, it’s one hundred percent going to be mine. I’m the only man who’s been inside you, and I plan for that to never change.”
I loved the sound of that but still warned, “Never is a long time.”
“Not when you’re in love.” My breath caught in my lungs at his use of the four-letter word I’d been avoiding because I worried it was too soon—and the depth of emotion shining from his bright-blue orbs. “I have a feeling a lifetime spent with you won’t be nearly enough, Talia.”
“Love?” I echoed on a choked whisper, swallowing down the lump in my throat. “You love me?”
“So fucking much, baby,” he confirmed before cradling my cheeks in his large palms and brushing his lips against mine.
I pressed trembling fingers to my lips, feeling his kiss on a deeper level even though it hadn’t been long or hard. But it had been more emotionally intense, knowing that he returned my feelings. “I love you, too.”
“Yeah?” His lips curved into a grin as I nodded, then he captured my mouth in another kiss. A deep, claiming one this time. “Thank fuck because there wasn’t a chance in hell I would let you go after I made you mine.”
The possessive thread in his voice turned me on even more now that I knew it came from a place of love. “Then I guess it’s lucky for you that I don’t want you to let me go.”
“Lucky is an understatement, baby. I worked hard to fill that starting position, but I’m more grateful that you decided to give me a chance than that my coach did.”
“It means a lot to me that you think that.” I smiled up at him. “And that I was able to help you get your chance to start by pretending to be your fake girlfriend before I turned out to be your real one.”
He raked his fingers through his hair. “Shit, baby. There’s something I have to tell you.”
No woman wanted to hear those words from her man and definitely not right after he confessed his love for her. My stomach dropped as I tried to think what he could be talking about, but I came up blank. “What?”
“I need you to keep this in mind. When we met, I would’ve done just about anything to get that chance with you.”
That didn’t sound like a bad thing to me, and some of the tension ebbed from my body. “Okay.”
“So I took advantage of the fact that you didn’t seem to know the first thing about football,” he added with a wince.
“I mean, that’s fair. I really don’t.” I shrugged. “But I don’t understand what you mean. What does my lack of knowledge about football have to do with anything? It’s not as though you’ve been pretending to be a Nighthawk. I saw you play today with my own eyes.”
“Yeah, well…I might have exaggerated the part about me being in a serious relationship having anything to do with stepping into Prentice’s role while he’s on the IRL,” he confessed.
My brows drew together as I absorbed what he said. “So you lied to me about that?”
“It wasn’t a lie, exactly.” He shook his head.
“Prentice really did say something to me earlier that day about how Lennox would have reason to question my intention to stay in New York unless I was truly settled down. But the decision for who started yesterday’s game was based purely on who’s been playing better during practice, and I was already at the top of that list. Not me suddenly having a serious girlfriend. ”
“Oh.” My shoulders slumped. “Then I guess I didn’t really help.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, baby. You make me happier than I’ve ever been, which has changed my outlook.
” He laughed and shook his head. “It took finding you for me to realize what so many of my other teammates already knew—finding the woman who was meant to be yours is the secret to everything. I’m a better player and man because of you. ”
“Oh my gosh,” I cried, tears welling in my eyes. “That’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever told me.”
“Get used to more of that shit,” he teased before giving me another kiss.
I glanced over his shoulder and sighed. “I suppose we should go back out there after disappearing like that.”
“Don’t worry, all the guys who’re wifed up will understand. They each had their fair share of misunderstandings when they got together,” he reassured me as he led me to the backyard again.
It turned out that I didn’t need to worry about anyone wondering what was up between us. Dakota spotted us as soon as we were outside and tilted her head to the side as she mouthed, “Was I right?”
I shot her a big grin and nodded. The confirmation must’ve been too much excitement for her, though.
“Oh no,” she wailed, her eyes widening as her gaze dropped to the ground between her feet. “My water just broke.”
I got to know all of Ames and Dakota’s children over the years, but Austin held a special place in my heart because he was born on the same day I found out my gorgeous quarterback loved me.