Page 114 of Lowering His Guard

We reach the door and he opens it for me. Addy’s eyes sparkle as she greets us. “Well, well, look who the mermaid dragged in.”

“She didn’t drag me. Maybe pushed me a bit.”

“Table for two,” Brock grunts out.

“Who would have thought the sunshine surfer and grumpy football player would fall in love?”

Panic seizes me. “Oh, we’re not. I mean we’re dating. This is…”

Addy barks out a laugh. “Follow me to your table before you burst a vessel in your brain.”

Brock squeezes my hand as we maneuver through the tables. I glance up at him. He’s not panicking. He’s smiling down at me as if he finds me cute. Okay. Fine. Maybe I overreacted to the ‘fall in love’ comment.”

We settle at a table behind the bar. It’s a secluded alcove.

“Here you go, lovebirds.” She slaps the menus on the table before sashaying away.

“Did you enjoy watching the game, pint-sized?”

“I did. I never really paid much attention to all the tactics and such before, but Jace explained things to me.” I scrunch my nose. “How are you feeling? You got hit pretty hard a few times.”

He rolls his shoulders. “It’s all part of the game. I barely feel it.” He smiles. “It always feels good to win.”

I point at his face. “You only smile big when you discuss football. Are you certain you want to retire?”

“I want to spend more time with Jace before he leaves the house for college and becomes his own man. I already missed so much with him. I don’t want to miss more.”

“Jace doesn’t seem to mind.”

“He’s a good kid.”

“You could play a few more years.”

“Nah. I’ve had a great career.”

“What about the Super Bowl? Don’t you want a championship ring?”

“If it happens this year, great. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t.”

I stare at him. “Really? You wouldn’t be upset if you retire after this season and the Seals win the Super Bowl next season?”

“I’d be happy for my teammates.”

“Dude.” I shake my head. “You’re being awful calm about this.”

“I made my decision. Besides.” He clears his throat. “I want to spend time with you. Awful hard to spend time with you if I’m playing ball.”

“You’re playing ball this year.”

“One season and then we’ll make plans about our future. Where we want to live, how many kids we want to have.”

My stomach clenches. How many kids we want to have?

I gulp. “Do you want more children?”

He graces me with one of those smiles that spans his face and reaches his eyes. “With you, yes.”

Smoking smugglers surfing in a storm. I need to tell him we will never have children together. So much for having another season together.