by Nikki Ash
She pricks her finger on a needle and passes out—fucking needles! Nothing good comes from those fuckers.
The prince does all the hard work, defeating the evil bitch and winning the battle—I need to convince Olivia to let me do some of the work.
The prince saves the day by kissing the princess, and they live happily-ever-after—I got this shit.
Now, I don’t know anything about the other fairytales, but from what I gathered while watching that one, Olivia wants me to show her I can be her Prince Charming. The problem is, like in football, a quarterback is only as good as his receiver. I can throw perfect passes all day, but if I don’t have someone there to catch the ball, it’s pointless, which is why Olivia and I need to talk. I need to find out if she’s going to be a team player or if I’ll be throwing incomplete passes.
I’m about to head out the door when my phone rings. I see it’s my attorney, Dylan Blake, calling. Dylan is Killian’s brother and a sports attorney. He doesn’t usually do family law, but he’s familiar with it, and he’s the only person I trust to handle this shit with Olivia.
“Hey, Dylan. How’s it going?”
“Good. I just wanted to let you know Ms. Harper responded.” Shit…I completely forgot about the petition I put in for joint custody.
“And…?”
“She countered. She wants legal custody, giving you visitation. You had requested fifty-fifty joint. This would mean sixty-forty with her legally being allowed to make all final decisions.”
“What about the child support?”
“She’s okay with it, but she did make a few revisions. All expenses are split down the middle including health insurance and educational expenses.”
“She’s something else…” I laugh to myself.
“She had to submit her bank information to the courts. Are you aware this woman could probably buy the team you’re playing for?”
I chuckle. I knew she had money, but I didn’t know she had that much. The brownstone she’s living in has to be worth a few million, but I kind of assumed her dad might be helping her out. Apparently I was wrong. “She’s definitely not the helpless princess,” I say more to myself than to my attorney.
“What?”
“Nothing…go ahead and approve her request. I agree to all of the above.”
After practice, I get to Olivia’s place, and she lets me in. “I wasn’t sure if you were still coming over.”
“Why wouldn’t I?” I walk in behind her.
“Well, my attorney called and said you approved the custody agreement. Today is Monday, and your days are Tuesday and Thursday.”
“I leave tomorrow to go to Denver for the Super Bowl.” And then an idea forms. “Why don’t you and little man join me?”
“Umm…I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” A beeping noise comes from the kitchen, and she runs that way, pulling a pan of brownies out of the oven. The house smells like a bakery, and my stomach rumbles.
She places the pan onto a rack of some sort, then goes about cutting up another pan of brownies into small squares and placing them on a plate. I grab one and pop it into my mouth. They’re cool, so they must’ve been sitting there for a little bit. The brownie practically melts in my mouth. “Jesus, woman. That’s some good shit.” I grab one more.
“Thanks! Are you umm…are you taking…” She gulps loudly, looking everywhere but at me. “Are you taking Reed with you today?” She asks this same question every time I come over, and every time I make up some lame excuse as to why I’m just going to chill here.
“Nah…like you said, it’s not my day. I’ll just hang out here if it’s okay with you.” I move closer to her, and she backs up slightly. She has a spatula of brownie batter in her hand, and she nibbles down on the plastic nervously.
She moves the spatula from her mouth, leaving a bit of batter behind. “Yeah…that’s fine. I imagine we’ll have to work around your football schedule.”
I close the distance between us. This is the closest we’ve been since New Year’s Eve when we fell asleep together on the couch—the closest she’s allowed me to be. We’re standing only inches apart, and when I glance down, I can see her nipples are pebbling through her top. She wants me.
“What?” she asks shyly, watching me watch her.
“You have a bit of…” Without finishing my sentence, I lean down to make my move. It’s risky as fuck, but I’m all about the gamble. My hands come down onto the counter, bracketing her in my arms, and I notice she stills, frozen in place. My lips brush against the corner of her mouth, my tongue darting out to swipe the bit of batter. She sucks in a harsh breath, not reacting but not pushing me away either.
Taking it a bit further, my lips move down, and I tug on her bottom lip softly with my teeth, my tongue licking across her flesh. When she doesn’t move, I open my eyes and see she’s staring at me, watching me with wide eyes. I move my lips up and place a gentle kiss on hers. But when my tongue seeks entrance, the trance she’s in is broken.
“Stop, please.” Her voice is breathy—full of want, a complete contradiction to her words. “I’m not a cheater.”
I back up slightly, but my hands stay pressed against the edge of the counter, my arms caging her in. “Are you seeing someone?” Surely, I would’ve seen someone hanging around.
“No, but you’re engaged. You might be okay with cheating, but I’m not, and I imagine your fiancée wouldn’t be okay with it either. As you know, I’ve been cheated on and it sucks, and while it’s true, I don’t exactly like your fiancée, I’m not about to become the other woman.” Whoa…what?
“What are you talking about? Celeste and I broke up weeks ago.” Olivia’s hand comes up to my chest and pushes me back slightly. “Don’t you read the tabloids or go on social media?”
“I’ve been a little busy taking care of our baby. I don’t stalk your social media or look at tabloids. Maybe if I did, I would have found out who you were sooner.” She moves out of my hold and sticks another brownie pan into the oven. “Regardless…I can’t be your rebound.”
She sets the timer to forty-five minutes and makes her way out of the kitchen and down the hall to check on Reed. “Who said anything about being my rebound? In case you’ve forgotten, I was with you before I was with Celeste. Technically, she was the rebound.” I shrug, and Olivia laughs.
“Very funny.” She grabs the baby monitor and walks out onto her terrace, sitting down on the outdoor sofa set and flicking on the electric heater. I sit next to her, and she moves to the corner.
“Look,” I say, my palms going up in a placating manner. “I know what it is you want.”
“Oh really?” She bites her lip to hold back her smile. “Please, Nick, tell me what it is I want.” She bring her legs up to her chest, and her chin rests on her knees.
“You want me to defeat the evil queen and kiss you awake.”
“What?” She throws her head back in a fit of laughter, and fuck if I don’t want to kiss my way down her throat.
“You know? Like in the Disney movies. You’re looking for a Prince Charming, and I can be him.”
Olivia’s expression sobers. “Are you making fun of me?”
What? “What? No, I’m being serious. You don’t want money or materialistic shit. You don’t need me to buy you anything. You’re looking for your magical kiss, and I can be that guy.”
“What do you know about Disney movies?” She eyes me skeptically and an idea strikes. I pull my phone out and scroll through my play list, finding the perfect song. I hit play and turn the volume up.
“Dance with me.” I stand and put my hand out for Olivia to take.
Seventeen
Olivia
All-4-One’s “I can love you like that” plays over the speaker on Nick’s phone. I haven’t heard this song since I was a little girl. The words hit so close to home when it comes to what I have wished for that I have to wonder if it’s a coincidence or if he picked the song out on purpose after telling me he knows I’m
looking for my Prince Charming.
I stare at his proffered hand, and for some reason it feels as though this moment is monumental. Like if I take his hand, I’m agreeing to so much more than just this dance. I’m agreeing to give him a chance at making my happily-ever-after fantasy come true.
He stands in front of me, his face devoid of all emotion as he waits for me to make my decision. He’s allowing me to be in control. There are so many reasons why I shouldn’t do this, why this can end in disaster. Each of them running through my head on repeat. But instead of listening, I push them aside, ignoring them all, and go with my heart. If it doesn’t work out, at least I can say I tried. And if it does—my mind goes to our one night together, to the way he’s been around Reed—there’s a chance it could be amazing.
Taking Nick’s hand, I rise to my feet, and he shows his first sign of emotion—a small smile ghosting upon his lips. Pulling me into his arms, his hands trail down my sides, resting on my lower back. My hands move up his chest, over his shoulders, and circle around his neck.
The music plays in the background, the guy telling the woman he will make her his world, and after a minute or so, I allow myself to relax—my head comes down and rests against Nick’s chest. Our bodies sway to the music in silence, until about halfway through the song when Nick murmurs, “I can love you like that.” I know it’s the lyrics to the song, but he doesn’t appear to be singing them, but instead telling me. I don’t know what to say, so I nod into his chest. As the music continues to play, Nick’s hands tighten around me, and he pulls me in closer to him, his lips brushing against my ear as he softly sings the lyrics to me. Each word shattering a piece of the wall I’ve been trying to build in order to keep my heart safe from this man.
The song ends and another begins. It’s Imagine Dragon’s “Thunder.” Nick laughs as he reaches into his pocket and stops the song. “It must’ve switched to my pre-game music.” He shrugs. “Thank you for the dance.”
“What does this mean, Nick?” We’re still standing in each other’s arms, neither of us making the first move to separate.
“Your dad said that according to you, people don’t make the decision to love; it just happens. But I don’t agree, Liv. I believe love is a decision. Who we love, how we love. It’s in our hands. I grew up having no clue about the true meaning of love. When I was little, I thought it meant bicycles and PlayStations. And when I got older, I thought it meant cars and houses. To my mom, it means vacations and jewelry and status. To my dad, it means power and money. I grew up with everything a kid could ask for, yet nothing a kid really needs. It wasn’t until you gave me Reed that I learned love can be more…so much more.”
“What does that mean?” I rasp.
“I can’t explain it.” Nick shakes his head. “It’s”—he backs up slightly, loosening our connection—“in here.” He points to his chest. “It’s not any of those things I mentioned. It’s so much more powerful. When Reed cried from those shots at his check-up, my heart…fuck, it felt like my heart was going to explode. It’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before. My parents choose to love the way they do, and I’m choosing to love my way, with my heart. And if you could give me a chance, I would love to love you the same way.”
His words are so unexpected, and they frighten me because they hit all the right places. But what if this is just a phase? What if he thinks because he loves his son with everything in him that means he can love me the same way? What if he can’t? A parent’s love isn’t the same.
Two minutes ago, I was willing to take the leap, but now listening to how strongly he feels, I’m scared. If it doesn’t work, Nick just might leave me broken beyond repair. And who will be there to pick up my pieces?
“Did you love Celeste?”
Nick sighs, and taking my hand, guides us to sit. “Celeste and I have been friends since we were little. Her mom and mine are best friends who grew up next door to each other in a trailer park. Both of them dreamed of getting out, but unlike my mom who married a rich guy and created a whole new life for herself, Celeste’s mom fell in love with a guy from a motorcycle club who left, promising to return, and never did. Celeste grew up poor. Her mom loved that guy, and even though she had several opportunities to be with wealthier men over the years, to provide Celeste with a better life, she chose to stay single and struggle. To this day she’s never left that trailer park. She’s still waiting for Celeste’s dad to return. She literally chose love over money, and because of that, Celeste resents her mom for everything she didn’t have growing up.”
Nick takes my hand in his and massages circles into my palm with his thumb and fingers while he continues to speak. “When I was in college, we made a pact. If I didn’t find love by thirty, I would marry her and give her way a chance.”
“Which was?”
“A business arrangement. No love or emotions.” I’m shocked at what he’s telling me. You see stuff like that in books or movies but never in real life. And at thirty?
“But thirty is still so young. You were willing to give up on love at thirty?”
“I was twenty when I made the stupid pact. I was young and didn’t, for a second, think I would end up thirty and alone. But over the years I allowed football and my parents to run my life, and the results were a lot of failed relationships. That morning I went to meet with Declan Thomas, the Brewers’ owner, and your dad.” He laughs. “It’s kind of ironic actually.”
“What?” I ask.
“Your dad and Declan sat me down and told me I needed to settle down. They had a photo from an online tabloid of you and me walking into the hotel, but because I was towering over you, they couldn’t see your face.”
“Oh my God!” I jump to my feet and gasp in shock. “Had my face been in the image, my dad would’ve known we hooked up that night.”
“Exactly,” Nicks agrees. “But they couldn’t tell who the woman was. All they knew was that my partying was a bit out of control and they needed to clean up my image so I could be the face of the team.”
“So you agreed to the pact you made with Celeste.”
“Yeah,” Nick admits with a nod. “I guess I just needed a break from it all, and being with Celeste forced me to settle down and focus on football again…without putting my heart on the line.”
“So, what’s changed?” Why is he suddenly willing to put his heart back out there?
“You. Reed. I felt something for you the night we were together before I even knew we created Reed. But you left. So when I felt like my back was against the wall, I took the easy way out and agreed to give Celeste’s way a chance.”
“And what? You told Celeste you’ve changed your mind? I can’t imagine that went over well.”
“She’s been one of my best friends for years. Yeah, she’s hurt, but she understands. We’ve never even slept together.”
Whoa! Okay, then. So it really was all business.
“I think right now she’s more upset about her half of the pact.” Nick smirks.
“What do you mean?”
“If I find love, she has to stop looking for a rich guy to be in a business arrangement with and try to find love as well.”
“But you didn’t find love. I mean, what we had…that night…”
“It was more than a one-night stand, Brown-Eyes. It might not have been love, but it was more, and if you give me a chance—us a chance—it can grow into love. What we have is different, and I think you feel it too.” He’s right. The night we spent together, the chemistry we shared. It was more, which is why I ran scared the morning after.
“I need some time to think.” His face falls, and my heart cracks. “I’m not saying no. I’ve just…I’ve been hurt, Nick. I thought someone loved me and it turned out he didn’t. Then to find out he cheated…it really hurt.”
“I understand,” he says. “I’ve been there, but I’m not him, Liv.”
“I know you’re not. But what if you’re only doing this because I’m the mother of your son? Or what i
f I only say yes because I want the fairytale. I just need to think about everything. Had I not come back, you would still be with Celeste in a relationship of convenience. Now you’re telling me you want the real deal.”
“Celeste and I wouldn’t have ever worked out.” He stands and walks the short distance over to where I am. “It was nothing more than a temporary band-aid.” His arms encircle my waist, his face nuzzling into my hair. “But I get it. You think, and I’ll be waiting.” He gives me a soft kiss on my cheek and then backs up slightly. “I have to get packed for Denver. We leave tomorrow. If you’re willing to give me a chance—to give us a chance—come with me. The team charters a private plane there, so Reed won’t be on a commercial flight. You can stay in the same hotel we stay in, and after the Super Bowl, we can spend some time together, the three of us.”
“I don’t think I can decide that quickly,” I admit. “This is a big decision to make.”
“If you need more time then that’s fine too,” Nick assures me. Then he steps back into my space once more and gives me a kiss on the corner of my mouth. “I’ll be here,” he murmurs, “if or when you’re ready. If you don’t go to Denver, I won’t hold it against you. Just promise to put Reed’s swing in front of the TV so he can watch his dad kick some ass.” He backs up once again and shoots me a playful wink.
“Now, that I can do for sure.”
Reed wakes up shortly after our conversation ends, and Nick spends the rest of the afternoon with Reed and me. While he’s awake, Nick does everything for him, from changing his diaper to feeding him. He’s become ten times as confident at being a dad than he was the first time he showed up on my doorstep with our son crying. It’s only a matter of time until he starts taking him for the night, and I’ve come to accept it.
What I didn’t expect was for Nick to show up here today and ask for me to give us a chance. Most women in my position would jump at the chance to date Nicholas Shaw, especially given the fact that we have a baby together. But I’m not most women. Call me crazy but I’m looking for the forever, and I’m not sure Nick can give me that. I know the man can give me the for-now. He gave that to me over and over again the night we spent together.