Chapter Forty-Four

Blake

" W hat are you looking forward to as the new year starts?" CeCe asks as I sit on the podcast with the two of them.

I inhale deeply, before blowing the breath out. "I think I'm most excited to see if we can make it to the championship, and then what might happen afterward."

"Afterward, huh?" Bret scoffs. "Do you wanna tell us about what's been happening in your personal life?"

I laugh, dropping my voice low. "I think we all know what's been happening in my personal life. If you know, you definitely know." At this point I'd love to tell people about the engagement, but we want to keep it to ourselves for a while. As soon as we let others in on it, we'll be opening ourselves up to everyone's opinions, and I'd love to have Willa to myself for just a little bit longer.

"So what are your plans for New Year's? CeCe and I will be ringing it in with Jovi," Bret says, as he adjusts the papers he has in front of him. They haven't told anyone else about the baby yet.

"Willa and I are heading downtown. We're going to be doing the Igloo Bar with some of our teammates." I'm not sure if I should be telling the public where we're going to be, but it is what it is. "So after the game, we're heading down there. Hopefully we'll be celebrating a win."

"You know that's right. The next four weeks are going to be the most important of our season."

"Damn straight. I think we can win again." I make the prediction.

"Me too. The championship is ours to lose at this point. If we fall apart then that's on us." Bret takes a drink from his cup, and then we start talking about what next year has in store for us.

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"You're coming to the game, right?" I ask Willa as we lie in bed that night. We've decided to have a couple of nights in before the end of the year, and especially before we start the play-offs. Once we hit that, things are going to get insane because we're all working hard in hopes we'll go to the championship.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world. I got a special Blake Whitfield and Nashville Warriors jacket to wear, and I dug out my beanie from the New York game, because it's supposed to be so cold. I saw on the news that it's going to be one of the coldest New Year's on record in Nashville." She snuggles in closer to me.

"Figures I'd have to play in that chill, and then we've decided to go out for the night. But honestly, it's sometimes super-fun to play in extreme weather. Takes me back to college ball, and when we were kids. We'd go out when it was raining and completely muddy and act like fools. You lose that a little as you get older..."

"I get that." She wrinkles her nose up. "I love when I have a rain show. Would I want it every single night? No. That's not feasible and not fun for anybody, but every once in a while? It's super awesome."

She gets me in ways I'd never imagined anyone else would. "Thanks for not making me feel weird for that." I nose her head around so that I can take her lips with mine. Everything with her is like I'd always thought it would be when it was meant to be—easy.

Pulling away, she grins, her blue eyes shining. "Why would you feel weird?"

I shrug, not wanting to give her my insecurities, but we're together for the long haul, and at some point we're both going to have to be vulnerable, even if it feels uncomfortable. "I've always been perceived as a party guy, as someone who likes to have a good time and doesn't take things seriously. That has one hundred percent affected how I act. There aren't that many people I allow myself to completely be comfortable with. You're one of them."

Lifting up on her shoulder, she looks down at me. "I'm glad. I want us to always be this way with each other. Building a life isn't linear, Blake. Together, we're going to make all those dreams we've been putting together like a Tetris game board come true. It doesn't have to happen today, or tomorrow, or even in five years. But we're going to make it."

I lift up, kissing her firmly. "Damn right we are."

I won't have it any other way.