Gage growls at him. “You’ll keep your mouth shut until Addy says you can tell other people.”
His shoulders drop. “You’re boring.”
“I’ve got this.” Nolan herds Tanner away with Brock following them.
Gage leads me out of the room and down the hallway to the exit. “I’m so fucking proud of you, songbird.”
Those words hit me straight in the chest. I want to make Gage proud. I want him to be proud to have me on his arm.
I want Gage. Period.
Chapter 25
Timing matters more than speed.
Gage
All thoughts and worries about whether I should let Addy go to save my career disappear as I walk her to my chalet. She came tomewhen she had good news. She feels this connection as much as I do.
I can’t let her go. I’ll figure out a way to combine football and love. Players do it all the time. How hard can it be?
We reach the chalet and I lead Addy to the sofa. I sit down and pull her into my lap. “Tell me everything,” I say once she’s straddling me.
“You are not going to believe this,” she starts.
“Did you get her email yet with the lawyer’s paperwork?” I ask once she finishes.
She chews on her bottom lip. “Lawyer’s paperwork. Do I really need a lawyer?” She groans. “This is all above my paygrade. I don’t understand any of it.”
I pull her lip away from her teeth. “We’ll figure it out. I have a lawyer but I assume sports lawyers and entertainmentlawyers are different. Although, I once met Juliet Ash exiting my lawyer’s office.”
Her mouth gapes open. “You met Juliet Ash?”
“She lives in Steel City.”
“She does?”
I shrug. “She has a house there as well as in New York City and Hollywood.”
“Meanwhile, I don’t have a single house.”
This is the perfect opening. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned as a running back, it's not to hesitate. To hit the hole before it closes.
“You could come live with me.”
She barks out a laugh. When I don’t join her, she sobers. “You’re not joking.”
I tug a strand of her wavy red hair behind her ear. “It’s the perfect solution. You could negotiate the sale of your song to Juliet and spend your evenings.” I wiggle my eyebrows. “And nights with me.”
“I can’t abandon my family. My mom relies on me.”
“Otis has been stepping up lately.”
“There’s a difference between watching his sisters a couple of times in the summer and making sure they get to school and all of their activities on time during the school year. Besides, he’s still a kid himself.”
Seventeen is hardly a kid. At his age, I was playing football while going to school and holding down a job to pay for all of my gear and trips for away games.
I kiss her nose. “Okay.”
