CHAPTER 13 TRISTAN

I spent the morning testing footwork techniques with the other wide receivers at practice while we polished up on the playbook. It’s our first practice with this year’s playbook, and everybody prepares for the upcoming season in different ways. The players’ association makes sure nothing is mandatory, but it’s still the team’s expectation to be here. So when I glance around and see nearly all the veteran players present, I’m not surprised.

Minicamp is much lower-key than training camp. We have meetings and training sessions, and it’s a nice reminder as we’ll get back to two-a-days come August.

It comes mid-off-season to force us back into the mindset, and it falls two weeks before I find out for sure whether the team will be exercising my fifth-year option, which means even though most of the guys are moving at half-speed, I don’t have that luxury.

Thanks to the treadmill in my parents’ garage and the daily workouts, I’m in decent shape…but I still find myself gasping for air as we run some drills.

I need to get back into it, but I have over three months before training camp begins. I have plenty of time.

Except there’s a baby on the way, and maybe a wedding—a talk that keeps getting pushed back. There are secrets I’m trying to keep and a history I want to forget.

There are people trying to come between us, whether it’s Savannah or Stephanie or whoever texted me about Coax. That will never change, and I’ve still got the fear that she’s going to bail on me. I’m terrified she’ll decide it’s all too much and walk away.

It happened once. What if it happens again?

I’ve invested everything into her. She owns my entire soul, and that means she has the power to destroy it. To destroy me .

“Whoa, Higs,” Coach Jeff says as I plow through the line of men in front of me to practice a slant route. “These are supposed to be non-contact practices.” He pulls me aside. “What’s going on?”

I shake my head. “Nothing. Just trying to get open for the pass.”

He narrows his eyes at me, but he lets it go.

I’m careful to avoid contact after that, but she’s in my head now. I’m a little afraid of what having her in my head could mean for the upcoming season.

* * *

I’m not interested in going out Saturday night, but Travis, Jaxon, Austin, and Cory all head over to Coax. Instead of joining them, I call it an early night. I climb into the guest bed in Travis’s place, and I call Tessa.

“Hey,” she answers, and most people look distorted and goofy on video chat, but not my Tessa. She’s as gorgeous as always.

“Anything exciting happen today?” I ask.

She chuckles. “Yes, actually. My mom threw me a surprise baby shower.”

“I knew about it,” I admit. “How was it?”

“You knew?” she asks, her tone accusatory.

“Who do you think gave her the key to our house?” I ask, and she giggles.

“Well, we’re pretty much moved in now, and after the shower, the baby’s all set. Everything we need is there. All that’s missing is the two of us.”

“I can’t wait to be there. To move in with you. To wake up next to you,” I say softly, keeping my voice low so I don’t have to take shit from my teammates tomorrow should anyone happen to overhear me.

“I think we should get married,” she blurts. Her eyes widen as she says the words.

“We are,” I say with a yawn as the day’s events catch up with me. “I proposed, remember?”

“Right, I know. What I mean is that we should do it soon. Before the baby gets here. Maybe…this week, even.” Her tone is cautious as she throws out the idea.

“I thought you wanted to wait until after the baby so you’d fit into your dream dress.” I sit up a little in bed. Is she serious?

“I do…” she trails off, and she starts over. “Well, I did , but the dress, the big wedding, the dream—none of it matters as much as being your wife matters, and I’ve been thinking a lot about everything. I think we should do it soon, and maybe in a year from now after the season ends and the Aces win the Super Bowl, we can have our big dream wedding.”

“Where is this coming from?” I ask softly.

Her eyes look offended for a second, but she masks it quickly.

Before she can answer, I jump in. “It’s not that I don’t want to, Tess. Believe me, I do. I wouldn’t have asked you if I wasn’t ready to do it this very second. But why are you rushing it?”

She blows out a breath. “I want to be your wife. First and foremost, that’s my answer. I’ve wanted to be your wife since I fell in love with you when I was twelve years old. I want that special connection that two people share where we commit to a lifetime together.”

“But…?” I ask, trailing off.

“Well, there are other factors at play,” she admits, and her eyes dart a little nervously around her bedroom before landing back on me. “You’re a celebrity, and I’m terrified of the spotlight. I don’t want our wedding all over the tabloids. I want it to be for us, and if we just do it before anybody can find out, it will be. And then there’s the threat of our baby being taken away, even with Cam signing those papers…it’s much better for my case if I can provide a stable home with two loving parents. And I want your dad there…” She trails off at the end.

I close my eyes as the reality of her words hits me.

I want my dad there, too. In fact, I want him to stand up with me as my best man. I want him to be proud of the man he raised.

I wish she was here so I could hold her in my arms. “Are you sure?” My brows draw together as I think it over. If I’m being honest, well, I’ve been ready to marry her what feels like my whole life.

“I’m positive. And I feel like the quicker we do it, the easier it’ll be to keep it from becoming a media frenzy.”

“So…city hall?” I ask.

“What do you think about a quickie Vegas wedding?” she asks.

I chuckle. “I think it’s a fun idea, but is it safe for you to fly the closer we get to your due date?”

“I read that most airlines will let you fly all the way up to thirty-six weeks, so maybe if I’m cleared from all the risks at this week’s appointment, I can make a quick trip out,” she says.

“Why Vegas?” I ask softly. I can’t pretend like I don’t have reservations about coming back here for our wedding. There are too many people who could find out between now and then versus just heading to City Hall and taking care of it. There are far more complications in traveling.

“It seems important to you. And it’s where our future is going to be, so it’s important to me, too. Just pick a place that looks nice and book it for next week. If we have to cancel, we have to cancel.”

My chest tightens that she wants to do this for me…for us. “Let’s see what the doctor says this week, and if we get the green light, we can do it as soon as we can. If we don’t get a green light on flying, I’ll drive you myself.”

“It’s like twenty-four hours in the car, isn’t it?” she asks with a giggle.

“Yeah,” I admit. “Flying would definitely be more comfortable for the trip out, but we’ll do what we have to in order to make this happen. Or we can do it in Iowa. I just want to be married to you. Forever.”

“That’s all I want, too. I love you, Tristan.” Her voice trembles with emotion, and I feel it, too.

“T and T, baby. I love you, too,” I murmur.

We end the call, and I start looking up places where we can do this. Almost every major hotel has a chapel, but nearly all of them are booked solid. We could do one of the drive-thru ones off-Strip, but she said to pick somewhere nice. It might be a quickie Vegas wedding with just our parents in attendance, but that doesn’t mean it has to be cheesy or gaudy.

It just has to be perfect for us .

I find an opening at a small chapel inside the Venetian for next Friday night, and I book it. It’ll give us three days after her doctor appointment to get to Vegas if we need to drive. I book a suite at the hotel, too, for Thursday through Monday, along with rooms for my parents and her mom.

I’ll call the hotel tomorrow to arrange appointments for our wedding attire and all the other things she’ll want for our special day, and then I stare up at my ceiling.

I just got out of a marriage, and I’ve barely had time to just be single—to just be me .

But I know who I am. I was lost a long time…seven years, to be exact, but I found myself the moment our eyes connected across our bedroom windows at the end of January.

I can’t wait to get started on our future together.

Just as I’m about to drift off to sleep with a smile lifting my lips, my phone notifies me of a new text.

Unknown: Your friends are at the club. Where are you?

My chest races.

Who the hell is this?

I blocked the unknown number last time. Is this somebody else?

It’s time to find out. I’m done ignoring, done blocking…done playing games.

Me: Who is this?

Unknown: Didn’t block me this time?

Who has the time to get a new number simply to harass somebody else?

Savannah .

It has to be her.

Me: I’m done playing games. What do you want?

Unknown: Don’t you play games for a living?

I blow out a breath, and before I can respond, another text comes through.

Unknown: You’ll find out soon enough. [wink emoji]

It has to be empty threats.

I block the number and toss my phone aside as I try to get some rest.

But the smile lifting my lips is gone, and peaceful slumber escapes me.