Change of Hart(72)

“I’m glad Vanessa came,” she said while looking at the menu. I didn’t need to look. I already knew it by heart. And today was buffet day. “I was nervous about having all the cameras there, but she’s so relaxed. It made it a lot easier.”

“Yeah, she’s a pro at being a football wife,” I agreed. “I don’t know how she puts up with Deuce. But she really knows how to balance the fame from reality.”

“She really does.” She put the menu down and leaned forward on her elbows. “Ok, so tell me something. What is that thing you do where you smack your helmet and point at us?”

I sat back and laughed. “I honestly don’t know,” I said. “I guess I just got excited when I saw you guys sitting there and it just sort of . . . happened.”

She smirked at me. “Well, whatever it was, it was really sweet.”

We sat there just looking in each other’s eyes and having a moment when Jaxon came running up.

“Jason, there’s a buffet here. Can we eat the buffet? I’m starving!”

“How are you starving?” Addison asked incredulously. “You had a hot dog and popcorn during the game.”

“Leave him alone,” I joked. “He’s turning into a man! He needs his food.”

She just rolled her eyes as Jaxon and I wandered over to the buffet, filling up several plates. I even brought one back for her.

As we ate, we chatted more about the game and Jaxon talked about school.

“Mom, is Jason your boyfriend?”

Addison and I froze. I looked over and saw her looking at me. The question had come out of nowhere and I honestly didn’t know how she wanted us to respond.

I leaned back and finished chewing the bite I had just taken.

“What makes you ask that, buddy?” I asked slowly while wiping off my mouth with a napkin.

He shrugged. “One of those people outside our house yelled, ‘How does it feel to have Jason Hart as your boyfriend,’ when you were there yesterday. I heard them.” He turned to look at Addison. “So is he? Is Jason your boyfriend?”

She took a deep breath before answering. “Well. I mean . . . uh, yes. Yes, Jason is my boyfriend. Is that ok with you?”

I could see she was really nervous about his pending answer. But in true Jaxon fashion, he didn’t disappoint.

“Well, yeah, duh,” he said, rolling his eyes. “I gave him permission to take you on dates.”

I stifled a laugh and tried to sound commanding when I reprimanded him. “Don’t roll your eyes at your mom, Jax. It’s disrespectful.”

“Sorry,” he said and continued on. “Is that why all those people keep coming to our house?”

I smirked at the fact that none of this really fazed him at all. I had known Addison was worried for nothing. But I wasn’t about to tell her that. She needed to process all of this in her own way. She was a worrier by nature and I wasn’t about to try and change who she was.

“You know how there are lots of cameras at the football games, Jax, and how I have to do lots of interviews and stuff?” I asked. Trying to explain the fascination with celebrity to a seven-year-old wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be.

“Yeah . . . cause you’re famous,” he said matter-of-factly. Ok, so maybe he understood better than I thought.

“Right,” I continued. “So sometimes when someone who is famous starts dating, it makes people really, really curious about the girlfriend.”

“So people wanna know things about my mom?” he asked, trying to understand what I was getting at.

I nodded. “That’s pretty much it in a nutshell.”

“Oh,” he looked at his plate and picked up his fork again, spearing some mac and cheese. “Ok.”

“That’s it?” Addison asked. “You don’t have any more questions?” I think she was surprised that he didn’t freak out over this new revelation.

Jaxon shrugged and changed topics, telling me all about some guy who had apparently painted the entire front of his body for the game, and danced around the stands like a fool.

I looked at Addison and smirked. She shook her head and continued on with her meal.

The entire conversation took only a small amount of time. But to me, it felt like a huge boulder had been moved out of the way of my relationship with Addison. More than anything in the world, she was worried about Jaxon. And if he was ok with this, it meant she didn’t have to sneak around anymore. Or make up excuses when we spent time together. Yes, we would still keep our time spent together separate. But I knew it also meant I would be incorporated into their lives more. And that was an awesome feeling.