The Game Changer: A Novel

by Sterling, J.

  When I opened the front door, a familiar smell hit me, and I struggled to place it. “What are you cooking?” I shouted into the apartment with a smile.

  Jack peered around the kitchen wall at me. “You won’t believe what I got Gran to do,” he said with a laugh.

  “That’s where I know that smell from! That’s Gran’s sauce!” I raced into the kitchen, reaching for a spoon before dipping it into the saucepan on the stove. I blew on it lightly before tasting it. “Oh my God. So good. Did you make it?”

  Jack wrapped his arms around my waist. “I had her freeze some sauce and then overnight it to us. She’s been freaking out the whole time.”

  “That is awesome.” I dipped my spoon in again and Jack swatted my hand.

  “Get outta there. Wait for dinner.”

  I turned to eye him. “What are you up to, mister?”

  “Nothing.” He let out a breath. “Can’t a guy just cook dinner for his girlfriend?”

  “Sure.” I nodded. “Can I do anything?” I glanced around, noticing a vase of red roses on the table.

  “Nope.” He smiled and kissed me on the cheek.

  Jack

  I wanted to do this right. That’s why I reached out to her father and asked for his blessing days ago.

  I knew I didn’t have to do that. Cassie would have insisted it wasn’t necessary, but Gran would probably have me killed if she found out I hadn’t. I figured it was the right thing to do, which should have pointed me in the opposite direction given my past, but I followed my gut anyway.

  The phone rang as my heart thumped in my ears. “Hello,” a soft voice answered.

  “Mrs. Andrews?”

  “Yes.”

  “Hi, it’s Jack Carter. I was wondering if your husband was home, and if I could speak to him,” I asked as politely as I could.

  “Oh hi, Jack. Is everything OK? Is Cassie alright?” she asked nervously.

  “Cassie’s fine. Everything is OK.”

  “Oh, OK. That’s good to hear. Hold on a second and I’ll grab her father.”

  “Thank you,” I exhaled, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible.

  The phone clanked on the other end and a male throat cleared. “Hello? Jack?”

  “Hi, Mr. Andrews. How are you, sir?” I hated being respectful when he’d let Cassie down so many times over the years.

  “I can’t complain. What can I do for you?”

  “Well, sir,” I stalled, clearing my throat before continuing. “First of all, I want you to know how much I love your daughter. She’s the most amazing person I’ve ever met in my life.”

  “Uh-huh,” he said.

  I knew I was supposed to ask for permission to marry his daughter, but I didn’t want it. And I knew damn well I wouldn’t need it. He couldn’t stop me from marrying her if he tried. So I worded it a different way. “I just wanted you to know that I plan on asking her to marry me, and I wanted to ask for your blessing.”

  “Do you think she’ll say yes?”

  What the hell kind of question was that? I gripped my hair with my free hand. “Yes sir, I do.”

  “Well, alright then!” he said happily into the receiver. “You have my blessing.”

  “Thank you.” I smiled, and hearing shouting in the background I asked, “May I speak to your wife again quickly?”

  “Oh sure, sure. Congrats! And let us know what we can do. We’ll pay for anything you need and handle anything you kids want.”

  I hesitated before realizing that he’d never follow through on those offers. Cassie was right about how easy it was to get sucked in by his charisma and enthusiasm.

  “Jack? Tell me you asked him what I think you asked him!”

  I laughed into the phone. “I did.”

  She squealed with delight. “When are you asking her?”

  “I’m not sure, so please don’t say anything to her if you two talk.”

  “I won’t say a word. We’ll wait for her to call us with the big news!”

  I exhaled with relief. “Great, thanks. I’ll talk to you later, OK?”

  “Alright, Jack. And hey.” She paused before continuing in a hushed tone. “Thank you for calling. I know you didn’t have to, but it was nice that you did.”

  I smiled to myself, finally convinced that I’d actually done the right thing for once.

  Nerves rarely raced through my body, but they were having a field day as I waited to pop the question. I loved this girl more than anything in the world and we’d been through a lot.

  I longed to make this girl my wife, and I hated sitting here at dinner, waiting to ask. Why couldn’t I just ask her now, while her mouth was filled with pasta? Should I get down on one knee? I wondered if she sensed what was coming. I’d never cooked dinner for her before and here I just went all Gourmet Chef on her ass.

  What if she says no?

  She won’t say no.

  Fuck.

  She’d better not say no.

  Cassie

  After dinner, Jack carried all the dishes into the kitchen and loaded them into the washer. He refused to let me help at all. I stared out the window at the skyline. I really did love living in New York.

  Suddenly, Jack was kneeling next to my chair. As he placed my hand in his and started speaking, my heart began to race. “I don’t know any other couple who has been to hell and back more than the two of us. I feel like everything we’ve been through has only made us stronger. We’ve had to learn to work together. To be a team. To support each other and stand by each other.”

  I started to shake. Nervous energy consumed me, and I could barely hear half the words he said. My brain started to spin, and I couldn’t concentrate on anything other than the fact that Jack was kneeling next to me.

  Jack

  Her eyes glazed over, and knowing Cass the way I do, I wasn’t sure she could even hear me anymore, but I kept talking. “I promise to stand by you, to hold you up when you’re about to fall, and to always keep you safe. I never believed there was a girl out there for me. Until I met you. You changed everything. And I never want to live without you. I love you more than I ever thought possible.”

  I closed my eyes before taking a deep breath. All my confidence wavered in this moment as I realized Cassie held my future in the palm of her hands.

  “Kitten. Be my wife. Marry me.” I opened the black velvet Tiffany’s ring box.

  Cassie

  Seeing the diamond inside caused me to gasp. It sparkled and danced in the light. The center diamond was huge and was surrounded by smaller diamonds. It looked too pretty to touch.

  “Kitten?” Jack’s voice cut through my sparkle coma as I realized I hadn’t answered him yet.

  My gaze moved to meet his. “Yes. Of course I’ll marry you. Who the hell else would I marry?” I smiled, still not reaching for the gorgeous ring.

  He grinned and his dimples appeared as he reached inside the box and pulled out the ring. I held out my left hand, and he pushed that gorgeous piece of jewelry into place. My eyes were transfixed on the diamonds lighting up my finger. “It’s huge,” I said breathlessly.

  “You don’t like it? We can take it back.”

  I pulled my hand away from his, clutching it against my chest. “No way. It’s amazing.”

  “We’re going to be very happy.”

  “I already am.”

  Epilogue

  SIXTEEN MONTHS LATER, JANUARY 12

  Jack

  I stood at the end of a makeshift aisle in Gran and Gramps’s lush backyard. It had been transformed into a light-filled wonderland. Every tree, bush, and branch was covered with tiny bright white lights. I waited underneath the large tree where lanterns flickering with candlelight hung from the branches. Oversized Mason jars were lined up in two rows, forming the aisle, and each jar was filled with a few inches of quarters to hold up the white candle burning inside. I glanced at the few round tables decorated all in white and smiled. My eyes grazed past my old teammates from Fullton State, Melis
sa’s parents, Cassie’s parents, Gran, Nora, and, finally, Matteo and Trina, who started dating pretty soon after Trina and Kyle broke up. I found myself smiling at our group of friends and family filling the small space, excited to share our intimate moment with us.

  I loved the fact that Kitten and I shared the same views when it came to today. Thankfully, neither one of us needed a large formal wedding to mark the special occasion. Although in all honesty, I would have given her anything she wanted, we both craved the privacy and security that only our close friends and family could provide. So we opted for a more casual setting and dress code. I looked down at my charcoal gray suit and adjusted my black tie.

  Where the hell is Dean?

  I smiled at Gran, who was already holding a tissue to her eyes, as I stepped away from the altar. She dropped her hand and asked, “Jack? Where are you going?”

  “I’m going to find Dean.”

  I stormed into the house, trying not to accidentally see Cassie while I looked for my brother, who just happened to disappear minutes before I was supposed to get married. I peered into the empty kitchen. Glancing in the front yard and the living room and finding them empty, I made my way back toward our bedrooms.

  Both of our bedroom doors were closed. I knew Cassie was in my room, so I knocked on Dean’s before turning the handle. I didn’t wait for a response before I opened the door and barged inside.

  “Shit. Really?” I eyed my brother, lying on top of a partially clothed Melissa, his tongue down her throat and his hands who knows where.

  “Get out, Jack. Jesus,” Dean shouted, covering Melissa’s body protectively.

  “Do you think you two could figure your shit out after the vows? I’d like to get married sometime today,” I shouted, my patience wavering.

  I slammed the door and knocked on the door to my old bedroom. “Kitten?”

  “Don’t come in here, Jack!” she yelled, and I laughed.

  “I’m not. I just wanted to say I can’t wait to see you. Make sure those two actually leave the bedroom, please. Tell them they can fuck after the vows.”

  “Oh my God,” she called out through the door. “Is that where Melissa is? I’ve been waiting for her to come back for like half an hour!”

  “Well you’re going to be waiting forever if you don’t go drag her out of there. I’ll see you soon,” I said, leaning my cheek against the door.

  With another hasty knock on Dean’s door, I yelled, “Today little brother! Let’s go!” Since he obviously couldn’t be trusted alone with Melissa, I waited for him to come out of his room before I walked back outside. I nudged him as we headed down the aisle toward the tree. “Really couldn’t wait until later?” I whispered.

  “You kidding me? With her, later might mean never. I gotta take what I can get.”

  I shook my head. “I do not envy you, brother.”

  “Yeah?” He gave me a look. “Well, I sure as shit envy you.”

  “You should,” I told him and I meant it.

  If I weren’t me, I’d envy me. I shifted my weight between my legs as I waited for the best day of my life to begin. People always talk about being nervous on their wedding day, but I wasn’t. If any emotion surged through my body, it was excitement. I couldn’t wait to make this girl my wife and spend the rest of my life making her smile.

  The processional music started and everyone rose to their feet. I stared at the back door as if my life depended on it. Melissa walked out first, a huge smile on her face. I noticed that she locked eyes with Dean and never stopped looking at him her entire walk down the aisle. She wasn’t fooling anyone.

  All my thoughts disappeared, my mind going blank, the moment I saw Cass in the shadows. When she stepped out of the darkness and into the backyard, my heart jumped from my chest and flew into her hands. She looked so fucking beautiful walking toward me in that strapless white dress. I grinned like an idiot. I know because my cheeks burned, and I couldn’t stop the feeling if I tried. Not that I wanted to try.

  Her hair was pulled back, revealing her delicate neckline, and my mind raced with dirty thoughts. All the blood rushed from my body and into one place the second I started thinking about all the things I wanted to do to her. Shit, I couldn’t get married with a fucking hard-on. Think about something else; think about anything else. Think about baseball.

  Fuck.

  When she finally arrived at my side, I reached for her hand, caressing it with my thumb as she gave me a subtle squeeze. “You look beautiful,” I whispered as I leaned toward her.

  “You look hot,” she whispered and gave me a little wink.

  Gramps cleared his throat, and I glanced up at him. He stood before us with a businesslike expression on his face. After he’d gotten ordained online with Dean’s help, Gran told me he took his role in the wedding very seriously. “I have the most important job of all. I have to get it right!” She told me, he said.

  Gramps swallowed once before asking, “Shall we begin?” He started reading the first few lines of the ceremony, and I struggled to keep my impatience in check.

  I was standing before my family and friends, marrying the only person in the world I’ve ever wanted to marry. There would be no annulling this marriage. No end to this beginning. No trade for this team.

  People spend their lives searching for their one true love, their other half. I found mine in college, dancing in a fraternity house driveway. Lucky for me, she found me right back.

  I can’t wait until she’s knocked up.

  Thank You

  This will be short and sweet because the truth of the matter is this book was never supposed to exist in the first place. And it’s only because of the fierce love that you, my dear readers, felt for Jack F’n Carter, and Cassie, that it does. You wanted! Demanded! Insisted! I write more to their story… and here we are. I truly hope you enjoyed it. I appreciate you all so much, and I always want to do right by you. Thank you for supporting me, believing in me, encouraging me, challenging me, and being the best readers a girl could ask for. Don’t know what I’d do without you! : )

  Thank you to my team: Pam Berehulke, Jane Dystel, Michelle Warren, Carmen Johnson, and Rebecca Friedman. Editing, agenting, and designing wouldn’t be the same without any of you.

  And to all my family and friends: Life has a funny way of showing you who has your back and who doesn’t. Thanks for always having mine.

  About the Author

  Jenn Sterling is a Southern California native who grew up watching Dodger baseball and playing softball. She has her bachelor’s degree in Radio/TV/Film and has worked in the entertainment industry the majority of her life. She loves hearing from her readers and can be found online at:

  Blog & Website: http://www.j-sterling.com

  Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/RealJSterling

  Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheRealJSterling

  The Mighty Storm and Jake Wethers are copyrights of Samantha Towle. To learn more about Jake and TMS, get a copy of The Mighty Storm on Amazon.