The Game Changer : Indianapolis Eagles Series Book 8

by Samantha Lind

  I smirk at John before turning my attention back to Nancy. “Nothing super exciting. I was born and raised in Indianapolis. My parents have been married for thirty years, and still live in the same house that I grew up in. After I came home from college, I opened my own business up and it has done really well since day one. That has kept me busy the past couple of years and held most of my attention.”

  “That’s great. Having the drive and passion to do what you love is not something many people possess. What do your parents do?” she asks.

  “My dad’s a pharmacist and Mom’s a housewife, for the most part. She worked a few office jobs here and there to get herself out of the house once I was older. She now volunteers her time with one of our local nursing homes.”

  “That’s wonderful,” she replies. We fall into a comfortable conversation, just getting to know one another for the next hour or so. She tells me many stories from John’s childhood that he hasn’t shared with me yet, mainly because they are the embarrassing ones that mothers love to tell about their kids.

  “All right, enough stories about me, Mom,” John finally interjects. “Let’s head out. Cindi has texted me three times already asking when we’d be over.”

  “I’ve waited thirty-five years to have you bring a girl home to me, you can just hush and let me have my moment,” Nancy tells him.

  “Okay, Mom,” he says, rolling his eyes, which causes me to break out into a fit of giggles. “Hush, you,” he says, squeezing my side as we stand from the couch.

  I pull him down toward me. “I love you,” I whisper against his lips before ours lock for a sweet kiss.

  He wraps me in his arms, taking my innocent kiss a little deeper until we hear a throat clearing. I can feel my face heating with the blush that I know is covering it after being caught by his mom kissing in her living room. John rests his forehead against mine, his eyes boring into mine. “I love you, too,” he whispers, only for me to hear.

  “Let’s go, you two love birds,” Nancy says, and John and I pull completely apart. He slides his hand into mine, linking our fingers as we follow his mom out of her condo and into the hallway.

  “Ms. Jill!” Mason calls as he comes running out of Cindi and Stephanie’s house. “You’re here!” he yells as he launches himself into my arms.

  “What about me, little man?” John pouts next to me as everyone laughs at the situation. Who would have thought John’s nephew would come running to me before him?

  “Hi, Uncle John,” Mason says to him from my arms. “Hi, Grandma.”

  “What am I, chopped liver?” John asks him.

  Mason looks at him with a quizzical look plastered on his face. “What’s liver?” Mason asks.

  “A yucky meal that some people like,” I tell him. “But what Uncle John just said is just a saying. Because you came to me and not him, he’s feeling left out, maybe you should go give him a hug,” I suggest to Mason. He squirms in my arms, attempting to get down, so I help him do so. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he launches himself at John. His head lands directly in John’s crotch, causing him to double over in pain.

  “Fu-fudge,” John wheezes.

  “What’s wrong?” Mason asks, not sure what is going on.

  “You’ve got to be careful with that head of yours, buddy. You just head butted me in the privates,” John grits out.

  “I’s sorry,” Mason tells him, a worried look on his little face.

  “It’s okay, buddy, just no more launching yourself at me, okay?”

  “Okay,” he agrees with him.

  “Well, now that that’s over, how about we all go inside. Can I get anyone anything to drink?” Cindi asks as she holds the door open for all of us to pass through.

  “I’ll take something, thank you,” I tell her. I follow John as he makes his way further into the house.

  “I’ve got water, lemonade, some pop, and I’m sure I could rummage up some wine.”

  “Lemonade will be great,” I tell her.

  “Sounds good, what about you, John?” she asks her brother.

  “I’m good for now, thanks.”

  I follow Cindi into the kitchen, waiting as she hands me a glass filled with ice cold lemonade.

  “How was your morning?” Cindi asks as she puts the pitcher back into the fridge.

  “Good, kinda lazy, and then we’ve just been at your mom’s for the last few hours.”

  “Did she pull out the photo albums?” Cindi asks, taking a seat on one of the stools tucked under the counter.

  “She did, I think it drove your brother nuts, but he also took it like a good sport.”

  “She told me she was going to do that, and I’d told her that you would probably love it.”

  “I did. It was fun to see him as he grew up.”

  “How did it go with him meeting your parents last weekend?” she asks.

  “Perfectly fine. John had offered to take everyone out for a nice meal, but my mom insisted on cooking for us, so we went over to their house. My dad and John went out onto the deck to chat for a little bit, man to man. He still hasn’t told me everything they discussed during that time, but he said that it was a good talk and that I didn’t have anything to worry about.”

  “I’m sure he held his own if your dad was giving the standard fatherly talk to the boy his daughter brought home to meet the parents.”

  “I can only hope, but it couldn’t have been too bad since they exchanged numbers and planned to have lunch together sometime soon. Enough about me, how are you feeling this week?”

  “Good, had an appointment this week and the babies are right on target.”

  “That’s great! Have you started to feel them move yet?”

  “Nothing strong, but I think I’ve felt a flutter or two just this week.”

  “That’s so awesome. Are you going to find out their genders?”

  “Absolutely. I need time to plan and shop for necessities. We kept a lot of Mason’s things, but with two, we’ll obviously need to buy some extra things.”

  “Are you going to have a shower or register anywhere?” I ask.

  “Probably not since this isn’t our first. We’ll just start picking things up as we go.”

  “You should at least put together a small registry so people who want to buy you something can get what you actually need or want,” I suggest, knowing that I’d like to send a gift and I’m sure John would want to, as well.

  “We’ll see. Sometimes the stores will give you a coupon you can use on anything you buy yourself off the registry, so it might be worth creating one just for that discount.”

  “There you go,” I say, laughing at the idea.

  “What has the two of you giggling in here?” John asks as he joins Cindi and I in the kitchen.

  “Just about shopping for baby things.”

  “Ah,” he says, like that’s all he needed to hear to know this isn’t a conversation for him. “On that note, I’ll let the two of you talk your little hearts out. I’ll be outside with Mason and Mom,” he tells us.

  “Sounds good, have Mason show you how good he is on his bike. He’s pretty good with going around the block, just make sure he stays on the sidewalk.”

  “Will do,” John agrees and then disappears out of the kitchen.

  “Are you ready for this?” John asks, the excitement he’s feeling practically vibrating from his body.

  “I guess so,” I tell him. I’m afraid of heights, so the thought of going up the elevator to the observation deck in the Arch scares the bejesus out of me.

  He squeezes my hand. “I’ve got you, babe,” he says, leaning down to kiss my cheek.

  “You’d better,” I tell him as we approach the ticket booth.

  “Two for the top, please,” he says to the booth attendant as he slides some cash through the little slot. The young man prints off our tickets, passing them to us through the slot along with Johnathan’s change. He grabs the tickets and we make our way over to the elevator doors where we’re
greeted by an employee.

  “Tickets, please,” she says and John hands them over. “Once to the top, please take your time looking around. The last elevator down is in about ninety minutes, so you’ve got some time to explore and see the sun set,” the employee tells us as she rips our tickets, handing one half back to John. We step onto the elevator just as my palms start to sweat.

  “You okay?” he asks as we start to move. I can feel my anxiety starting to kick in. I don’t really like small places and I don’t like heights, so the two together are really throwing me for a loop. “Just breathe, babe,” he says, and I suck in a breath. He turns so he’s facing me and cups my cheeks in his hands, pulling my face up to look at him. I follow his breathing pattern, and can feel my body start to let go of some of the tension that it was holding on to. “We’re almost to the top,” he tells me then brushes his lips on mine.

  The bell dings, alerting us that we’ve reached the top just before the doors slide open. We walk out and I’m surprised at how okay I am up here. I look out over the city and am just amazed at the beauty before me. We find an area that isn’t packed with people. I stand against the railing and look out the small window in front of me. John boxes me in from behind, his arms coming around me as he rests his chin on my shoulder.

  “It’s so beautiful,” I tell him as we watch the sun start to slowly make its descent as it sets.

  “It is,” he agrees.

  “How many times have you come here before?” I ask.

  “Only a couple of times. Once in probably fifth grade, I think. It’s a staple field trip, or at least it was when I was a kid. I guess I don’t really know if they still do it. I came back again once as an adult on one of my visits back home because my mom wanted to come see it as she’d never been.”

  We stand in silence as we watch the sun set, it really is an experience to watch it from up here. The sky is filled with so many different shades, from pinks and oranges to some purples and blues in the distance. We couldn’t have picked a better night to come here. I’m just glad I didn’t chicken out and got on the elevator to come up.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Johnathan

  I roll over in bed, my hand finding cold sheets instead of the warm body that I’ve grown used to finding next to me, and that’s when I remember that Jill stayed at her place last night. She wasn’t feeling all that great, blamed it on cramps and said she just wanted to sleep after work, plus she had an early morning vet visit for Walter. I didn’t fight it, figuring that it wasn’t a bad thing that we have a little time away from one another. It feels like besides her going to work, we’ve been inseparable since we decided to give this relationship thing a go.

  I roll back over, my head is pounding, something I haven’t experienced in months. A wave of nausea hits me out of left field, and I stumble my way from bed to the bathroom. I don’t have much in my stomach, so I end up dry heaving. Once I’m able to stand up, even if the room is still spinning on me, I rummage through my bathroom cabinets until I find the prescription bottle for the meds I was given for headaches when I first was diagnosed with the concussion. I toss back the meds with a small glass of water before I shuffle out to the kitchen to pop some bread into the toaster. I put a coffee pod into the Keurig for a quick cup of coffee and I’m hopeful between the meds, a little food, and the coffee that I can kick this headache that has settled in.

  With my toast and coffee on hand, I plop down on the couch, kicking back into a comfortable position. I hear my cell start to ring, but it’s all the way in my bedroom, and I just don’t have the energy right now to get up and get it. I’ll deal with calling whoever back later. It’s probably Jill on her way in to work. I finish off my toast and coffee, feeling a tad bit better with some food in my system. My head is still pounding, so I pull the blanket off the back of the couch, covering myself up and fall back to sleep.

  I startle awake, my surroundings foggy as I realize where I am. I look around, the sun is in the sky, so I must have slept for hours. My head is still at a dull ache, but no longer pounding like it was this morning.

  “JC, open up!” I hear pounding and a muffled voice on the other side of my door. That must be what startled me awake. I push myself up, tossing the blanket aside.

  “I’m coming,” I holler at the door so that whoever’s on the other side will quit pounding on it. Each pound is like a hammer to my head. “What?” I ask, annoyed as I open the door, finding Beckett and Mark Lee on the other side.

  “You look like shit,” Beckett says.

  “This explains why you haven’t been answering your phone,” Mark adds.

  “Are you ok?” Beckett asks as he pushes past me and into my living room.

  “Woke up with a migraine,” I say, closing the door behind them.

  “Where is your phone?” Mark asks.

  “I think on the nightstand, why?”

  “Because your girlfriend is freaking out. She’s been trying to reach you all day and you haven’t answered any calls or texts from anyone.”

  “Shit,” I say, heading for the bedroom. I snag my phone from the nightstand where it is still plugged in and, sure enough, I’ve got a dozen or so missed calls from Jill, Cindi, Mark, and Beckett, along with a string of messed texts, as well. I unlock my phone, hitting Jill’s contact to call her first.

  “Are you okay?” she asks as soon as she picks up.

  “Yeah, sorry to scare you. I woke up with a pounding headache, took some meds, and crashed on the couch. I didn’t hear my phone at all and only woke up because Mark and Beckett showed up and were pounding on my door.”

  “I’m sorry,” she says.

  “No, I’m sorry for freaking you out.”

  “I just got so worried when you hadn’t called or texted me back by lunch time, so I texted Julia to see if Beckett had heard from you and she said she’d get him to check on you. Sorry if I overreacted.”

  “It’s all good. How are you feeling?”

  “Eh, okay, things will be better again in a few days.”

  “How was Walter’s appointment?”

  “Oh fine, just his normal checkup.”

  “Are you coming over tonight?” I ask, looking at the clock finally and seeing that it is already almost five thirty.

  “Do you want me to?” she asks.

  “Of course, or I can come to you. I missed having you next to me last night. Waking up to cold sheets on your side of the bed this morning sucked.”

  “I was quite lonely last night; Walter didn’t want to snuggle with me like you do.”

  “Okay, let me kick these guys out of my place, I’ll take a quick shower and then head to your place. Want me to pick up some takeout on my way over?”

  “Sure, how about some fajitas? We could share a double order.”

  “Sure, babe. Anything else?”

  “You know I can’t have fajitas without a big bowl of their guacamole and chips.”

  “I would never forget to order those for you.”

  “Thank you. I should be done here in the next twenty or so minutes, so I’ll see you in the next hour or so.”

  “Sounds good, see you then,” I tell her, as I head back out to the living room. I find Beckett and Mark on my couch watching game highlights from around the league on the NHL Network.

  “Thanks for waking me up, guys, but I’ve got to get going. I’m picking up dinner and heading to Jill’s house.”

  “How’s the head?” Mark asks, looking me over again from his position on the couch.

  “Fine, and I’m sure it will be even better once I get some sustenance in me. The meds took away most of the pounding.”

  “Do you see the doc again anytime soon?”

  “No, unless my symptoms return with a vengeance. Otherwise, the occasional day with migraines and light sensitivity are normal. They just have a habit of hitting me out of nowhere, and like today, the meds tend to knock me out for hours.”

  “Sucks that it happens that way,” Mark states.r />
  “It does.”

  “If you’re feeling up to it, stop by the rink tomorrow. We can introduce you to the new rookie who just showed up the other day. He’s still pretty wet behind the ears. Maybe you can mentor him if you’ve got nothing else going on. He could learn a lot from you.”

  “I’m not babysitting your rookies, Mark. Nice try.” I laugh with my former captain.

  “I didn’t say babysit, I said mentor. Maybe give him some pointers, help him with his game a bit. He’s going to get swallowed up by the bunnies if someone doesn’t help him out.”

  “I can’t really help with that. Isn’t that a right of passage for most new guys?” I ask, thinking back all the years to my rookie season.

  “Not when you’ve got a girlfriend back home.”

  “Well, shit. He’d better learn to keep it in his pants then. What’s this kid’s name?”

  “Dylan Campbell,” Mark says.

  “When did he get here?” I vaguely recognize the kid’s name as he played in the AHL last season and was pretty good from what I remember, but I’ve never actually met him in person that I can recall.

  “Just this week. He should be playing in tomorrow night’s game for the first time, according to Scott.”

  “I’ll think about it,” I finally tell him. “I might stop by anyways. Wanted to talk to Richard about a few things and maybe even your wife,” I say.

  “She should be there, although you might have to call and get on her calendar, she’s been busy with meetings lately.”

  “Thanks for the heads up,” I tell him. I check the clock and fifteen minutes has already passed since I got off the phone with Jill, and here I am still standing around. “All right, guys, I’ve got to hit the showers, I’ll see you later,” I tell them as I do my best to get them to leave.

  “Don’t forget to stop by tomorrow,” Beckett says as they walk out the door. “Everyone would love to see you,” he says, speaking for the team.

  “I won’t,” I assure him before closing the door. I head for the shower, once inside, I let the hot water work on the tension in my muscles. Sleeping for so many hours on the couch wasn’t the greatest for my body, but it is what it is. When I laid down on the couch this morning, I never expected to sleep the day away on it.