by Nikki Ash
I roll my eyes, remembering that night. “You still ended up getting your way and paying.”
“That I did.” He grins. “Best fifty bucks I’ve ever spent.”
“I still can’t believe I actually had sex with a guy I didn’t know. I wasn’t lying that night when I told you I’d never done that before.”
“You were so fucking sexy.” He gives me a soft kiss to my neck. “It was obvious from the get-go that hooking up with a strange guy wasn’t your norm. I could see it in your eyes how nervous you were, but then when we got to your room, the way you let loose and opened up to me…fuck…I knew one night with you wouldn’t be enough.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” I question. We talked for hours that night and he never once mentioned wanting to see me again.
“I didn’t know you were going to disappear the next morning. If I would’ve known I was going to wake up to an empty bed and a note, I would’ve tied your wrists to the headboard so you couldn’t leave.” He winks playfully. “I’m just glad you went to my game and spotted me.” He kisses the tops of my knuckles. “Had you not been at that game who knows if we ever would’ve found each other.” The thought of never seeing Nick again makes my heart hurt.
“Is that why your parents and you are on the outs? Because of me?”
“I don’t think it’s any one thing,” Nick says. “Ever since you showed back up and Reed was born, I’ve started to see things differently, more clearly.”
“How?”
“All of the shit my parents have pulled over the years, they’ve always acted like it was done out of love and in my best interest. Now, though, I’m beginning to think their motives are less out of love and more out of greed. Pushing people I care about away, bribing them with money to leave, forcing me to change my major…those aren’t things parents do when they love their children. I will never be that kind of parent to Reed.”
“I think it says something about you as a person and especially as a father that you recognize that. Have they asked to meet Reed?”
“No, and that’s why I was upset when you walked in. My mom implied I should show up alone, knowing you and Reed are here with me.”
“I’m sorry.” I scoot closer to him to give him a kiss. “I would say we don’t need to go, but I’m thinking that’s not exactly the point here.”
“No, it’s not. I wouldn’t ask you to bring Reed. He’s too young, and we’re not showing him to the public yet. But they’re acting like he doesn’t exist. Other than them worrying about you distracting me from football or trying to take all my money, they haven’t acknowledged Reed being my son at all.”
“Well, maybe they will come around once they see I’m not going to steal all your money, and the only time I will distract you is in the bedroom.” I waggle my eyebrows playfully, and Nick smiles. “Now tell me about this English Lit degree. I had no idea you liked to read.”
“I do,” he admits, “but lately I’ve been thinking about trying my hand at writing.”
“Like taking a writing class?” I sit up, shocked.
“Yeah, I mean I know it’s too late to get my degree, but—”
“Wait! Who says it’s too late? You only had a year to go… you could easily go back and finish. And now with online classes, you could switch to English Literature like you wanted.”
Nick’s face lights up like a little boy who has just been told he can stay up late and eat too much candy. “You’re right…I can. And I have plenty of money now, so there isn’t a damn thing my dad could do to stop me.”
“Of course he can’t! Are you going to still major in English Lit?”
“Hell yes! And the first class I’m going to take will be the creative writing class I never got to take.”
“You can totally do it!”
I lay back down and wrap my arms around him. We lay together in silence for a few minutes, and I think about Nick and me and how far we’ve come from being the people we were in that hotel room almost a year ago.
“Hey Nick…”
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry I left with only a note to say goodbye.” And I am sorry. If I would’ve known he was looking for more, I never would’ve left the way I did. Yes, I was only looking for a one-night stand, but once we were together, I felt something more, and the thought scared me into running, never for a second believing he felt something as well.
“It’s all good, Brown-Eyes.” Nick gives me a kiss on my forehead, then on my nose. “Just please…in the future, if you’re going to leave a note, always tell me where you’re going so I can find you.”
“Deal! Now let’s look up colleges. With football ending this week, you can probably take an express spring class or even take a couple summer classes.”
Twenty
Nick
I’ve yet to take Olivia out on a date, and having her family here means we have willing babysitters. It’s Thursday night and we’re free for the evening after practicing all morning and going over tapes and plays this afternoon. I shoot a text to Stephen and ask if there’s any way he and Corrine can watch Reed. He texts me back that they would love to.
I put a call in to a recommended restaurant to see if it’s possible to have private seating. With the Super Bowl in three days, anywhere we go we’ll have fans trying to get photos and autographs. The paparazzi and media are everywhere. The manager tells me they can get us into a private booth near the back at seven o’clock, so I let Stephen know to come over to Olivia’s room at six.
I get back to her room—which might as well be mine since I’ve slept here every night—and she’s on the floor with Reed singing to him about baking a cake. He’s lying on a large blue blanket and his legs and hands are flailing every which way. Every day he becomes more alert…more like a real person. I can’t believe I almost gave up my right to watch him grow up.
Olivia looks up when she hears the door close. “Hey you. How was practice?”
“Good.” I drop onto the floor next to her and give her a quick kiss before leaning over and giving one to Reed. His face moves side to side as he makes a soft cooing sound that has me grinning. These two are quickly becoming my entire world.
“Why don’t you go shower while I watch him?”
Her nose scrunches up. “Do I smell that bad? I showered this morning.”
My fingers grip her nape, and I pull her into me, my mouth slanting over hers. “No, you don’t smell. We’re going out to dinner.”
“I thought you said you didn’t want Reed going out too much because of the media.”
“Not Reed. Just us. I’m taking you out on a date, and before you argue, your dad and Corrine are coming down to watch Reed while we go.”
“Hmm…” She taps her finger against her bottom lip. “A date, huh? Why do I feel like we’ve done this all wrong? Sex, pregnancy, foreplay, and now a date?” Her eyes light up telling me she’s joking, but I also know deep down the way all this played out bothers her.
“We’re not doing anything wrong. We’re doing things our way…our story, remember? We get to write the chapters. And this is chapter two: Date night.”
While she’s getting ready, her dad and Corrine show up. They take over with Reed, so I can get dressed. Once I’m ready to go, I rejoin them in the living room to wait on Olivia. She comes out of the bathroom about thirty minutes later, dressed in a pair of tight—extremely tight—dark jeans. She’s been working out every day—switching between yoga and Tae Bo—with Giselle in their living room, and it’s showing. The woman almost looks like her pre-pregnancy self. Her hips are a bit wider now, but there’s nothing wrong with giving a man something to hold onto. She’s wearing a teal off-the-shoulder sweater and some fuzzy-looking boots women always wear when it’s cold outside. Her hair is down in loose waves, and her makeup, like always, is the bare minimum. She looks breathtakingly beautiful except…
“Why are you wearing the other team’s colors?” Stephen scowls, and Corrine laughs.
�
��Oh, stop! I swear, every time I go to put on an outfit, if it doesn’t support New York, I never hear the end of it,” Corrine says, rolling her eyes. “You look lovely, Olivia.”
Olivia looks down. “Thank you. I don’t own anything in that ugly grass color, so this is going to have to do.” She shrugs and walks over to Reed to give him a kiss goodbye. She explains everything to her parents, and they listen even though I’m sure they’ve heard it all a million times.
We head downstairs to the valet, and they point us in the direction of the car service. I could rent a car, but it’s easier and safer to hire someone else to drive us around.
Twenty minutes later, the car service drops us off in downtown Denver. He opens the door, and Olivia gets out first. Before I can get out, I see the lights of the cameras flash. For a second I worry how she’s going to react, but she handles it like a pro. She locks her arm into my elbow and smiles softly up at me, allowing the media to snap pictures.
“I’m sorry about this. I made sure to get us a private booth,” I whisper into her ear. She nods, her smile never wavering. I imagine, because her mom was one of the biggest international models of her time, and her dad was a huge college football coach, Olivia’s experienced the paparazzi at some point during her life. Luckily, for the most part, they really only follow athletes during the weeks of the big games. Sure, in New York, you’ll get an occasional paparazzo snapping photos, but it’s not like it is when you’re an actor or singer living in Los Angeles.
We start walking toward the restaurant and several fans stop us so I can sign stuff for them. Olivia offers to take pictures using their phones. We easily ignore the comments and questions about Celeste and my called-off engagement, but when a question is asked about Reed, I almost answer.
“Nick, is it true your son is the result of a one-night stand?”
Olivia’s fingers dig into my arm to stop me. When I look down at her, she smiles then comes up on her tiptoes to give me a chaste kiss. “Ignore them,” she murmurs against my lips before pulling back.
When we finally reach the restaurant, we’re seated immediately. The waiter takes our drink order and then drops off some bread.
“Wow! Walking with you reminds me of being in high school and dating the star quarterback.” She giggles, and I glare at her.
“You dated the quarterback? Who? Does he play now?” Olivia throws her head back with laughter, but I’m not laughing.
“Oh my God! Stop!” She continues to laugh. “I don’t know what happened to him, but I can assure you, you’re way more popular and get so many more girls than him.” Her tone is playful and mocking, and it makes me crack a smile.
“Damn right I’m better, but the only woman I need to get is you. This is why you should be wearing our team colors. So everybody knows you belong to me.”
“Aww…maybe you should buy me a letterman’s jacket with your number on it…or better yet, I can get your number tattooed right above my ass.” She laughs some more.
I, on the other hand, imagine her naked in nothing but my jersey and have to block the visual out before I’m sporting a hard-on right here at the table. Good thing the table is blocking anybody’s view from seeing my crotch.
“Both those ideas sound great to me.”
We spend the rest of our time at dinner getting to know more about each other. It’s nice getting to know Olivia as a woman, as more than just Reed’s mom. She tells me about her mom and her childhood, about her time in Paris, some more about her career in the arts. You’d never guess she’s worth millions of dollars. She’s down to earth and sweet, and she lets everything roll off her back. She listens to everything I say, like she’s genuinely interested, asking questions and adding in her own thoughts. And with every word she speaks, and every smile she grants me, I find myself falling harder for her.
We get back to the hotel room and thank her parents for watching Reed. Olivia tells me she needs to run downstairs and grab something, so while she’s gone, I jump in the shower to rinse off.
When I get out, I wrap a towel around my waist and head into the room to grab some clothes. Before I can make it out of the doorway, I’m stopped in my place. Because standing in front of me is Olivia in nothing but my jersey. I recognize them from downstairs in the hotel giftshop. They’re selling them for the Super Bowl. The jersey is too big on her, exposing her bare shoulder. Her creamy legs are bare, and I wonder if she’s wearing panties underneath.
Her mouth twitches into a shy smile as she waits for me to say something. “Fuck” is the only word that comes out of my mouth as I close the distance between us. My one hand cradles her face as my other one moves down the jersey and lands on her smooth thigh. My mouth crashes into hers. It’s not sweet or romantic. It’s raw and needy. Urgent and demanding. My tongue duals with hers, and she moans into my mouth. My fingers glide back up her thigh, under the jersey, and when I feel there’s nothing underneath, I let out a low groan.
“You’re killing me, woman,” I murmur against her lips. My hands grip her ass cheeks, and I lift her and bring her over to the bed, laying her down under me. My mouth goes back to hers, kissing her with everything in me. Her soft, plump lips have me addicted.
We kiss until she pulls away slightly. “I feel like we really are teenagers. I’m wearing your jersey…we’re making out like we’re in high school.” She giggles, and I shake my head at her playfulness.
“What am I going to do with you?” The question is meant to be rhetorical, but when I speak the words, Olivia’s eyes widen.
Her voice is soft. “Maybe…one day love me.” She shrugs her shoulders shyly.
Stick a damn fork in me because I’m fucking done. This woman is everything I need in my life, yet I had no idea I was missing.
“That’s definitely a huge possibility,” I say before my lips capture hers once again, and we continue to make out like horny teenagers.
Twenty-One
Olivia
It’s Super Bowl Sunday, and I’m sitting up in the friends and family suite with Corrine and Shelby, while Nick and my dad, along with the rest of the team, are in the locker room getting ready for the biggest game the New York Brewers have faced in over a decade. The game is being played in Denver, but the team we’re up against is none other than Nick’s old team, North Carolina. They made it to the playoffs last year without him but lost. This year they’re favored to win it all.
The last few days have been nothing short of amazing. During the day, Nick has been with the team, practicing. It’s a huge game, even bigger because he’s playing against his old team. They let him go, thinking he wouldn’t bring them another championship, yet here he is, hopefully about to prove them all wrong.
Every evening Nick has spent his time with Reed and me. While Reed is awake, Nick’s and my attention is on our son, but once he’s asleep, it’s a whole different ball game. I’ve never experienced such closeness with a man without having sex. The foreplay with Nick is out of this world, but more than that, it’s the time afterward—before I fall asleep in his arms, when he talks to me.
After our conversation about Fiona and me both leaving him a note, an idea sparked. I wanted to turn something negative into a positive, so a couple nights ago I snuck out of bed, wrote him a note, and stuck it in his gym bag. Then last night I did the same thing—unsure if he even saw the first one. Only this morning, I woke up to a note as well, telling me he not only saw it, but it meant a lot to him. He promised to always leave a note, so his words are the first thing I read when I open my eyes, and in return I made the same promise.
“Excuse me.” A soft voice brings me back to the now. Reed is awake in my arms, but it won’t be long until he’s asleep. It’s 4:30 here, but he’s still refusing to conform to the time zone in Denver. In New York, it’s 6:30, and Reed’s internal clock has him passed out by seven o’clock every night—waking up every four hours to eat and getting up for the day at six. I love that my son is already on a routine, but here in Denver that means he
’s up at four in the freaking morning!
“Excuse me,” I hear again, and this time I look up to see if someone is speaking to me. With Corrine and Shelby to the left of me, I look to the right. It’s an older woman who looks to be around the same age as my stepmom, maybe a little younger. Her hair is dyed in perfect highlights and is tied up in a tight ponytail. Her dress is Stella McCartney—a designer my mom used to love. Her lips are pursed into a half smile-half grimace, and I glance down at my son to confirm he’s not crying. I learned from my stunt a few weeks ago, people don’t like babies who cry in public.
When my eyes move upward, they land on her eyes—emerald green like Nick’s…like Reed’s. My gut tells me this woman is related to Nick, and then I recall our late-night conversations where he confided in me about his childhood and lack of relationship with his parents. How he never understood the different kinds of love until Reed was born. My initial instinct is to hate this woman, but instead I choose to pity her, because she’s the one missing out on having an authentic relationship with her son.
“Can I help you?” I finally say, and her lips twitch slightly into a shell of a smile.
“I just wanted to introduce myself. I’m Victoria Shaw, Nicholas’s mother.” She puts her perfectly manicured hand out to shake mine, and I meet her halfway.
“I’m Olivia Harper.” She obviously knows who I am or she wouldn’t be standing here introducing herself to me.
Reed chooses this moment to make his presence known. He squirms slightly, his arms coming up, and when I lift and turn him around to face me, his mouth morphs into a smile—a new milestone I can’t take enough pictures of. “And this is Reed,” I add, my eyes staying trained on my baby boy.
Corrine reaches over and tickles his belly. “I can’t get enough of those smiles,” she says, joining the awkward conversation. “Every time I see him, I swear he’s grown another inch.” She lightly pinches Reed’s cheek then glances up at Victoria. “I’m Corrine, but you know that…we’ve seen each other at several team functions this year. I’m also Olivia’s stepmother.” Corrine stands and walks around the back of the couch over to Victoria. “I’ve watched how you treat those around you. And I’m warning you right now, if you treat my stepdaughter with anything other than respect, I’ll have you removed from the premises.” She smiles saccharinely and excuses herself to the restroom with Shelby following behind.