51. Chapter 51

Chapter 51

Tripp

Thanksgiving is one of my all-time favorite holidays. Not really all that surprising since it's an entire day focused on football and food.

I'm done with my team commitments for the day and I'm itching to get home, to my full apartment.

I open my door and it's buzzing with energy. There's hustle and bustle and plates and platters of food. Willow's parents are here, plus Emilie and my mom.

"The thing about pie is you have to be patient," my mom says from the kitchen. I already know she's rolling out crust for her pecan pie with caramelized bananas. I don't remember her making anything else for dessert.

"I've never made pie crust," Willow says. The sounds of them in the kitchen, on Thanksgiving morning, is fucking wholesome.

I shut the door.

"Tripp!" Lo practically skips to meet me at the door. It never gets old. Her parents follow behind. "These are my parents, Kathy and Alan. Mom and Dad, this is Tripp."

"Finally! We've been dying to meet you," Kathy says while pulling me into a tight hug. "You can call me, Kath. How was your meeting? Are you hungry? What do you need?" Willow and her dad both shake their heads when Kath asks questions before I can even give her an answer.

"Give the man some room to breathe, and he better be hungry. We've got food for twenty here," Alan says. I consider myself confident but I'm borderline shaking when her dad gives me his hand. I shake it and then he claps me on the back.

I don't know a lot about having a dad. Especially a good one.

"You've been having a hell of a season. Even at this weird new NFL team," Alan says.

"Dad! It's not weird," Willow shouts from the kitchen.

"A team materializing out of thin air is weird. It's not Tripp's fault. He didn't do it." Her dad throws his hands up and you can tell this is how they bicker back and forth.

"When you put it that way, you're right, it is a little weird," I agree with him and catch Willow grinning at me while she works with my mom in the kitchen. There's a lump in my throat. "I'm going to take a quick shower and change. Be back in a minute."

I walk into my bedroom, taking my shirt off, before I get into the master suite. I hear the bedroom door lightly click shut.

"MVP. Everything okay?" Willow asks as she puts her hand on my chest.

"Yes, it's fine," I get out without my voice cracking. I'm legit about to cry.

"That line doesn't work on me. Sorry." She shrugs while keeping her hand on me.

"It's stupid. Nothing is wrong, everything is right. I've never had a family to do holidays with. Seeing your parents here with my mom and you. It's just… something I've wanted for a long time." I wipe the tear from my eye before it can fall.

Willow puts her hands on my bare chest. "That's one of the most wholesome things I've ever heard."

"I'm thankful for you. For today. All of it." I kiss the top of her head. I hold her and we move back and forth for a few seconds .

"You deserve all of this. I hope you know that." Willow looks up at me and there are tears in her golden eyes, threatening to spill. "I think you've waited long enough. Get in the shower and let's do Thanksgiving." She pokes me in the chest and walks out.

Dinner was delicious. Mom and Willow pulled out all the stops which makes me wonder what they'll do next year.

Now, we're all in the living room, blankets on laps and after-dinner cocktails in hand. Football is on and it feels like we've been doing this forever. This truly is the Thanksgiving I wanted my whole life.

"How bad does it hurt to get hit by that guy?" Alan points at the TV where one of the best cornerbacks in the league is celebrating a broken-up touchdown.

"Worse than you think." I laugh and take a sip of my old fashioned.

Alan is a massive NFL fan, and he's been asking me some of the best questions. He wants to know all the ins and outs of plays, coverages, and any dirt I have on players he clearly doesn't like.

"I can't believe you have to get up after that and do it again," Kath chimes in.

"Me either," my mom and I chime in at the same exact time.

"Do you know if he's single?" Emilie quips and the room breaks into laughter. I don't spend a ton of time with Lo's assistant but whenever she's around it's a good time.

"I'm so excited to get back and see a game in a few weeks!" Kath says, rubbing her hands together.

Kath and Alan couldn't stay the whole weekend, but I promised them tickets whenever they wanted them. Sounds like they're planning to come the week before Christmas and stay for a while at Willow's place. We haven't fully planned the details, but I think we'll host Christmas at Willow's this year.

We'll host. I don't care if this makes me a sucker or not, because I want every single holiday with this woman and everyone that comes with it.

Willow's phone rings from the kitchen. She lets it go to voicemail. It continues to ring a second time.

"Who is calling you on Thanksgiving?" Alan scoffs while not taking his eyes off the football game.

Willow gets up, grabs her phone, and stands in the kitchen, her brows furrowed. She sighs and puts her head back before Emilie meets her in there.

"The balls on this man to call you on a holiday." Emilie comes back, with more Rose in her wine glass, and an eye-roll that I don't want to be on the receiving end of.

"Who is she talking about, sweetie?" Kath asks.

"It's Erik." Her brows are scrunched like she's trying to put the pieces together.

I know she's been dodging his calls since their latest meeting when they tried planning a tour she specifically didn't ask for. They've been trying to get her to come in for a planning session, but she keeps telling them to send over preliminary ideas to show they've shifted to her direction.

I'm fucking proud of my girl for standing strong. I know being in limbo bothers her, but she does it, nonetheless.

When her phone rings for a third time, this time with a video call, Willow answers it and walks to the bedroom—I follow because I'm a little nosy.

"Erik, are you kidding with this? What do you want?!" she says to the phone screen .

"Don't be mad. I promise, it's good news. I wouldn't bother you if it wasn't."

I don't care what kind of news he has. Calling on a holiday? Questionable. I know they've been at odds. I'm fucking proud of Willow for saying it how it is, right off the bat.

She gives him this look that screams "you would, and you know it."

"I mean, I may have done that in the past, but I do have good news."

"I'm listening," she says, sitting on the edge of the bed. Her eyes glance to me and then next to her. I follow her unspoken instruction and sit by her.

"Are you out of town? Where are you?" he asks, confused by her background. Nosy prick.

"I'm at Tripps. We just wrapped up dinner with our families ." She enunciates and smirks at him. "Say hi to Tripp." She turns the phone so I'm looking at Erik. I've never met him but have heard enough about him.

"Oh, wow! Hey, man. HUGE FAN. I'm hoping to get out to a game soon. Been a fan since you started."

Before I can respond, Willow turns the phone back to her.

"Erik, don't lie. I know you have a Detroit Lions tattoo." She sells him out so fast I can't help but laugh. Not with Erik, but at him. He won't know the difference.

"That was a dare, and you know it!" His voice is low like he's a little embarrassed. I love it.

"Let's get to that good news." I have no interest in having this guy kiss my ass on Thanksgiving.

"You got it. Willow, we reconsidered the tour start date as well as the venues. Aiming for something smaller, that will make almost zero dollars—"

"Erik." Her voice is clipped.

"I'm kidding." He laughs in a way that tells us he wasn't. "We've managed to get a better split, more 1000-2000 person venues, with a start date in April. I emailed you the new proposed tour date list. There are even some open dates, gaps, in case you wanted to pick some of the venues yourself."

Wow. He might've actually come through. I know this is much closer to what she wanted.

"Really? You mean it?"

"I mean it. It took some convincing on my end, but we think the marketing plan will lead to more sales, across more units, and have some ideas for new revenue streams surrounding the tour. All with your approval, of course."

"I'll review the list and let you know." She doesn't let her excitement come through. Don't think she wants to give him the satisfaction.

"Let's aim to have the music mixed by the first week of January. Sooner is better but we want to give you some time to put the final touches on it."

This man is being accommodating. I bet it came down to the fact that she could actually hold this album until her contract with them ran out. Money talks.

"That's doable. Thanks, Erik." She hangs up the phone and then wraps her arms around me.

Now that Erik is gone, she squeals into me, shaking us on the bed with her kicking feet.

"I'm fucking proud of you. Holding out isn't easy."

"Thank you. I feel like I can finally breathe again."

"Okay, we should get back out there."

"Another minute. I want to be proud of you. Just the two of us," I say.

Willow melts into my chest .

"Thanks for being proud of me."

"Always." I squeeze her into me.

"I love you, Tripp." Her voice is sweet, small, and sincere.

My heart stops. The moment slows. It's the first time she's said those three words, when she wasn't asleep. I knew she meant in other ways like how she looks at me, or kisses, but never with her mouth, not like this.

"I know you've been waiting for me to say that, and I've felt it for a while. I just, I don't know, all of the stuff that comes after? I've never been able to get right." Her eyes are pinched with worry.

"You don't need to do that, apologize for waiting until you were ready," I say. "Plus, you kind of told me you loved me first." She tilts her head in confusion.

"What do you mean?" she asks, slow and deliberate.

"Well, remember how I said you talk in your sleep? One night, you told me you loved me."

Willow's cheeks flush pink and she rolls her eyes before letting out a laugh. "Of course, I did that. You didn't say anything…" She locks her eyes on mine.

"Of course not. There's no reason to rush any of this, and I knew you'd say it when you were ready."

"Giving me an awful lot of credit, MVP," Willow says, raising her eyebrows.

"Why wouldn't I?"

She stops and the room is silent, only sounds from the living room are muffled and present. I can almost hear my heart beat in my ears.

"This, this right here, is why I love you," Willow says while putting a hand on the side of my face and putting her lips close to mine.

I can't hold her tight enough.