CHAPTER 25: Ford Bradley
We’re a We
I’m not sure why I said New Year’s Eve. Maybe so I’ll always remember our anniversary, but deep down I know that’s not something I’d ever forget no matter what date we chose.
We.
We’re awe.
It’s just to get the money, but it also feels like it’snotjust to get the money.
Lines are blurring, and we’re about to hyper speed this wholedatingprocess during the time of my season when I’m supposed to have my focus on the field. We’re making a playoff run, and we’re currently in second place in our division. Every game matters now, and if we win against the team in first place when we play them in week sixteen, we have the best shot of a playoff spot without having to fight in the wild card game.
This is the toughest time of the year. We’re all under an immense amount of pressure.
We need to stay healthy, and that includes not just avoiding injury but our mental health as well.
I don’t need these dates and this impending wedding clouding my focus right now, but it’s not like I can pass up the chance to be with the woman I’ve loved since high school…to make her fall in love with me, too. What if marrying her is the thing that keeps my mental health in balance?
I text her before I pull out of the parking lot at practice on Wednesday.
Me:Put on shoes you can walk in and meet me downstairs in fifteen minutes.
She’s there when I pull up in front of the building, and she hops right into the passenger seat.
“What’s all this?” she asks, and she’s a little breathless, like she spent the last fifteen minutes running around getting ready for the mystery location where our first date will take place.
“It’s our first date,” I say.
She laughs as she buckles in. “Is it?”
“I don’t really count the cake tasting, do you?”
“I suppose not. It wasn’t intentionally a date. But then you kissed me and started this whole thing.” She waves a hand between us.
“I think we should definitely have the honey and fig sex cake at our wedding, don’t you?” I tease.
“Definitely,” she squeaks.
I chuckle as we head toward our destination. We arrive, and I pull into a parking lot.
“Where are you taking me?” she asks.
“The Riverwalk,” I say, nodding ahead of me. “They have food trucks tonight, so I thought we could grab a bite to eat and walk along the water. You know, like a real date.”
“I love it,” she says. She’s always been the type of person who’s up for anything, and maybe she appreciates the simplicity of this date. It’s showing her that we can just be a normal couple even though there’s a chance I’ll be recognized. It’s a little easier to stay incognito at night with a ball cap on than during the day without one, so I grab a hat from my backseat and slip it on.
We get out of the car, and I walk around to take her hand in mine. And that’s how we walk along the Riverwalk. The sun is sinking into the Hillsborough River, and the backdrop of Tampa is stunning at this time of the evening. We walk along and see a variety of shops and bars along with statues and parks.
It’s a reminder of why I love this town. That even after my playing days are over, maybe I’ll stay. I have a reason to stay since I own a property here now—or half of one, anyway—and it’s just convincing enough to keep me here.
And it’s far, far away from my brother…my future wife’s ex.
The thought comes thunderously unbidden into my mind, and it clings on.
I need to tell him that I’m marrying Tatum. Or she needs to tell him. One of us needs to. He deserves that much.
And we will. We’re still three weeks out. We have time…sort of.
