by Celia Wild
Soon, they would all know what Arabella meant to him, or where his heart was at.
They arrived to the stadium where Robert was waiting for them on the football field with a slew of reporters and teammates. In four days, they would be flying to Arizona to play in the Super Bowl Championships, but there was a undeniable curiosity from the reporters who turned to flash pictures of him walking hand-in-hand with Arabella.
Chance caught sight of Liam waving to him a little bit away from the chaos of cameras and reporters. He excused himself from Arabella for a moment before jogging over to his best friend.
“Do you have it?” He asked, quietly.
Liam glanced over the crowd before pulling the small box out of his pocket. “Yeah, bro. I got you covered.”
Staring down at the tiny black box for a moment, Chance slipped into the pocket of his pants this time. He casted a furtive glance over his shoulder to make sure that no one saw it, including Arabella who was chatting with Robert.
“Are you sure about this?” Liam asked. “Not that I’m old fashioned, but I hope you asked Arabella’s father first.”
“Two weeks ago,” Chance said, grinning. “I invited him out to the sports bar for a couple of beers and food.”
“Smooth. What did your father say?”
Chance looked across the stadium to avoid Liam’s gaze. “I don’t know. I’ll find out tonight once the camera’s start to roll.”
“I guess you can’t be afraid of your father cutting of ties from you,” Liam replied, shoving his hands into his pockets. “You’ve got your own success in life to support you. Do you think he’ll understand?”
“God only knows,” Chance said, shrugging his shoulders. “I’m not going to worry about it. Keep your phone out. I want to get a snapchat of Arabella’s expression when I ask her to marry me.”
Liam pulled out his phone at that. “You’re pretty confident that Arabella feels the same way towards you. It’s only been a few months.”
He knew Arabella felt it. There were several times throughout his life that Chance had been around the same woman physically and mentally over and over. None of them had ever felt right. With Arabella, it was nothing but utter peace and stability. He hadn’t realize it before, but that was something he had been looking for before.
And now that he had it, he sure as hell wasn’t going to let it go.
“I’m sure,” he said.
Chance turned to look through the maze of cameras and faces until he landed on Arabella. Their eyes met, and the rest of the world melted away as it always did. He stuck a hand into his pocket to grip the box tightly. It was now or never, he thought, and the word never was not a part of his vocabulary.
***
Chapter Thirteen
Six months later
The fluttering of blue and pink tissue paper stirred Arabella back from the quick nap she had slipped into. Several presents were stacked high about the living room, but it was the two oak cribs with two large bows that brought an instant smile to her face. Go figure that Chance would run away from cleaning up the mess from the baby shower. It was overwhelming just for her to look at.
Arabella pushed herself up to rest a hand on the swell of her belly. Four more months, and the twins would be sleeping in those cribs— a surprising present from Chance’s father, Nathan. He had objected to their relationship, engagement, and even marriage, but the mention of grand-babies seemed to be the thing that won him over.
Their five bedroom house was quiet, too eerily quiet. It was the middle of summertime, and Chance had nowhere to be for at least another couple months before preseason started again. She massaged her lower back as she walked out onto the back patio deck that overlooked three acres of green grass to find Chance sitting on edge of their small pool with his legs in the water.
“What are you doing out here?” She asked, using his shoulder as a way to lower herself down to sit next to him. She let out a blissful sigh when the warm water lapped at her already swollen ankles.
“Just thinking,” Chance said. “I didn’t want to wake you. You literally passed out the second Lindsey pulled out of the driveway.”
“It’s exhausting being pregnant with twins,” Arabella replied, rubbing at her face with a tired yawn. “The party was just as exhausting. Are you surprised about the cribs?”
Chance shrugged his shoulders. “I think my dad’s more excited about grand babies than he was about ever having me.”
They shared a laugh at that. It had been the same type of news when they told Arabella’s parents that they were pregnant with twins. Arabella rested her head on Chance’s bare shoulder to feel the hot sunlight in his tanned skin. They stared across the green lawn to where a bush of wildflowers grew thanks to Arabella accidentally dropping a packet of seeds in the dirt. Bumble bees buzzed from flower to flower while sprinklers clicked lazily in the distance.
“How are they doing now?” Chance asked. “I hope they let you get some rest.”
He rested a hand on her stomach. The sunlight glinted off the golden band of his wedding ring, and he received two enthusiastic kicks in return.
“They let me sleep when you don’t mess with my belly,” she said, rubbing the top of his hand with a smile. “I think they already know the difference between your hands and mine. They kick whenever you sneak a feel in the middle of the night.”
Fierce pride filled Chance’s eyes at that. He picked up Arabella’s hand, and pressed a tender kiss to the back of it. Genuine happiness sparkled in his eyes as he gazed at her.
“How did I get so lucky?” Chance asked, softly.
“I have no idea,” she said, teasingly. “It certainly wasn’t easy loving you some days, but you got it figured out.”
And it hadn’t been easy. Their relationship was on every tabloid and gossip site. It took all of Arabella’s trust and self-control not to pay attention what others said about them. She learned real quick that there was always a hundred different angles to one story. Most of them were speculation or made up.
She didn’t regret it though. She didn’t regretting accepting his marriage proposal on live television. Not because it was publicity, but because Chance wanted to prove a point that he could commit himself in light of everything. Now, they were expecting twins together with another contract tucked away under Chance’s impressive career. Nothing could go wrong now. It felt as though they were invincible for the first time in their lives.
Arabella twined an arm through his as they sat there with their legs submerged in water, and enjoying the views of the summer sky stretching on before them, endless and beautiful.
Tease Play by Celia Wild
Published by
Celia Wild
www.authorceliawild.com
© 2016 Celia Wild
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.