“Wow,” she said over her shoulder as she poured a cup. “I could get used to this.”
“It’s nice, isn’t it?” I agreed. She turned and looked at me, taking a sip of her java.
“You know what would be even nicer?” I asked her as I stood up to give her a good morning kiss.
“What’s that?”
“For you to hurry up and get dressed so I can take my two favorite people to breakfast.” I slapped her on the ass and she squealed.
“Hurry up, Mom!” Jaxon cried. “I wanna have some pancakes before school!”
So she did. And we did. Have pancakes that is. Then I got in line behind all the other parents dropping their kids off for school and let Jaxon out right at the front door of the building. It was apparently Lindsay’s day to help the kids through the car line. When she saw me driving up, she caught my eye, and I just smiled as she shook her head and rolled her eyes at me in amusement.
Dropping Addison off took a little longer. Her goodbye kisses and “I love you’s” weren’t nearly as quick. She finally pulled herself away from me when she saw her boss drive up and got nervous that we’d be caught making out in the front seat like teenagers. I let her, but only after she agreed to let me pick her up again after she was done.
I spent the rest of the day with a goofy grin on my face. No one said anything about it except Deuce, of course, who would never miss an opportunity to razz me. I shut him up real quick when I asked if he had poked his baby in the head yet when he had sex. I couldn’t help myself. I knew he was gonna be running home to scour through that damn baby book to make sure he wasn’t going to inflict any brain damage on the kid.
As I hit the road to head back north to Addison’s house, I couldn’t help but realize how full circle it had all come for me. I had grown up in that town. One of my best friends lived there. And now, the woman I loved lived there with her son, whom I also loved. Never in my life did I expect to fall in love with something or someone more than I was in love with football. But here I was, goofy grin still hanging on. And for the first time ever, I could honestly say I had never been happier.
9 months later
It was the first game of the season and we were pumped. The rookies were finally starting to gel with the veterans on the team and I knew we had a fighting chance at making the Super Bowl this year.
Of course, I said that every year and it hadn’t happened yet. So what did I know?
“I know you’re tired, baby,” Deuce said gently into the phone. “I won’t screw around after the game is over. I’ll come straight home, I promise.”
Deuce had calmed down a lot since little Michael Johnson the Third had been born a few months ago. The baby was cute, but apparently he was colicky so neither Deuce nor Vanessa were getting much sleep. I had no idea what all that entailed, but I knew it wasn’t good so I tried not to poke fun at him too much about his sad lack of a sex life.
As I suited up, my phone beeped. I picked it up and checked the text.
Addison: We’re here and wearing your jersey. Have a great game. We love you!
She ended the text with a selfie of her and Jax in their seats wearing my number. Damn, I loved that woman.
“Well, look who’s still hanging out in Dallas, being his big bad self.” I turned around to find my favorite reporter, Catherine Hernandez, standing across the room with her hands on her hips.
“Hey!” I said, walking over to give her a hug. “What are you doing in a nasty-ass football locker room? Aren’t you supposed to be hobnobbing with all those pussies you call football players in San Diego?”
She smiled. “Yeah, but I was sent here to cover a story about a drug ring that has a connection in both our cities. So the bosses had me stop by and get some footage while I’m here. Anyway, how the hell are you?”
“I’m great,” I said with a smile, lacing up my cleats and grabbing my gloves. “I really can’t complain.”
“Not even about Gill?” she chided.
I groaned. “Don’t remind me. She’s like a boil on my ass and she just won’t go away.”
Catherine laughed. “Yeah, I’m not sad about leaving that one behind.” She looked over at Deuce who was still on the phone. “What’s the matter with him? He’s not as . . . hyper as he used to be.”
“He became a daddy to a baby with colic,” I said, patting him on the shoulder. He flipped me the bird, not even bothering to turn around in the process. I just laughed.
“That explains it. How about you, Hart?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. “I hear you’ve gotten pretty serious about some woman since I’ve been gone.”