Maybe this weekend at my parents will help her drop her guard and let me in. Because if I have any hope of the three of us becoming a family then we can’t have any skeletons in our closets.
* * *
The moment the plane touches the ground, a settled feeling wraps around me. It’s been too long since I’ve been home.
“She slept like a champ,” Aria says, bouncing Rose on her shoulder as we disembark the plane. We took a private jet and since we are the only three passengers there isn’t any fanfare. Thank God. I promised Aria a low-key, chill weekend, and that is what she’s going to get.
“You slept pretty hard too,” I tease.
“Guess I needed my beauty sleep,” Aria says with a smile.
“Hardly.” I take her hand as we reach Ellis who’s waiting on the landing strip. He’s grinning as we reach him and I wrap my arms around my little brother, giving him a warm hug.
“You made it,” he says, clapping my back, then smiling at Aria and Rose he says, “Glad I finally get to meet this insta-family of yours.”
“Ellis,” I say, a warning in my voice.
“It’s okay,” Aria says, her own smile not faltering. “I get that you and your parents must be worried about Tatum. This whole thing has been like a crazy Jerry Springer episode. And once the media finds out the truth about Rose, it’ll become even more of a circus.”
“So, you came to Michigan for sanctuary?” Ellis asks, one brow raised, studying her. But I already sense his guard dropping. Aria has that effect on people.
She shrugs, shifting Rose in her arms. “And to taste your mom’s homemade strawberry rhubarb pie. Tatum hasn’t stopped raving about it.”
“You’re in for a treat,” Ellis grabs our luggage. “Since she found out you were coming, she’s been on a baking frenzy.”
As we start to walk towards the SUV that’s waiting for us, Aria glances up at me a hint of worry in her eyes.
I place a protective arm around the woman I’ve fallen hard for. “Everything’s fine,” I tell her, kissing the top of her head.
My brother may be a bit of a hardass, but my parents are two of the most accepting people I know. And when we walk through the door of their house, both Aria and Rose are pulled into warm hugs.
My mom might be worried about me, but she knows me well enough to know that me bringing Aria here is significant. I’ve never brought a girl I’ve dated home -- ever.
“Oh, let me look at this precious girl,” my mom coos at Rose, who snuggles into her arms like she knows instinctively that she belongs here.
It feels good to be back home, and my parents welcome Aria and Rose with open arms -- just like I hoped. It isn’t long before we are all seated around the table, trays of hot lasagna on the table, Rose tucked in my mother’s arm.
Dad pours Aria a glass of wine, handing it to her with a smile. “I’d like to make a toast.”
“Dad,” I say, warning. Not wanting a show.
“No, Tatum, let me do this. I know you two have had a hell of a few months, and your mom and I want you to know we’re always here for you. And are so proud of you -- on and off the field. To family,” he says, and we all lift our glasses.
I admit, his words are ones I needed to hear. In LA, my worth is because of my football skills, but home, my value isn’t measured that way. Never has been.
“So, what is it like, having a newborn?” Mom asks, passing around a basket of garlic bread.
Aria laughs softly. “It’s sleepless nights and never-ending diapers like everyone says. But honestly…? It’s pretty amazing.” She squeezes my hand. “Tatum is a papa bear with Rose. He’s so protective in the most precious way.”
“It helps to be it in together,” I say, meeting Aria’s eyes. My love for her is stronger now than it’s ever been. I know our world has capsized, but sitting here right now, it’s only calm waters.
“Man, you guys are pretty sappy,” Ellis laughs in a good-natured way. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were an old married couple.”
“Ellis,” Mom says, clucking her tongue.
“Sorry,” he says, lifting his hands. “I don’t mean any harm with. It’s just that you’re pretty fucking cute together.”
“Language!” Dad shakes his head laughing. “But I agree. I haven’t seen Tatum this happy since he was in high school.”
“Playing on the high school football team?” Aria asks.
Mom, Dad, and Ellis all shake their heads. “No. When he was the student body president,” Dad says. “Ran his campaign with the platform of getting more scholarships for underprivileged students.”
“School president?” Aria looks at me confused, eyes crinkling, trying to understand. “I didn’t know you had a passion for politics.”
I shrug. “Not politics. I liked the idea of helping people. Of making sure everyone had an equal shot.”
Aria smiles. “And did you?”
“Did I what?”
“Get the scholarship money raised?”
My family chuckles. “This is Tatum we’re talking about,” Mom says, patting Rose’s back as she drifts off to sleep in her arms. “If he says he’s gonna do something, he does it. Part of the reason he got a full ride to Princeton.”
“And here I thought it was all about his skills on the field,” she laughs, shaking her head at me in surprise. “Any other secrets your family should tell me about?”
“Oh, don’t worry, we’ll show you the family photos before you guys head home,” Ellis laughs.
We finish dinner, my parents catching me up on my cousins. They want to know how Spencer and Charlotte are doing, and they have lots of questions for Aria about her dance studio.
“Oh, I can just imagine this little one in a little pink tutu,” Mom says, kissing Rose’s head.
Dad begins clearing the table. “Careful, Aria, I bet Shelly’s already dreaming of sewing all the costumes for your next recital.”
After the dishes, my parents shoo us outside telling us they are putting Rose to bed. “Go show her the lake. The dock house is all finished,” Mom says.
I take Aria’s hand already having planned to take her down there. We came here to get away from the stress of life and I plan to help my girlfriend relax. No one deserves it more than her.
Chapter Thirty
Aria
The lake is still, the sky is dark, and the brisk fall night has me shivering. Tatum wraps his arms around me as if on cue and I settle against his solid chest.
“So, you are civic-minded as well as being a star athlete,” I say looking up at this man who has somehow become my saving grace. “Is there anything you can’t do?”
He kisses my forehead, and I nestle closer to him savoring the fresh pine scent of his clothes. “I’m not perfect, Aria. I didn’t bring you here to make you think I’m some All-American hero.”
“Which is exactly why you are. Tatum, you have every reason to be this macho asshole but you’re the most humble man I’ve ever met.”
He tucks a strand of hair behind my ears. “I think you’ve been running in the wrong circles is all.”
“Stop it,” I say, taking his face in my hands. His eyes are as green as the trees surrounding this majestic lake and able to soothe me in any storm. “I know you’re a nice guy, but you’re so much more than that Tatum Madden. Don’t downplay the man you are.”
“Fine, but that means you can’t put down the woman you are. The mother you are.”
“I’m not a mom. I’m a substitute.”
“Don’t say that,” Tatum says, holding me close. “We’re all Rose has in the world and that counts for more than a substitute.”
“I wish she was ours,” I say, the words falling from my mouth before I can catch them. “Not that I’m saying you and I and Rose are a family or like you owe us anything or--”
Tatum kisses me, shutting me up and I’m glad. My words are nonsense, but his kisses are sure. True. He knows what he’s doing. There is no doubt when he kisses
me, just hope. So much hope. In us, our future, in what we could be someday.
I feel it and when he lifts me from the dock, my legs wrap around his solid frame and he carries me into the dock house; a small room where people can change before swimming, deflated innertube and towels are piled in a corner and a couch practically begging us to come closer.
We do. In Tatum’s lap, I fall into place. His mouth on my mouth, our tongues entwined. Our lives up in the air, but our need for one another an indisputable thing. This is real. Tatum and me. Ashley can’t take away what we’ve found.
It’s not hers to have. It’s mine.
All my life, my world has revolved around her choices, her whims, her demands. But not this time. Not anymore.
My life is mine when I am in Tatum’s arms. When peeling our clothes off in a frenzy as his big cock enters my naked body, I know my heart is his for the taking.
He knows it, as I do. His palms press against my back, drawing me close and I lean in even deeper into the love he so freely gives me. My body welcomes the love and the man. This man who has claimed me as his own. Not in a controlling way but in a freeing way. With Tatum, my safeguards can fall away and the walls can crumble. There is no need to hold back because with Tatum, I’m not scared of the crash that might come. In his arms, I know he will catch me.
Our bodies are hot, sweaty while clinging to one another. With his cock buried deep inside of me and my core on fire, we finish, our hearts pounding as one.
I wrap my arms around him, not wanting to let go. But he reaches over for his jeans and I look over, to see what he’s after.
“I have something for you,” he says. “A gift.”
“For what?”
“Don’t do that.”
“What?” I ask.
“You deserve the world. But this is already yours,” he says.
He opens his hand, revealing a ring. My ring.
Tears spring to my eyes. “How did you find this?” I pawned it ages ago for the cash I so desperately needed. The ring my Grandma Ryan gave me right before she’d passed. The smooth green cabochon marble as smooth as ever, and I slip it on my finger, the fit just the same as always.
“I know it meant a lot to you. And I hated the idea of you parting with it.”
“Oh, Tatum,” I wrap my arms around him, unable to stop the tears from falling down my cheeks. “I never thought I’d meet a man like you. I didn’t believe it was possible.”
He cradles me in his arms; I fit against him so perfectly and I kiss him again, and again and again. I kiss him praying that this is my forever. Praying that history doesn’t repeat itself and that I am finally free of my past. That for once I can just be me.
* * *
Being with Tatum’s family makes me realize one thing -- this man really is too good to be true. And I get why he is the way he is. Nathan and Shelly are salt of the earth people. People who have Sunday meals together and sit around the family room laughing and telling stories. And after a few days allowing Shelly to pamper me with home cooked meals, and afternoons alone with Tatum as she watched Rose, a part of me doesn’t want to leave.
And I find myself teary-eyed when we pack our luggage back into Ellis’ SUV and say our goodbyes.
“You come back soon,” Shelly tells me, cupping my face and giving me a dimpled smile that is so much like Tatum’s. “But don’t worry. We’ll be out to visit soon enough.”
Even Ellis pulls me into a hug before we board the plane. “Don’t you go breaking my brother’s heart, now,” he says so that only I can hear.
“I don’t plan on it.”
Ellis gives a hard nod, and I can see him holding back from saying more.
“I won’t hurt him,” I say. “I love him.”
Ellis’ lips twitch up and his gaze softens. “Yeah, I can see that.” He sighs and glances over at his brother who is too consumed by Rose at the moment to notice anything else. “I know you won’t intentionally hurt him, but...” He sighs and looks back at me. “As you said, once the media finds out the truth about Rose, it’s going to turn into a circus. I just hope you’re both prepared.”
His words run in a loop in my mind as we board the small plane. Because I know he’s right. As difficult as things have been, I know our battle is only just beginning.
Chapter Thirty-One
Tatum
Life is good. That’s my main thought when I smile down at Aria who’s fast asleep in my bed, her blonde hair tousled, a hint of pink on her cheeks from the hike we took yesterday.
She stretches her graceful limbs, her lashes fluttering open, and a smile tugs at her gorgeous mouth. “Good morning.”
I lean down and kiss her. “Actually, it’s almost afternoon. I let you sleep in. Considering the night we had, I thought you deserved it.”
Rose was up half the night, unable to settle. After Google searches and a late-night call to her pediatrician, we were pretty much told to get used to it, because she’s most likely just teething.
“Thank you.” Aria sits up, rubbing her eyes. “But you must be exhausted.”
I shrug. “I’m good. Actually, I already have Rose buckled into the stroller. I’m meeting Drew at the park in a little bit.”
“Everything is good between you two, now?” She follows me at of the bedroom, leaning over Rose, who kicks her feet and gurgles in the stroller like she hadn’t been up all night screaming bloody murder.
“Yeah,” I tell her. Not mentioning that the man had been more on edge than I’d seen him in a long time when I’d met him and Knox for lunch.
He’d been twitchy. Frazzled. Almost paranoid. And it made me wonder if the excessive lifestyle he’s been carrying on with hasn’t started to catch up with him.
Part of me knows he deserves whatever shit is coming his way, but he’s not just a team member, he’s been a good friend over the years. And while I could blame him for setting me up with Ashley, if he hadn’t, I’d never have met Aria.
“I should probably go to the studio today,” Aria says with a small grimace. “I’ve been putting too much work on Cleo.”
I hear the stress in her voice, and I know that she’s been struggling not only with the loss of students after the video of Ashley went viral, but also just leaving the apartment, knowing that the paparazzi are always lurking in the shadows.
“Everything is going to be fine,” I tell her. I’ve made sure of it. She’ll find out soon enough that I paid off the remaining debt Ashley incurred in her name. “I won’t let you lose your school.”
She sighs, wrapping her arms around my neck. “If I don’t have any students, then--”
I kiss her softly, wishing I could ease all her worries. The video was taken down hours after I had Spencer Beckett on it, but it had been up long enough to do more damage to Aria’s reputation.
“Do you trust me?” I ask her, pulling back and searching her eyes. I’ve only told her half of what I’ve been doing, not wanting to stress her out anymore than she already is. But I have multiple people looking not only into Ashley but also the fucker who put the video up.
“Yes,” she says softly, even though I see a small flicker of something before she looks away.
I wish she’d open up more. Especially about her past. I know someone hurt her, but she’s still not ready to share that with me. Although the deeper I dig, the more suspicion I have about who the asshole was. And if I’m right, I’m going to take the mother fucker down, one way or another.
My only concern right now is protecting my girls. And I will keep them safe, no matter the cost.
As I push the stroller down the sidewalk towards the park, I take the long route, walking past the house that Aria and I went through a couple of weeks ago. It’s still for sale. And I let myself dream about a life that includes living there.
A life that I want more than anything. More than football. More than another ten million dollars a year contract. I can see myself settling down. Maybe even retiring. I’m practically humming with
the thought of it as I reach the park.
Drew isn’t here yet, so I pull out my phone and call the real estate agent, glancing at Rose who’s fast asleep now. I tell Martha that I’m interested in the house, a million plans formulating. Plans that include putting a ring on Aria’s finger, and hopefully a baby in her belly.
Life is good.
Really fucking good. And I have every confidence that whatever life throws at us, Aria and I will beat the storm together. I’ve allowed myself to think about the worst possible scenario. Ashley coming back, trying to get custody of Rose. And I’ve already got my lawyers working on a way to make sure she stays with us. Even if the media finds out we’re not Rose’s parents, we will deal with it together.
I lean my head back, closing my eyes briefly and letting the California sun beat down on me. It’s going to be a hot one today, and already moms with their toddlers fill the park, their bubbling laughter floating around me as the splash pads fountains spray bursts of water.
Drew walks towards me, frowning, muscles tight and shoulders slumped. “Thanks for coming.”
“I thought you were bringing your kids.”
His nostrils flare and he looks away. “Jessica took them to her parents’ house.”
“Everything all right?” I ask him.
I can’t read his expression, but I know he’s spiraling.
He rubs the back of his neck. “I can’t lose her, man. I know I’ve done a lot of shitty things. Really fucked up things. But she’s the best thing I have. Her and the kids. And...” The muscles in his jaw twitches. “Coach has already given a warning. After this season, I don’t know if I’m going to get re-signed, not with...” His nostrils flare. “I just need this fixed. You get that, right?”
“What can I do?”
Game Day Baby Page 14
