Hailey was still smiling later that afternoon as she finished showering and getting ready. X and Izzy had left after swimming and sharing their treats, which included homemade ice cream sandwiches from Mama Newton. Izzy needed to make X’s mama give her some cooking lessons.

The break from serious concerns and playful afternoon had been exactly what she needed. She came out of her room, anxious to find Brady and simply be with him. Unfortunately, she was pretty sure he would want to continue the conversation that had been interrupted. Even though she knew it was time to spill her secrets, it made her chest tighten.

He was standing across from her bedroom door leaning casually against the hallway wall. Hailey jumped and placed a hand to her heart. “What are you doing?”

Brady smiled and extended his hand. “Waiting for my beautiful wife.”

She took his hand, loving the way his large palm engulfed hers. He made her feel so safe, which was insane considering three weeks ago she was terrified of huge football players. He started up the stairs toward his room, and Hailey fell into step with him. It was time to talk to her husband about her past, and though a knot quickly formed in her stomach, she thought she could do this for him, for them.

Brady settled into the loveseat, and she sat primly next to him. They sat there for a few quiet moments before he said, “Can we try this again? I would really like you to share with me.”

Her throat went dry. She grasped for time to overcome the fears pounding through her brain. She’d held these secrets so tightly it was like wrenching a cub from his mama to yank them out from their dark recesses. “Share what?”

Brady’s dark eyes searched her face, tender as any caress. “Anything you’re willing to share.”

Hailey nodded. It took her a few tries before she could form the words. Where to start? She supposed she had to share with him the story she’d never told anyone. The trust she was giving him was huge, but this was Brady, and she thought maybe she could do it. Anything was worth the chance to be with him, to be his wife for real.

His fingers tenderly traced along her shoulder. Hailey pulled in a shaky breath and took the plunge. “I always knew I wanted to be an athletic trainer. Luckily, I had an in with my daddy.”

Brady smiled encouragingly at her. “You do an amazing job, Hailey.”

“Thanks. As soon as I graduated from high school, I begged my dad to let me apprentice with the team and be involved with off-season workouts before I started college. I met Gage there.” She swallowed hard and looked down. It still tasted as bitter as grapefruit slices without sugar to spit out his name.

“Gage?”

“Tantrum.”

“Oh. I forgot he played for the Titans for a couple of years.”

Hailey nodded, meeting his gaze. “So you know him?”

“Yeah. I’ve played against him since college.”

Hailey could see the wheels spinning in Brady’s head. She wondered if he’d put it together earlier, who the Gage was she screamed at in her nightmares. She could also see that he was confused. Gage had a great persona with the media. She’d never met a player who didn’t like him. He was a fullback and was known for delivering consistent yardage but also for just being a hilarious, laidback guy. Hailey had heard from numerous players the funny one-liners he said to opposing teams. Fortunately, he’d been traded to Pittsburgh while Hailey was away at college, so she only had to see him from the sidelines when the Titans played them.

“You … dated him?” Brady’s eyes were soft and understanding.

“Yeah. He was fresh out of college, and I thought he was everything I’d ever wanted. I knew my daddy would freak out about me dating an older guy and one of his players. I’m still sick that I went behind his back when he’s always been so good to me, but for some reason, I couldn’t resist Gage. We snuck around that whole summer. I thought I loved him. I was so dumb and immature.”

Brady’s hand tightened around her shoulder. “Hey, most of us were at eighteen.”

She smiled her thanks and then focused on the sunny day and the treetops outside of the huge windows of his suite. Brady’s touch and the sunshine beaming through the windows helped dispel a little of the darkness, but she was still semi-shocked she’d started this story. No one knew it. Izzy had shut herself away from the family, and she and Hailey hadn’t been close until recently. All of her high school friends had gone their separate ways with college and humanitarian or mission trips shortly after graduation, and Hailey had been so involved with Gage that summer she hadn’t needed or wanted anyone else. She hadn’t wanted to tell her mama or daddy and see the disappointment in their eyes that she hadn’t honored the values they’d taught her of being morally clean. They’d given her everything, and she’d gone behind their backs like a stupid, selfish teenager.

As time passed, it got easier to just keep the secret locked away and stay really smart where men were concerned.

“I’ve never told anyone this,” she said, gnawing at her cheek.

Brady turned her toward him and used his free hand to tilt her chin up. The sincerity in his dark eyes washed over her, calming her like soaking in a lavender-scented bath. “I want to help you, Hailey, but if it’s too hard, you don’t have to tell me.”

Hailey didn’t want to tell him, but at the same time, she did. She wanted to cast this secret out of her. Maybe if she did, she could finally find some closure and trust herself to a man, not just any man, her husband. Brady being so calm and understanding helped her continue.

“Thank you.” She cleared her throat and clasped her hands together. “The night before I left for college …” Emotion clogged her throat, and she had to swallow before continuing. “Gage told me he loved me and wanted to marry me. We started kissing, and he convinced me that we shouldn’t wait since we were going to get married anyway.” She blew out a breath. “Sorry, this is awkward.”

Brady nodded his understanding. His jaw was clamped tight, and there was a muscle working furiously in his jaw. He didn’t say anything, and Hailey wished she could stop telling her story, wished she’d never started, but it was spilling out now. “We didn’t stop, and it was awful. He was really violent with me, and it hurt.” Hurt was putting it mildly.

Brady’s breathing was ragged, and his grip on her arm slackened. “Hailey,” he sort of groaned like she’d caused him physical pain telling him this.

She couldn’t meet his gaze as she finished. “When he was done, he told me that there was something wrong with me. He said it shouldn’t have hurt and he didn’t want a little girl anyway.” Tears were tracing down her face. She brushed them away. “I hated myself almost as much as I hated him. I couldn’t stop crying when I got home that night. My parents took me to college the next morning. They thought I was crying so hard because I didn’t want to leave home.” She gave him a watery smile. “But I was crying because I’d given away something precious and I couldn’t ever get it back.”

Her innocence and trust had both disappeared that night. She’d lost not only her virtue, but also, what she’d believed would be a special experience had been awful. Then after it was over, she’d been discarded by the man she’d fallen in love with.

Her family assumed she dated so many men throughout college and after because she was just flighty and fun, but she’d done it to protect herself from ever getting serious and trusting her body and her heart to another man, especially a strong man … until Brady.

Brady shook his head, his lips pressed in a thin line. “I can’t believe Gage would treat you like that.”

Hailey felt like he’d just slugged her in the gut. She’d never shared her story with anyone, and now, the man she’d fallen in love with and chosen to trust didn’t believe her. She shrank back and murmured, “You don’t believe me?”

“Oh, Hailey, no!” Brady pulled her close, and she could feel him shaking his head against her hair. “I believe you. Of course I do. I meant I can’t believe Gage could treat any woman like that, especially you. You’re an angel, Hailey, and deserve to be treated like one.”

Hailey sniffed against him. Then the tears rushed out hard. Brady easily lifted her onto his lap and cradled her in his strong embrace. She wrapped her arms around his waist and clung to him as her shoulders shook and sobs clogged her throat. The release of telling her sordid story and Brady being here for her ripped emotion from her that she’d stored for far too many years.

Brady kissed her forehead and then her tear-stained cheeks. Time passed as she cried and cried. When she finally calmed down, he asked, “Is that why you don’t date football players?”

Hailey managed a weak nod. “I don’t date anybody who’s big and muscly. I don’t want to be hurt like that ever again.”

Brady shook his head and hugged her tight. “Hailey, I promise you I would never hurt you like that. Gage was a selfish monster. Loving someone should never be like that.”

Hailey wanted to ask him how he knew, but she didn’t really want to know.

“It makes so much sense now,” he said.

“What’s that?”

“Why you’ve seemed almost scared of me at times. Even on our wedding day, I felt such peace when I touched you, but there was fear in your eyes.”

She nodded. “At the same time, I somehow knew I could trust you.”

“I’m glad.” His eyes swept over her. “Are you glad you married me?”

Hailey smiled at him. “I am.”

“Do you …” He paused and finally muttered, “Want to have a marital relationship someday?”

Hailey felt the familiar fear trickle in, but she found courage looking into Brady’s kind eyes. “Can we take it slow?”

Brady nodded, his face solemn. “I don’t care if it takes years before you’re ready, Hailey. I want to be with you, all of you.”

Years? Hailey laid her head against his chest and enjoyed being close to him. Would Brady really wait years for her? He was all man, and that seemed to be asking too much of him. Could she ever be whole and have a marriage like her parents, like X and Izzy? Somehow, she doubted it, but Brady’s sincerity and patience were like a balm of antibiotic cream over wounds that had never healed.