34. Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Four

Cole

The world looks different now that Carissa is officially a part of it with me. I can't quite explain what has caused the change other than the feeling of stability in my chest that keeps me grounded, but everything is brighter. Bolder. Full of colors I've never seen before. And though I've been to Derek's house more times than I can count, I feel like this is the first time I set foot on the stone patio overlooking the ocean.

I need to be at practice in an hour, but this conversation is important too.

Derek leans on the wall surrounding the patio, his gaze on the horizon and a far-off look in the eyes, like he's not really here. He gets this way sometimes when he has a quiet moment, something that has been happening less and less often lately, and I'm tempted to wait instead of interrupting. He probably needs to cherish whatever downtime he can get.

Unfortunately, he's not as alone as I thought he was, and Freya's voice breaks the silence through the phone in Derek's hand. "Cole! You are back from Oregon!"

As Derek glances back at me, snapping back to the present moment with a couple of blinks, I move closer and smile at the princess on the screen. I wonder how long she's been sitting in silence. "Hey, Peach. You're lucky I survived long enough to make it back, after what you put me through."

"You were fine," Derek says.

"Only because I had Carissa with me," I argue.

"That was the point," Freya says. "Derek never would have let you go without her."

I glance at him, and when he lifts an eyebrow, I groan. "There was a whole scheme happening yesterday, wasn't there?"

"You must know there is always a scheme when Derek Riley is involved," Freya says, a bit of a grumble in her tone.

"What's he doing to you?" I ask.

"Nothing," Derek says at the same time Freya says, "Derek is so determined to send me an American soldier to be my bodyguard that he has already spoken with my mother, which means the matter is settled despite my reservations."

Derek rolls his eyes, and I'm guessing this is a conversation that has been going on for most of the afternoon. "He's not just a soldier, Peach. He's a master sergeant in the Special Forces and has probably completed more missions than any of your past bodyguards combined."

"How do you know a soldier in the Special Forces?" I ask. Am I really surprised? No. This is Derek we're talking about.

Sure enough, Derek shrugs and mutters something along the lines of, "I know a lot of people."

One of these days he's going to say something about how he's actually related to the King of England and only a few spots away from the throne, and I would believe him. "What's wrong with an American?" I ask Freya with mock offense.

She heaves a huge sigh, practically pouting as she gazes at us through the phone. "Nothing. But an American soldier ? That is a different story."

"If it helps, he's leaving the Army," Derek offers.

Freya narrows her eyes. "Why?"

"To come look after you, obviously."

That was a hedge if ever I saw one, but I'm not about to get in between Derek and Freya. They're both far too strong-headed and tend to turn into dogs fighting over a fresh steak if they have differing opinions, which happens about as often as you would expect between an altruistic European princess and an American actor with a tendency to play god.

"Sorry, Peach," I say before she can keep pressing for information, "but I'm going to have to steal Derek. I've got to get to practice soon, and he's not done helping me fix a problem."

"I'm not?" Derek asks with genuine surprise.

I chuckle. "Are you ever? Believe it or not, you're not as perfect as you look."

"Ah, it is nice to have you back, Cole," Freya says. "You were getting far too serious for my liking. Goodnight, boys." She blows a kiss to the camera and ends the call.

Sighing, Derek slips his phone into his pocket and returns to leaning on the wall. " She is getting too serious. The closer she gets to that election, the more she's convinced she's going to lose."

Despite being the heir to her mother's throne, Freya still has to be elected by her people. So far, no one is running against her, but there's still time. In a country as small as Candora, a lot could happen in three months.

"How about we focus on my problems instead of ones you can't fix?" I say, clapping Derek on the back. "I need to figure out how to buy a rugby team. As soon as possible."

It's not often I can break through Derek's uncrackable exterior, but for a moment he looks completely dumbstruck. Then his eyes light up. "Cole, that's genius."

"Contrary to popular belief, I can sometimes have good ideas."

"Literally no one thinks you're not smart." He grabs his phone and opens up his contacts, poised to call the perfect person to help me take the steps I need to acquire the Thunder. But he pauses.

I furrow my brow. "What's wrong?"

When he looks up at me, his blue eyes pierce through me. "Are you sure this is what you want? I'm assuming you've talked to Darcy."

I nod. I spent the last couple of hours we had at the hotel this morning giving Darcy as much information as I could, and she was confident she could get the right facts to save the team from itself. She also threatened me when it came to treating Carissa right, so it was quite the conversation. "Yeah. Why?"

"You know Oregon would take you back." Derek narrows his eyes as he studies me. "You could go back to the game you love and get another chance at a Super Bowl, and you could win."

"It would take a few years to rebuild the team," I counter, but my words come out hesitant. I hadn't considered…

"You still have a solid decade in you, if not more," Derek says. "Give Tom Brady a run for his money."

I chuckle. "Brady only wishes he was as good as me."

Derek purses his lips as he pockets his phone, like he thinks he's convinced me to change my plan. "You can still try to save the Thunder, Cole, but you don't have to put all your money into something that isn't your passion. You're…" He bites his tongue, like he isn't sure if he should keep talking.

I nudge his shoulder. "Say it."

"You were happier in Oregon."

Shaking my head, I look out along the Malibu coast as it glitters in the sun. "I may have been happy in Oregon, but I'm happier here . This is where I grew up. This is where my family is."

"And your friends," Derek adds, raising an eyebrow.

"I said what I said. Family . And Carissa is here."

"You really like her, don't you?"

That gets a laugh out of me, mostly because I don't remember a time when Derek wasn't the first to be in the know about celebrity gossip. I swear he has a whole team of people who keep him updated on anything of note, particularly when it relates to one of us, so he has either been talking to Freya for too long to have been informed about my adventures last night, or he has been avoiding things entirely. I don't know what's up with him today, but I have a way to cheer him up. At the very least, I can distract him from whatever he's probably overthinking.

"Maybe you should see what's trending on Hot Scoop today," I say. "I think you might find it interesting. But first, give me the number of whoever can help me spend a whole lot of money on a so-so rugby team."

Curiosity burns in Derek's eyes, and of course he pulls up the tabloid first and finds the latest article right off the bat, his eyes reading quickly before he pulls up the video.

It might be the first time Derek Riley is left truly, completely dumbfounded.

The guys are on fire at practice. They're riding high after their win against Portland, but Coach Galvin is nowhere in sight and Moxie shows up halfway through on crutches, so it's good things all around. Mel and Carissa both get after Moxie for not taking it easy, but it's clear they're both happy to see him. Especially Mel.

It takes a lot of concentration to keep my focus on practice rather than the woman with blonde curls who laughs and jokes with the team as they get taped or discuss certain stretches or workouts to help with whatever trouble spots they have. Carissa looks like she's in her element now. Like she belongs here.

And when I say I keep my focus on practice, I really don't manage it at all, which is how a laugh from Carissa pulls my eyes to the sideline where she sits with Moxie, right as Loren slams into me and knocks me flat on my back in an impressive tackle.

I shove him off of me as he laughs. "Thanks," I grunt, sitting up with a good deal of struggle.

"You've got it bad, Stitch."

"Yeah." My eyes flit to him. "What did you just call me?"

"He called you Stitch," Wyatt says and holds out a hand to help me to my feet.

"Why?"

Both men chuckle and move back to run the play again.

"No," I growl, holding my hands up instead of taking the ball from Freddie. "No, you can't just give me a new nickname and not tell me why."

"Would you relax?" Wyatt says. "It's a good thing. It means you're one of us."

Gaping, I look around to the other backs to make sure I heard him right. "What?"

Some of the forwards must have noticed my bewilderment because they come over from the other side of the practice field and gather around us. Grayson puts an arm around Wyatt and grins at me. "Did we break him? "

"Apparently he doesn't like his new nickname," Wyatt replies, rolling his eyes.

I groan, folding my arms as if that might intimidate them into explaining. Now that the forwards have joined in, I am all too aware that I am nowhere near the biggest guy here. "I never said I didn't like it," I grumble. "I just don't understand why—"

"Don't overthink it or we'll go back to calling you Rihanna." Wyatt steps forward, shaking his head at me. "Dude, just accept that you are part of the team now before we change our minds."

"But you don't like me."

The group erupts into laughter.

"Maybe not a week ago," Grayson says, "but you've made yourself weirdly likable."

Weirdly likable? I can't tell if that's a compliment. "You said we aren't friends," I argue, though I know those two things don't have to go together.

Grayson and Wyatt look at each other, shrug, and Wyatt says, "You'll have to take that one up with Carissa, Stitch. We were just following orders."

"Ord…" I turn to Carissa, who likely has no idea what we're talking about out on the pitch but meets my gaze and immediately flushes pink. "Everyone run some laps," I growl, as if that might get rid of the guys surrounding me.

To my surprise, they all pick up a jog and head in the opposite direction of Carissa.

Taking the opportunity they give me, I stalk across the pitch, never taking my eyes off of Carissa even though she says something to Mel and Moxie and looks ready to bolt.

"You look angry," she says to me when I'm within earshot.

"Want me to beat him up for you, Carissa?" Moxie asks, shifting his weight on his crutches so he's somewhat in front of her.

I ignore him and continue my path directly for Carissa. My steps don't slow, even when I'm right in front of her, so she scrambles backward until I have her pressed against the concrete wall behind her. I place one hand on either side of her head, boxing her in.

"Did you tell the guys to pretend they don't see me as a friend so I would be forced into going to Sage's wedding?" I ask, my voice gruff.

She bites her lip, pulling my gaze to her mouth. "Um."

"Why?"

"Because Derek thought—"

"Of course he did." Sighing, I move in closer until my face is only inches from hers. While technically I've already spent most of the day with her, offering her seatmate on the plane a hundred bucks to switch seats with me, I haven't had a chance to get this close to her for several hours. I don't like that, though I'll need to learn to survive time away from her if this relationship of ours is going to be healthy. At least she'll come to away games with me, or I might be less reluctant to stay with the team as a player and not just as an owner as soon as that goes through.

Though I'm distracted by her pink lips, I should probably tell Carissa how close I am to buying the team. The current owners, a business duo from Long Beach, were more than interested in my proposal, considering the Thunder isn't good enough yet to bring in much of a return on their investment. They pushed my original offer to six million, but I think I can talk them down to five and a half. If not, I'll pay whatever it takes.

I want this team to succeed, as much for the players' sake as for a way to keep Carissa here with me. I intend to keep her for as long as I possibly can.

"You're really thinking hard about something there, Stitch."

My eyes jump to hers. "You too?"

Grinning, she shifts her hands so they're pressed against my chest. "I think it's a great nickname for you."

"Please tell me it didn't come from the fuzzy blue alien guy." Now that she's touching me, I can't resist moving my hands from the wall to her waist. She's wearing that tank top again, the pink one with the unicorn, and it's such a contrast from my navy blue kit that I can't help but smile. Everything about us is a contrast, but I think that's what makes us work.

"There might have been some Disney influence," Carissa says, closing her eyes as I pull her closer to my body and brush her nose with mine. "The whole concept of family and all that. But I think it goes deeper than that. I think…" She takes a sharp breath when my lips find her jaw. "I think you can't kiss me like that if you want me to explain."

I groan and pull away. "Fine. We may want to come up with some rules for while we're at practice so I don't end up blowing off the team to hang out with you."

"There is nothing close to the concept of ‘hanging out' running through your head right now, Evanson." Narrowing her eyes, she gives me a gentle push so I take a step back and allow her some space to breathe. "And whatever you're thinking, you'll have to save that for later. Here, we're at work. And we are going to stay professional."

I fold my arms. "What if I can't?"

"Then you need to work through some things and learn self-control." Her response comes with a teasing smile, but I know she's serious. And I seriously love how intentional she wants to be with this job.

Lifting my hands in the air, I take several steps back and bump into Moxie, who thankfully keeps himself upright. "Sorry," I mutter to him before turning back to Carissa. "Better?"

Moxie laughs as he looks between us. "I didn't think anyone would have that kind of control over you," he tells me. "Who knew all it would take is you falling in love?"

"Shut up. You." I point at Carissa, who tilts her head. "Keep talking. Why Stitch? "

"Because things would have fallen apart without you," she says, tucking her hands into the pockets of her shorts. "With Moxie in recovery, they need someone to hold them together because we all know it won't be Coach Galvin."

Okay. Well. That nickname is better than I could have hoped for. A pressure builds in my chest, not unwelcome but not comfortable either because it forces me to be vulnerable. Acceptance . It's an emotion I don't feel often outside of my friends—the Glam Gang, according to Hot Scoop —and I never expected to feel it here.

"Really?" I'm not sure I can actually believe it after the season I've had so far.

"Really," Moxie says as Mel nods next to him, which is confirmation enough for me. "I wish I didn't have to blow my knee to get you there, but you are the best thing to happen to this team. I'm glad you've finally accepted it."

I frown, my eyes jumping down to the wrapped up mass that is his leg. He shouldn't be standing here making me feel better about myself when he's only a week off his surgery. "You'll be captain again soon."

"Not if Galvin has anything to say about it," Mel grumbles.

I clear my throat. "About that…"

Moxie's eyebrows shoot up. "I'm almost afraid to ask."

"Cole is buying the Thunder," Carissa says before I can. She joins me at my side, slipping her hand into mine even though that's probably going to end up on our list of rules.

"You're what ?" Moxie's shout makes a couple of the guys stumble as they run past, curiosity clear in their eyes. Thankfully, Moxie drops his voice. "How in the world could you possibly afford that? An MLR franchise is at least four million, and that doesn't say anything about an already established team. "

Apparently he's done his research. Scratching my jaw, I pretend to consider what he's saying to me before I say, "Well, outside of buying my house, I haven't spent all that much since moving back to California."

"Did you miss the part where I said the word ‘million'?" Moxie says, rolling his eyes. "You could be the best paid player in the league, and you still wouldn't—"

"I made twenty-two in the NFL. Million," I add when he doesn't react. "Every year. And I happen to be good at investing, so my net worth has been steadily growing over the last couple of years."

Still staring at me, Moxie seems to have lost all function until he finally lets out a short laugh and a muttered curse. "How much are we talking here, Evanson?"

"I want to know this too," Carissa says with a smirk.

This conversation was a terrible idea. I should have waited until I actually owned the team before I said anything. "Does it really matter?" I ask Moxie. "I'm buying the team. And I'll tell you later," I say to Carissa, "as long as you promise you don't love me for my money."

"I fell in love with you before I knew you were rich," she replies brightly.

Suddenly it feels like I swallowed a bowling ball, and I gape at her. She didn't say…did she?

Eyes going wide, Carissa claps a hand over her mouth. "No! I was going to say that for the first time in a way more romantic way!"

"I don't care about romance," I breathe and cover her mouth with mine, hardly caring about rules or professionalism or anything except the fact that she loves me. She could have told me that in the middle of the security line at the airport, and I still would have loved hearing her say the words.

I know Carissa cares about romance, so I fully intend to find ways to surprise her and brighten up her day, no matter how bright she already makes the world. This life of ours may not be a hockey romance, but it is a rugby romance, and as I kiss the woman I love on the side of a pitch, I make a vow to ensure Carissa's life exceeds her every expectation.

I have a feeling our reality is going to be so much better than any book.

I'll make sure it is.