She is staring at my crotch. That spot always did draw her attention, starting with that night at Ryland's pool house when she appeared at the door. "Deal," she says.
We split, moving to our designated side. Her body is hard not to look at, but when it comes to football and getting what I want I have amazing focus. I take my stance, waiting for her to pass me the ball. She pulls her arm back and throws it toward me. I catch it and cradle the ball. We take off running at the same time. Holy shit, her boobs are bouncing as she runs.
I take the right side and so does she, attempting to block me. I spin to the left, but the girl has fast reflexes. She wasn't lying. She's good. I don't want to barrel through her, because I'm twice her size. If I get around her she'll never catch me.
I'm about to go back to the right when she reaches out and grabs my balls in her hand. My reflex as a guy is to protect them with my life and it causes me to stumble, diving face first and almost eating sand, but I catch myself with my hands. She bursts out in laughter as I stand back to my feet. "That was dirty."
She has a grin on her face. "Hey, I never said I was going to play fair."
"Some might call that cheating."
"You said I had to get you down. You never once specified how. There is always a loophole, Abercrombie. I can't help that I think outside the box." She actually forms a box with her hand movements as she speaks.
I throw the football down in the sand and take a step forward. There is not an ounce of laughter on my face. Her eyes enlarge slightly. She knows what's coming, because she turns and takes off running. I even give her a few seconds head start running down the strip of beach before I take off after her. I'm a running back. I'm trained to run, and fast. There is no way in hell she will ever outrun me.
I take off, my strides double in size. It doesn't take me long to catch her and pass her, turning around and stopping in front of her. I grab her waist and pick her up, throwing her over my shoulder. She screams and starts slapping me on the butt as I start walking. "Breyson put me down!"
I slap hers harder, most likely leaving a handprint. I take off in a sprint towards the water. "Breyson, no."
"Hold your breath, beautiful. You're going in whether you like it or not." I can feel the warm water on my feet as I enter. The water slows me down a little, but not much. When I get deep enough I pull her off my shoulder and into a cradling position in my arms. I sling her back to get momentum and throw her in the water.
I wait for her to break the surface from underneath the water. She stands upright, wiping her hands over her face and through her hair. "Now you can say we skinny dipped on our honeymoon," I say, with one side of my mouth pulled into a smirk.
She wades through the water coming toward me. She grabs her breasts in her hands, pressing them together. I bite my bottom lip. Watching her touch herself has my dick hardening instantly. She stops in front of me and grabs my erection in her hand. She starts fisting her hand up and down in the water. My breathing picks up. "Saddle up, Abercrombie. I'm about to ride. I want you on your knees."
Oh my fucking hell. She's bossy and I love it. Just when I think I can figure her out she mixes it up, never letting things become boring. One thing I love is getting to watch her come out of her shell. We've grown a lot as individuals since we met, and also as a couple. It makes our relationship that much more special. With her...I look forward to the future instead of dreading it.
Chapter 28
Kinzleigh
July....
California
I watch the two people I adore the most in this world run across the sand as I sit on my lounger with a permanent grin etched on my face. Breyson is holding Bryce in the air, on top of his arms, flying him like a plane. He squeals. "Fly, Da-da." I can't believe he'll be one at the end of August. One more month and his infant days are over. This year has really flown by. It saddens me.
After we got back from our honeymoon things really took off. Cheerleading tryouts came and went and so did football for Breyson. We both finished the semester with good grades and took off the summer to spend time with Bryce and each other. I received good news a couple of months ago. My training paid off and I made the cheerleading squad. Starting fall Breyson and I both get to suit up for every game. We're both moving towards our dreams one step at a time.
Breyson finally decided on a major. He went with Kinesiology, the study of human movement; it kind of goes hand in hand with sports. I'm so happy for him, more so than myself. Our baby boy started walking earlier this month and now he can't stay still. He's so much like Breyson it's scary. From his looks all the way to his personality he's a mini Breyson. I swear all I did was incubate him for nine months. The only things he got from me were my green eyes and upfront shy nature, but once he warms up, all Breyson.
This is our first family vacation. It was more business, because I had to come sign the papers for the cheerleading company and make a decision on what I was going to do with it. I decided that I was going to offer Andy, my old coach, a partnership, splitting the company down the middle with fifty percent ownership each. He's the best around here and I want him with me. I also need someone that can be here full time and someone I can trust. I will always love California, but our home and school is in Mississippi, as well as our families.
Last night Breyson and I went to my old gym and made him the offer. I think he was in shock at first, but he gladly accepted. I've always liked Andy and I think he'll take the company further than I would have ever imagined. He just never had the investment opportunity until now to branch out on his own.
I look out at the shoreline where the two men in my life are. Breyson is squatting down whispering something to Bryce. He holds out his little arms and starts toddling towards me. "Mama, Mama." He melts my heart.
Breyson is standing behind him gleaming. It's hard not to be proud of such an amazing thing, no matter whether you planned it or not. These two are what I live for.
I stand and start walking to meet him halfway. He loses his balance in the sand and falls, now crying. Breyson takes off running as if he's about to fall off a ledge. It's just a little sand. He's the most amazing father anyone could ask for and that's strange considering his age, but Breyson's always been mature.
We both reach him at the same time, but Breyson grabs him first, turning him in his arms. "You okay, buddy?"
I grab his hand and brush off the sand stuck to it. Talking in my baby voice I start talking to him. "Tell Daddy to quit being silly. Little boys are tough, especially if you're going to play football like Daddy."
Bryce stops crying and starts laughing and clapping his hands together, squealing with excitement. "Ball, ball."
"He's a keeper, Mom. He's going to be a football star. I can feel it already."
"Not if you keep babying him, Abercrombie. He's a male and he's yours. A few scratches are good for him. If he's going to survive in our families he has to grow thick skin. You know how Braxton and Ryland are."
Bryce holds out his arms for me, which is a rare thing when Breyson has him. My baby is all Daddy's boy. I grab him and throw him in the air, catching him, and pulling him down just above my face. "Isn't that right, buddy?"
He grabs my lips in his hand, clawing them. I place him on my hip and grab his hand, moving it. I start smooching him all over his face and neck, causing him to laugh. I love hearing his baby laugh.
I look at Breyson. He looks serious as he watches me with Bryce, but then starts to speak. "Is it bad that I am not ready for him to grow up?"
"No. I think every good parent feels that way. It just means we're doing something right."
Bryce starts wiggling, wanting down. He barely wants to be held since he learned to walk. There was a very short period of him crawling. I don't think he liked the rubbing against his knees. It seems like right after he started crawling he starting pulling up on everything and trying to walk.
I stand him on the sand and hold his hand. Breyson grabs the other one and we start walk
ing him towards the edge of the water to let him dip his feet in. Along the way he pulls his feet up, swinging from our hands. It's his favorite thing to do and once he starts you can barely get him to stop. I always worry he's going to pull an arm out of socket, but I have come to find that kids are tougher than you think.
Breyson leans in over him to kiss me. I meet him halfway.
"I love you, Kinzleigh."
"And I love you, Breyson. I always will."
Everything that lies ahead is pointing to a bright future. Just when you think things are perfect everything can spin out of control, so the key is to never take for granted the good things. We had an amazing start and a bumpy middle, but I have a feeling we'll have a strong finish.
Epilogue part one
Kinzleigh
Four years later...
December
I'm standing on the sidelines with the rest of the cheerleaders. The game is about to start. I stretch along with the rest of the girls on the squad. "Kinzleigh, let's go. Time to line up," Jessica says and tosses me my pompoms.
I catch them and start running across the field toward the football tunnel. Half the squad stands on one side while the rest of us stand on the other.
I take my position, waiting, as the cleat sounds get closer to the exit. You can hear the players pumping themselves up by hollering back and forth to each other. I still get nervous before this part. Don't ask why. I guess, because it still seems surreal that things happened the way they did. As the coach starts to emerge the players dressed out in blue and gold take off running out of the tunnel, and onto the field.
I watch each one pass, searching for the jersey marked with the number forty-four. They are running so fast it's always hard to pin point, but it never fails that he finds me first. He pulls up his helmet just before he reaches me and briefly kisses me on the lips. "Win us a ballgame, baby."
"Anything for you, beautiful." Breyson pulls down his helmet and keeps running with the rest of the players.
Breyson played for the Eagles all four years of college, each year getting better than the one before. Him and Fisher completely transformed the statistics for the team, putting them back on the map for NFL scouts. The school went from barely winning any games to barely losing. Once I made the cheerleading squad that first year I did every year after. I put my mind toward a goal and achieved it, making me proud of myself.
Senior year was the best year of them all, though, for two different reasons. The biggest surprise was when Breyson got the call that he was being drafted with the San Diego Chargers. He actually broke down and cried not even a second after he got the call that spring, and now hear we are.
Breyson encouraged me to tryout for the cheerleading squad. It was a stretch, but I gave it a shot and actually made it. I still feel like I'm living in a dream and can't make myself wake up, because I didn't have any high hopes of actually making it. Becoming an NFL cheerleader used to be my number one goal, but not anymore. Breyson getting his dream was, and he did. Me getting on the squad of the same team was the mega bonus if there ever was one.
Andy has done a phenomenal job with the company and it's my primary career focus, but will never be more important than my family. Cheerleading in the NFL is now a hobby, since I will be at every game for Breyson anyway. I could walk away today and never look back. I graduated with a major in Business Administration and a minor in Marketing, so I have an education backing me to help me make the company a success. It's done so well over the past few years, though, that we are already looking to expand in the spring.
The squad rushes to our place on the sidelines, getting ready for kickoff. I look up into the front row of the stadium to my favorite people.
"Hey, Mom!" I look up at Bryce waving in his seat beside his Uncle Preston. He's wearing his chargers jersey with his daddy's number, Breyson's miniature twin. He just turned five a few months back. That boy is my entire world and he is possibly the sweetest person I've ever met. I'm not just saying that because he's my own. He has a huge heart.
Preston has been actively involved in his life since our wedding. He comes down every chance he gets and even keeps him for a few days here and there for a boys’ weekend as they call it. It was a little awkward at first, but Breyson and Preston are actually really close now. We were able to completely put the past behind us.
The whirlwind of things that have happened with all of our friends over the years has kept the drama rolling in, but somehow it always ends the way it's supposed to end. At least we have all remained close.
"Go Chargers! Hi, Mom! Someone is missing you." I smile at Karsyn holding my Kennedi Brianne on her hip, all decked out in her team gear to match Bryce, but with an added blue and gold bow clipped to her headband. She is standing in front of their seat next to the wall separating the stadium from the field.
Kennedi was our Christmas present last year. She was our one chance to experience planning a baby. Breyson didn't get to experience my pregnancy with Bryce, and when he started believing that he had a chance at the pros he wanted to start trying for another one so he could experience it all. I rarely deny Breyson what he wants. He doesn't ask for much, so I went and had my IUD removed and she was conceived two months later.
I wave at my two amazing little minions. I'm not sure if there are any more kids in our future, but right now we are content with the two precious gifts that we have. The rest we'll see with time.
Kennedi's first birthday party is later tonight. Karsyn has been helping me plan it. Since the day of my wedding when she pledged her girl love to me we have been inseparable, and that hasn't changed yet. Sometimes you stumble upon the people that will be forever at your side. That's what happened with Breyson and with Karsyn. The day I met her I never imagined this kind of friendship would blossom in the midst of her crazy, erratic personality, but today she is my best friend, sister of the heart, and my children’s Godmother. It wasn't even a question. She was the only person that crossed my mind when Breyson and I discussed it.
"I love you guys!" When I say it I'm referring to all of them, because I do. I turn and watch the kickoff.
This is my life. It's not perfect and sometimes it's hectic, but it's mine. Breyson and I both had a dream and we didn't let anything stand in our way of achieving it. No dream is unreachable if you want it bad enough. The two of us are proof, because we made it. The dreams we had as kids are a reality today. The only difference is that we found someone to experience our dreams with instead of experiencing them alone. In the beginning we never wanted this life, either of us, but through finding each other we realized just how special a family is. Our kids are a result of how much we love each other, a combination of each other. I have more love in my heart today than I ever thought possible, and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.
Epilogue part two
Breyson
Later that night....
I grab the small, pink cake off the bar after lighting the number one candle in the center. Everyone is waiting in the dining room so we can sing happy birthday to Kennedi, one of only two girls that's ever stolen my heart.
When I got drafted Kinzleigh and I bought a house here, so we're here during season and back home when I'm off. We got our country and we got our California. It couldn't have worked out more perfect than it did. We're one of the few people that can have our cake and eat it too.
I walk through the doorway towards Kennedi's highchair that is covered in balloons tied to the legs. Karsyn and Preston were the only ones that could make it on short notice since they came to the game for babysitting duty. We have a rotation going between all available parties between our families, and it works for us. Things are a little harder when everyone lives within flying distance instead of driving. Preston is the closest person to us residentially, but he travels a lot.
Fisher is still my best friend, but he plays for another team, so during season we rarely see each other. I'm really happy to see him so happy with his life right now. The
guy hasn't had it easy, but everything panned out and ended with things on his side.
Everyone starts singing happy birthday as I walk across the room. Kennedi is beating her hands on the tray of the highchair. She's beautiful, combining the best mixture of Kinzleigh and I, but she did get my eyes, and I like to think it's because she came straight from my heart. She doesn't take after one of us in particular like Bryce does me. Every time I look at her I get a consuming emotion of pride running through my veins. I feel like she's my do over for what I missed with Bryce, and she'll always have a little extra special place in my heart for it.
"Daddy, can I help her blow out the candle?" Bryce is standing in a chair on one side of her and Kinzleigh on the other. That boy is my sidekick. You couldn't have picked a better kid if you could write the features on a list and have it custom made. He is loving, and always asking to help do anything we need him to. He's only five and he's smart, not to mention the most tenderhearted child you'll ever meet. He's reserved up front like Kinzleigh, but once he gets to know you he'll consume your heart with his funny personality.
Kennedi is a little more wired like me. She never meets a stranger even though she can barely talk. She never cries when someone holds her that she doesn't know and she's loud. Gosh is the child loud. Put her down and she is gone like a bolt of lightning. The girl is going to be the death of me with her erratic and wild personality. One second I'm having to get on to her for getting in things she isn't supposed to be in, and then she gives me that look like I just stole her cake and I'm a goner. She wants Kinzleigh when she's hurt or whiney, but come bedtime she's a daddy's girl, in my lap ready to be rocked and read to.
During the day you would think Bryce and Kennedi are two unrelated kids in regards to personality, like night and day, but every morning for the past month when I wake up she's in his bed. Kinzleigh and I had no idea how she kept getting there because she's still in a crib, and then one night we stayed up to watch her on the video monitor.
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