“Otis! Where is my big fella?” Deanna laughs as he runs full speed at her. Before I can open my mouth to tell him to stop, he jumps up to put his paws on her chest. If I wasn’t standing behind her, he would’ve knocked her down because she did not brace herself at all. “Aw, hey! I missed you so much! Did they take good care of you?” She rubs behind his ears while he sniffs her incessantly as if he’s trying to determine by smell alone where she’s been and what she’s done.
The twins appear. “We fed him and walked him and took good care of him,” they say simultaneously. “He’s a good dog.”
“When are you guys stopping that?”
They grin. “When it stops being fun.” Cal looks at Deanna, who is still busy loving on Otis. “He didn’t eat much the first day and a half, but I think that’s because he missed you. Otherwise, everything went fine.”
“Thank you so much,” Deanna says, placing his paws on the floor. “You two are the best dogsitters. How much do I owe you?”
Otis finally turns his attention to me and whines for the same attention from me that Deanna just gave him.
“Nothing,” they answer her.
“It was enough to crash here and eat the food,” Collin adds.
“And to throw a party while Hook was gone.”
I glare at him, but stay silent. I highly doubt they were stupid enough to throw a party at my house. They go back and forth for a few minutes with Deanna insisting on paying them and the twins refusing any actual payment until she accepts their answer. The guys head out, Deanna walks Otis one last time for the night, and I carry our bags upstairs.
It seems unbelievable to me that I’m not only in a relationship, but I’m fully committed and she’ll soon be living with me. Just because you know something is possible doesn’t mean you think it’ll actually happen or that it’ll happen anytime soon. Yet, here I am.
I’m lying in bed when Deanna comes in. My eyes follow her as she moves around the room and into the bathroom to get ready for bed. I point Otis to the spare bed I bought for him on the floor. He sulks over there like he’s in trouble.
“Thank you for taking me with you. I had a lot of fun,” Deanna says as she grabs a pair of pajamas.
“You don’t need those,” I tell her before she can change. She raises an eyebrow at me, but puts them back and begins to strip down. “You’re welcome, too. I’m glad you went.”
“That’s only because your mom surprised you.”
“No, it isn’t. I’m glad you went because I wouldn’t have wanted to spend those days off without you.”
She smiles as she crawls into bed with me. Her smile widens as she realizes I’m already naked too. “Guess what?” Her nails dig into the skin of my chest, swirling in circles as she works her way down. “I’m not tired.”
I grin and pull her body on top of mine. She brings her face close to mine, but doesn’t yet kiss me. “I love you,” I whisper.
“A lot?”
“More than a lot.”
“Show me.” Her breathing shallows as my knuckles trail over her torso and I steal it completely when I lean up to capture her mouth. I’ll show her over and over tonight just how much I love her until I’m certain she’ll never forget it.
“Start packing things up. Bring over your necessities. I’ll help you more as I can.”
Deanna nods. “I can’t believe we’re doing this.” She looks up from the breakfast I cooked. “I’m glad, but I can’t believe it.”
“Me either. It’s one of the best kinds of surprises,” I say. She nods in agreement. “We’ll figure out how to get everything you want settled here, too. It may take some time to get it the way we like it, but we’ll rearrange whatever until you’re happy.”
“I don’t want to change too much in your house,” she begins and I quickly interrupt.
“You live here now, darlin’. Change whatever you’d like. As long as you tell me where to find my stuff, I won’t care.”
She scoffs, obviously not believing me.
“The only thing I refuse to budge on is my couch and my bed. Everything else is negotiable. I want you here more than I want my house to stay exactly the same.”
That makes her smile. “How long are you gone for again?”
“We only have one game for this trip. I’ll be back Thursday.”
Deanna nods. “Be sure to thank Cal and Collin for me again.”
“I will.” How many times can she thank them? Which, it probably only slightly annoys me because I remember how she raved about them after watching a game once.
We finish breakfast and then go our separate ways. She to work and me to my room to pack for my trip. Spending so much time with her lately makes me reluctant to leave. Which shows how deeply Deanna affects me. In the past, it didn’t bother me at all. How could it when my job easily came first, second, and third?
This life with her is so much better, and I haven’t experienced living with her yet. That, I’m very excited about. To have a woman and a dog waiting for me late at night when I get home from games or after returning from trips? Best kind of life. It’s even better when it’s a woman like Deanna. I doubt life will ever be boring.
“Hey.”
I glance over as Collin takes the seat next to me on the plane. “Hey. What’s up? You doing okay?”
He nods. “You don’t have to ask me that, you know. I feel like I should call you Dad or something for as much as you seem concerned.”
I laugh. “Sorry.”
He shrugs as if it’s no big deal. “I have a weird question for you. For Deanna, really.”
That gets my attention. “What is it?”
His leg bounces, which further puts me on alert. “I, ah, enjoyed keeping Otis.” What? “I ran with Otis in the mornings like she wanted.”
When he doesn’t seem to add anything else, I say, “That’s good. What’s the question?”
“Oh, right.” His voice lowers. “I felt better after running with him. I don’t want the responsibility of a dog right now, though. Would she mind if I, like, borrowed him sometimes?”
“I’m sure she’ll be okay with that. She’s about to move in with me, so text me whenever you want to take him for a run.”
“Thanks.”
I’m all for whatever will help the kid. Apparently, he’s done with conversation now because he pulls out his phone and a pair of earbuds. I lean my head back and look out the window. My thoughts stray to Deanna and some of my teammates. Some of them were pretty quick in getting married. I don’t think Deanna and I will be. It’s an ultimate goal, but that is something I don’t want to rush at all.
Moving in relatively quickly, I’m okay with. I’m confident with that happening right now. I plan to get married only once in my life. I’ve seen and heard too many horror stories about marriages going sour and divorces turned worse than ugly. No, thanks. I want no part of that. Deanna and I will take our sweet time going down that road. Because once we start on it, I don’t want us turning back or dividing to go our separate ways.
Aside from that, I think it’ll be a while before Deanna is ready for something like that. She was caught completely off guard by my wanting her to live with me. She’d likely faint if, within the next year or two, I asked her to marry me. Hell, she might run away. Okay, so I don’t think she’d actually run, but I think she’d say not yet at the very least.
Once she moves in, it’ll be slow going for us. It’ll be the best kind of slow going, too. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to be in a relationship as much as I do now. I’ve never wanted a woman as much as I want Deanna. And I want her as much as I’ve wanted my career all these years. It actually feels nice to have both.
We soon land and get settled into the hotel. We don’t technically have anything on the agenda today, but a volleyball game is on the unofficial schedule. There’s a gym next door to the hotel, which includes a volleyball court. Scotty and I are captains of teams and we alternate choosing players for our teams.
Despite my personal judgment, I pick Marco and Zane to be on my team. Better to have Marco on my team to chirp the opponent than to be the one he’s annoying. I pick Zane because I figure with everything that’s happened, it’ll be good to keep working together. Things haven’t been smooth, and they need to be. The utter look of shock on his face confirms that he never thought I’d pick him, which just adds on to the fact that it was a decision I needed to make.
The game starts with a serve by EJ, who is obviously on my team. As a friend and since I know he’s great at volleyball, the latter of which was most important, he was my first pick. The ball sails through the air, back and forth over the net, while guys from each side talk trash. God save us all when Marco spikes the ball, earns us a point, and celebrates for five minutes afterward. It probably wouldn’t have lasted so long had Noah not been the one to have the ball hit the ground in front of him.
“Keep on, Marco,” Rams says, “and you’ll pull a muscle celebrating. You won’t be laughing then.”
Marc rolls his eyes and tosses the ball to Zane, who is up to serve. We have a good game. We win, of course, but no one brags as much as Marc. It doesn’t matter. The point was to get the guys together for some fun, and we did that. We’ll be in a good mood for the game tomorrow.
Once I make it back to my hotel room, I call Deanna.
“Tell me,” she demands when she answers. If it wasn’t for how often that command has been used between us since the first time I said it, I wouldn’t know what she’s talking about. But I do.
“I love you.”
“I love you too. Today has been hectic. The shop has been insanely busy for some reason and on top of that, someone clogged our toilet so bad, it flooded the bathroom. The plumber is here working on things now. I’m ready to go home. See what happens when you leave me, Brayden?”
I laugh. “I’m sorry. If I was there, I’d take you into your office and finally make your fantasy come true.”
She snorts. “Yeah, right. Mr. Tightwad, who doesn’t want to do anything unless we’re safe and sound at home, would not voluntarily have sex with me in my office.”
“You could convince me; you always do.”
I practically hear her smile and the pride in her voice as she says, “That’s true. Maybe next time you stop by then. How has your day been?”
“Fine. We landed, played some volleyball, and are relaxing for a bit before the team goes to dinner.”
Someone calls her name in the background. It takes her two seconds to say, “Brayden, I’m sorry, but I gotta go. Have fun tonight and we’ll talk later. Love you.”
“Love you too, darlin’.”
She hangs up without another word to deal with her mess back home.
In the first period, Zane makes a hit on someone. It’s a hard hit that riles up the home crowd and pisses them off, especially since their player leaves the period early. He returns for the second and third to play. But that one hit seems to spur a higher energy not only in the crowd, but within the players of both teams. We have no choice but to react to their energy. We need to match it and keep playing our game to stay in it.
It is a tight race. Momentum swings back and forth easily, but we win, thanks to a goal assisted by Z. The crowd is not happy. They are vocal tonight, particularly with Z. He is booed every time he does anything on the ice.
So, afterward, when EJ and I find out he’s spending time at the bar across the street, EJ says, “We need to check on him.” He walks through the lobby without waiting to see if I follow along. “I have a bad feeling, Brayden,” he adds as we cross the street. That doesn’t make me feel good at all, considering how he is about listening to his gut.
Turns out, he has reason to have a bad feeling. We walk into the bar to find a fan of the other team, easily known thanks to his jersey, swaying on his feet and standing before Zane. He cusses and makes comments about how Zane’s hit was dirty.
And Zane, the idiot, argues back with a beer in his hand. “You weren’t on the ice, so keep your fucking opinions to yourself. Or grab a stick and play.” That apparently pisses the fan off and he’s a step closer to Zane. Now, they both run their mouths at each other. I grab Z’s arm and yank him a few steps back from the guy. He glares when he sees it’s me.
The fan continues to go on and on about the hit and how now we’re rescuing Zane. To EJ, I say, “Make sure his tab is paid. We’ll meet you at the hotel.” To Zane, I say only one word. “Disengage.” After putting his beer down on a random table, I drag him out of the bar. He yanks his arm away halfway out.
“Don’t you know you don’t pull that shit?” I ask once we’re outside.
“Why do you even care?”
“Because he was clearly plastered. What if you pissed him off enough that he decided to hit you? You don’t argue with fans. You should know better than to egg him on.”
He stares straight ahead as we cross the street. “That doesn’t answer my question.”
“You’re my teammate; I’ll have your back no matter what. That should be obvious. I don’t know why you would think otherwise.”
He turns his head to look at me. “Yes, you do.”
Deanna. Right. Of course. “Are you saying you wouldn’t have my back?”
He hesitates in answering as we walk into the lobby. “On the ice, of course. Off it?”
I can’t help but chuckle at his uncertainty. If the roles were reversed, I can’t say I’d be certain I would feel the same as I do now. “Your history with her or the fact that you’ve texted her since or talked to her at the bar,” his eyes widen since he apparently thought I didn’t know about the latter two things, “doesn’t change the fact that you’re my teammate and we have to work together.”
Z shakes his head. “You’re better at pushing things aside than I am.”
I laugh. “No, I just focus on what I can control, that kind of thing.”
Two girls walk in, glance our way, and giggle to one another on their way to the check-in desk. “Maybe that’s what I need to focus on,” he comments. I don’t say anything. That’s not for me to decide or to encourage. EJ walks in and Zane nods at us both. “Thanks for saving my ass.”
I shrug and EJ leaves him with a, “No big deal.” We head toward the elevators while Zane hangs out in the lobby. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s to talk to those girls.
“Hey, Dad.”
Otis and I stand a few feet away from the door where Deanna stands in front of her dad. We’re at her house, packing, and all of a sudden, there’s a knock on the door.
“Hey.” His gaze flicks to Otis and me. “Am I interrupting something?”
“Not really. We’re packing because I’m moving in with Brayden. That’s him, by the way. Do you want to come in? We’re due for a break.”
“I would like to speak to you for a moment if that’s okay.”
“Yeah, sure.” She leads him into the kitchen, throwing a quizzical look my way. Otis gives up and wanders in there, but I stay put to eavesdrop. He hasn’t exactly been father of the year since her mother died. What’s so wrong with being on standby just in case he upsets her?
“Sorry for popping in like this, Deanna, but I didn’t want to wait.”
“That’s okay, Dad. What is it? Is everything okay?”
“No. I’m sorry for treating you like I have since your mother’s death. We had been together so long and suddenly, she was gone. I didn’t know how to react; I still feel like I don’t. Not having you there at Christmas hurt, but I realize I should’ve listened better, too. I also realize that we never quite had a good relationship and,” he pauses for a moment, “lord help me, but I blame your mother for that. I allowed her to rub off on me. Your mother dying and reading those diaries of hers made me realize, too, that I didn’t know her nor you as well as I thought I did. She’s gone now and there’s not much I can do but miss her. But with you?” He sounds choked up now. “I hope we can get to know one another better. And I can get to know that boyfriend of yours.”
“Of course, Dad,” Deanna quickly agrees. “We’ll all have dinner sometime soon.”
“Great. That’s great. Okay, well, I best be going. I don’t want to interfere with your day.”
Footsteps quickly follow his words and he frowns when he sees me in the same spot as before, but I don’t care. Deanna says goodbye to him and then he’s gone. She turns to me with a smile on her face.
“Can you believe that? I’m assuming you heard?”
“I did. You look happy.”
“I am. A little skeptical, but happy.”
“Good. I’m happy for you.” I hold out my hand. “Let’s get back to work.”
Not thirty minutes later does she stop packing.
“This will take forever,” Deanna complains with a groan as she plops onto her bed. “I don’t want to move anymore.”
I laugh. “Too bad. We’re doing this.” All we’re doing so far is packing the things she’ll need to take to my house while also discussing what she wants to get rid off. “Hey, do you rent or own this place?” I can’t believe I hadn’t thought to ask before now.
“Rent. I didn’t want to buy simply because I didn’t want to have to fix things that broke. If I rent, the landlord has to do it. I wasn’t ready for that kind of responsibility.”
Makes sense. She lies on the bed for another five minutes, looking around the room and shaking her head, while I continue to pack her clothes. “This is a lot of work.”
“Which I’m currently doing alone,” I point out.
“How did I get all of this shit anyway? When I moved in, all I had was this bed and three boxes of clothes.”
“Deanna.” She needs to get up and help.
“This is a big deal, Brayden.” Her voice turns soft. She glances around the room as if she can’t believe what she’s doing.
Tossing the clothes in my hand into the box, I walk over to sit next to her and take her hand. “Yes, it’s a big deal. You still want to do it, don’t you?”
Deanna quickly snaps her gaze to mine. “Yes, of course. I just...can’t believe I’m doing it. I can’t believe I’ve lived on my own for all of these years with no help from my family. That I struggled until I could make it work. That I’ve had so much fun. That I liked living alone more than I thought I would. I was scared at first, you know? What if I got lonely? What if I couldn’t make ends meet? That kind of thing worried me for a long time when I first moved here.
“And now, I’m leaving this place to live with someone other than my parents for the first time. To live with a man for the first time. Now I have to figure out how all of that works without messing up too much or too badly.” She takes a big breath. “This is huge.” It’s like the enormity of what we’re doing has grown by three and suddenly hit her.
I squeeze her hand and lift it to kiss her knuckles. “Huge and great. It won’t be perfect. Things haven’t been so far and they won’t be in the future.” She frowns at this. “But look at us, darlin’,” I insist quietly. “Still here, still together. Life doesn’t have to be mistake-free for us to last.”
“I know. Thank you for reassuring me, but I promise I don’t actually need it. I’m just overwhelmed at the moment, especially with all that has to be done.”
“We’re in no rush. How much time is left on your lease?”
“Two months.”
“So, we have two long months to get everything settled. But we certainly aren’t getting anything accomplished by sitting here.”
I smile when she rolls her eyes at me.
“All right. Let’s do this. But under one condition.” She sets her phone onto a small stereo system. Music starts to play and she faces me. “You have to sing to me.”
“Oh, come on.”
“Do you want me to help?”
“It’s your fucking shit.”
She shrugs as if that doesn’t matter anyway. I grab the pillow and throw it at her, which earns me a growl from Otis.
“Fine. Just remember that you’re not always getting your way in the future.”
“Mhm,” she hums.
She has gotten her way a lot, if not all, of the time. Yet I haven’t complained once. Why would I? It keeps her happy, and it for damn sure makes me happy. Deanna can have whatever she wants. She wiggled into my life, revived lifelong doubts, erased those doubts, helped me relax, and then had me fall in love with her.
I’m thankful to have her in my life, especially during my concussion and finding out about Coach Hall. Deanna might drive me a little crazy at times, but she can also ground me. That’s important.
And now, she’s moving in. I’m sure it’s going to be a crazy, but fun experience. It is a huge step; she’s absolutely right about that. Neither of us should have any concerns, though. As long as we go all in, it’ll be worth our while, and I have no doubts that we’ll do just that.