I nod and bite my bottom lip. “I’ve seen you with your daughter. You’re a big softy, Mr. Hale. And you’ve been so patient with me and all the crap that comes with being with me.”
Something flits across his face, but it’s gone before I can decipher it. “I wanted to talk to you about that. Let’s get cleaned up first.”
After I pee and Phoenix cleans us up with a warm cloth, he takes me back to his bed. I snuggle into a curled position on my side, and he lies beside me, propped up on his elbow.
“I wasn’t going to bring this up yet because I know your focus needs to be on the game, but after tonight… Well, I just want you to know how serious I am about you.”
“It’s okay. My brain can do more than one thing at a time,” I tease, making him smile.
“First of all, I don’t want you to think I’m pressuring you because I’m not. But I think you deserve to know where my head is.”
“And where’s that?” I ask tentatively, praying it’s somewhere in the vicinity of my own.
His eyes hold mine, the irises a deep ocean blue. “I want forever with you. This isn’t some fling to me, Jordie. I’ve fallen hard for you, and that’s never going to change.”
He waits for my response, his body relaxing when I smile. “My head is in the same place. I know I met you less than a year ago, but I couldn’t imagine my life without you in it.”
“Good,” he breathes, dragging the tips of his fingers down my biceps. “Because whenever you’re ready, I’d love for you to move in here with me and Reece.”
I nod. “That makes sense. I can stay here while Lorraine is recovering. That way I don’t have to drive back and forth every day.”
Phoenix moistens his lips with his tongue. “It does make sense, but I was thinking a little more long-term.”
Is he saying…My eyes pop wide and I shove up onto my elbow. “You want me to move in with you?”
“When you’re ready,” he reiterates. “You control the timeline. If it’s immediately, then fuck yes. That would make me the happiest man in the world. If it’s a year from now, I’ll deal with that. But eventually, I want us to live as a family, if that’s something you want.”
I want to scream yes, but I need to think with my brain and not my heart. Or my genitals. “Why don’t I stay here while I’m taking care of Reece and we can see how it goes? Kind of like a trial run. You might be sick of me after a couple months.”
“Never,” he replies, his smile returning.
“Then maybe I’ll be sick of you,” I retort.
Phoenix laughs. “That’s a lot more likely.” His face grows serious. “It’s not easy living with a kid. Reece can be precocious, and that’s a nice way of putting it. Sometimes she’s just a plain old pain in the butt.”
“But you still love her.” It’s a statement, not a question, because I already know he does. I can see it shining in his eyes whenever she’s around. Whenever he talks about her.
“With every cell in my body,” he replies.
I cup his face with my hand. “I love her too. Not just when she’s being sweet and adorable but when she’s cranky and cantankerous.” Blinking back more tears, I say, “She’s stolen my heart, and I want to play whatever role she’ll allow me to play. I know she has a mother?—”
Phoenix cuts me off, his tone sharp and vehement. “She doesnothave a mother. She has an egg donor. That’s it.” Then he softens his voice. “I’ve never even thought about bringing a woman into our lives because I didn’t trust anyone.” He turns his face to kiss my palm. “But I trust you. With my heart and with my daughter’s.”
I bury my face in his chest and let the tears fall because that’s the highest compliment this man could ever pay me. He holds me and lets me cry, rubbing my back with gentle caresses.
Finally, my tear ducts are dry, and I sniffle. “For the record, I’m not afraid of the hard stuff. I stayed with Juliette for a few months when the twins were infants. You always hear that babies sleep a lot, but those two managed to never be asleep at the same time. They were like little chaos monsters.”
Phoenix rolls and reaches for the box of tissues on his nightstand, pulling out two and handing them to me. I clean my face and nose before shooting the wads into the trash can.
“That makes me want to send my mother flowers for having to put up with me and Helix at the same time. And Remi was a toddler at the time.”
“You definitely should,” I giggle.
We curl back into each other, and I inhale the clean soapy smell of Phoenix’s neck. “Do you think you ever want to have kids?” he asks. “It’s not a dealbreaker for me. I would love to have more with you, but if we only have Reecie, I won’t be disappointed.”
It doesn’t escape me that he said “we,” and my heart bounces in my chest.
“I think I’d like to one day. Of course, I’d have to temporarily quit football if I got pregnant, so I want to get established in my career before I do.” I look up at him. “Luckily the league is very supportive of families. They have all kinds of resources to help the athletes get back in shape when they’re ready to come back, including physical therapists who specialize in pelvic floor rehabilitation.”
