Touchdown: A Bad Boy Sports Romance (Pass To Win Book 1) (13 page)

“
L
et
’s play the question game,” I suggested. I liked being able to ask her anything, without her being able to avoid the subject.

“Sure,” she said. “You start.”

“How many kids do you want?” I asked.

“Maybe like four or five. What about you?”

“I think two is enough,” I said.

“I like kids,” she said. “I always wanted brothers and sisters to play with.”

I agreed. “Your turn,” I said.

“What’s your biggest fear?” she asked.

I thought for a second. “Probably something bad happening to my mom. Or spiders. I really hate spiders. You?”

“Being buried alive,” she answered immediately.

I laughed. “That’s such an irrational fear.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be afraid of it happening.”

“I promise,” I said. “When you are presumed dead, I will double check before you can be buried.”

“Thank you,” she said, giving me a peck on the cheek.

“What do you want to do for a job?” I asked. I knew she was stressed about her future, so I didn’t ask many questions but I was curious.

“I want to be a teacher. And I’d like to be a cheer coach, too.”

“I know that, but are you planning on applying for jobs right away?”

She hesitated. “To be honest, I want to know where you’re going first. I don’t really have ties to any one place in particular, and I can be a teacher anywhere. If I can choose where I want to live, I want to choose wherever you are. Is that okay?”

That was more than okay. I had been wondering how to bring up this topic with her. I knew she was fiercely independent and didn’t want to insult her by asking her to follow me around. I just couldn’t bear the thought of her not being close to me.

A life with me wouldn’t always be easy. If I couldn’t get on a team this year, I wouldn’t have much money coming in. I didn’t think the two of us could get by on a teacher’s salary. Especially since Alexa had a lifestyle that required more cash.

“I would love for you to come with me. Nothing would make me happier. I just want to make sure you know what you’re in for. There could be a lot of money, or there could be no money at all. I might not be around a lot. Is that something you can handle?”

“That’s not a problem,” she said. “You’re the most important thing to me. I want to make this relationship work.”

“What if you don’t get a job right away?” I asked. “If I go pro, you can travel to my games. You could try out for the cheer team.”

“That would be fun,” she said.

The thought of Alexa being on the sideline while I played pro games was better than I ever imagined in my future fantasy. Eventually, she would get tired of going to all of the games and want to start a career. Then what? Marriage? Kids? I was so lost in my daydream that I didn’t even hear her question.

“Martin, did you hear me? I wanted to know what your least favorite foods are. If we’re going to live together, I need to know what I shouldn’t buy from the grocery store.”

I could see her smile in the moonlight coming through the window blinds.

“I hate bananas. I love just about everything else. We’re going to be doing a lot of grocery shopping. When I lived at home, my mom went three times a week.”

“Oh, great,” she laughed. “What did I get myself into?”

“What would your dream house look like?” I asked when it was my turn. “I need to know in case I get a million dollar contract.”

“It doesn’t have to be too big, but I want a nice backyard,” she said. “I want to be able to plant flowers and fruits and vegetables. I also want lemon trees everywhere. There has to be plenty of open space for a soccer and football field. Maybe a concrete slab for playing basketball or tennis. Oh, and a fence so we can get a few dogs.”

“Is that all?” I chuckled. “What kind of dogs?”

“I like Corgis. They have cute little legs.”

“I like Golden retrievers,” I interjected. “We can get one of each.”

“Perfect,” she said.

Things were happening so quickly, but I wasn’t even scared. I used to shudder at the prospect of marriage or starting a family. Now, I could see myself doing so in the next few years.

For now, I just wanted to have fun with Alexa. We could travel to places I’ve never been before and explore new things. I could teach her everything there was to know about the sports she never got to play, and she could teach me all about the places and cultures she experienced in her youth.

“Do you feel like you’ll be missing out on the professional athlete lifestyle now that you have a girlfriend?” she asked.

“What lifestyle?”

“You know,” she said. “You always hear crazy stories about athletes that party hard and have sex with a models and actresses. I bet you could have that if I wasn’t hanging around.”

“Don’t worry about that,” he said. “That typically happens to the players that either didn’t have anything growing up, or had too much and were never told no. I witnessed first hand what happened to my dad. He couldn’t control his partying and spending habits. I promise you that that lifestyle is the last thing I want. I just want to be normal.”

“But if you could be famous,” she said, “There might be some perks involved. Don’t tell me you don’t want to get into the hottest parties and mingle with celebrities.”

“Only if you’re by my side,” I said. “You’ll be able to navigate that world much better than I ever could.”

“My turn,” I said. “Where’s the last place you would want to move?”

“Florida,” she said instantly. “I love the beach, but the humidity does terrible things to my hair. I would look like a fluff ball all the time.”

“Same,” I laughed. “I’m not so concerned about my hair, but I hate the heat. That’s another reason why I want to go back to Colorado.”

We giggled. We disagreed about a lot of stuff, so I really loved it when we were on the same page.

“Just so you know,” I said. “I’m projected to go to New York or Washington. It’s not a sure thing, but if a pro team picks me up, it’ll most likely be either of those states.”

She grinned. “I can work with that.”

We heard a commotion from across the hall. It sounded like someone fell off the bed. We burst out laughing.

“Do you think Sasha and Reg will last?” I asked.

“I hope so,” she said. “They’re a lot of fun together.”

“Can you imagine what their kids would be like? They would be absolutely wild.”

“They would be impossible to control,” Alexa added.

“I think Reg is going to make his decision on where he’s going based on where Sasha is. Originally, he was going to follow Sam or I, but he’s totally hooked on her.”

“I’m not surprised,” she said. “He’s always followed her around like a puppy.”

We were quiet again, trying to think of a question we’ve never asked each other.

“What do you think Sebastian’s doing right now?” I wondered aloud.

“Oh, Sebastian,” she sighed. “I hope I haven’t caused him to go into hiding. There’s got to be a girl out there that’s out of options and needs to marry rich. Maybe my mom should just marry him since she’s so in love with him.”

“Then your dad and my mom could get together,” I said. “He could supply the money, and she could be completely normal!”

“Yeah, but then we’d be siblings. I don’t think I’m okay with that,” she said, wrinkling her nose.

“Okay, fine,” I said. “I’ve heard of weirder things.”

“Me, too,” she said. “You would be shocked at all of the inbreeding that happens in my world.”

“Seriously? I thought that was just for hillbillies.”

“Nope,” she said. “When marrying for money and connections is a requirement, there are only so many options. I know families where multiple siblings in one family marry siblings from another family. And weird affairs that result in secret love-children happen all the time. It can be hard to connect a family tree.”

“Aren’t you excited to get away from all that?”

“Incredibly. But I think it’s always going to be a part of me. I don’t think I can just pretend that I didn’t grow up with money. I was without my parents’ credit card for just a couple months and I didn’t think I was going to survive.”

“You don’t have any tangled bloodlines, right?” I asked.

“I don’t believe so. My dad was an outsider.”

“Did your grandma treat him like your mom treated me?”

“No, but he had money by the time they met. Maybe I should have introduced you after you get your multimillion dollar contract and starting position.”

“That reminds me,” I said. “I have a present for you.”

“You didn’t have to spend any money on me,” she protested. “I didn’t get you anything. Now I feel bad.”

“It’s nothing,” I said. “But I’ve been thinking about this for a long time and I want to give this to you.”

I reached under the bed for the box, but I couldn’t find it. I crawled out of bed and searched on my hands and knees. Finally, I found the tiny box and extended it out to her.

She gasped, wide eyed. I could see tears beginning to form, but she had a slight smile. It took me a moment to realize what she thought it was.

“Oh, God, no,” I stuttered. “I’m not proposing. We’ve been together for less than six months. It’s my championship ring. I want you to have it.”

I opened the box and placed the giant ring in her hand.

“Are you sure?” she asked. “This is a big deal.”

“I don’t wear rings and I don’t want it to sit on a shelf getting dusty. If you want to, you can wear it on a chain, like a necklace.”

“I love it,” she gushed. “Thank you.”

I felt my heart rate slow back down to normal. I hope she wasn’t disappointed that it wasn’t an engagement ring. I needed more money for that. I knew I was going to ask her to marry me one day- I was certain of that.

She was the most incredible person I knew. She was smart, funny, and sexy as hell. I wanted to give her the world, and I knew she wanted the same for me. Every day with Alexa was an adventure. We were learning new things about each other every day and she was constantly surprising me. I never wanted it to end.

W
hen I graduated
, I knew that I had no concrete plans. I knew that I wanted to have a career, and to be with Martin. What happened next exceeded all expectations. I don’t think I even imagined that life could have so many surprises.

The day after graduation, Martin and I packed our bags and flew to New York for the draft. The unexpected happened, and he was drafted in the first round.

He was drafted to the Denver Broncos with a ten million dollar a year contract. We moved in with his mom the next week while we looked for a house.

We found the perfect house with all of the specifications I asked for. It was bigger than I even asked for, but then again, his contract was bigger than we thought it would be.

He also paid off his mom’s mortgage so her paychecks could be spent on better things than bills. She was beyond thrilled to have her son and his girlfriend around.

Unfortunately, not everything was perfect. We had been talking for months about having me meet his dad. Martin hadn’t seen him in years, and thought this would be the perfect time to make amends. After putting it off and making excuses not to go, we finally picked a date when we would visit him. We found the halfway house he had been living in, and Martin even talked to him on the phone to set up a time to meet. Then the accident happened.

Just three days before we were supposed to meet, his dad got into a car accident. He had been drunk, and went the wrong way on the highway. He was speeding, lost control, and hit a semi truck.

The truck driver was okay, but the crash killed his dad. The first time I was in the man’s presence was at his funeral. It was a hard time for Martin, especially because his new team reminded him so much of his dad. It took some time, but he got through it, and even funded a wing of a rehab center in his name.

My mom finally came around to having Martin around more. They’re certainly not close, but she speaks cordially with them. He convinced me to spend a few weeks with her over the summer, and it wasn’t that bad. My dad and Martin are practically best friends, though.

I secretly think my dad wanted a son, but my mom wasn’t going to have any more children. My mom and I get along a lot better these days. Our relationship will still need time to heal, but we talk on the phone every couple of weeks.

The most unexpected thing happened soon after graduation. We moved to Colorado, and I felt sick all of the time. Martin thought I just had altitude sickness from being in the mountains. I didn’t think much of it, but after talking to Sasha, she convinced me to take a pregnancy test. I was pregnant!

We aren’t sure, but we think the condom broke on the night of graduation, when we were too drunk to notice. I blame Martin for that little oversight.

At the time, I was pretty upset. I didn’t think I wanted to have a child so soon. Martin was really great, though. After I went to the doctor to confirm the pregnancy, I told Martin that night, thinking he was going to be angry. In fact, he cried tears of joy.

I had never seen him cry before, so of course I turned into a blubbery mess. He had to run to the store to buy a pint of ice cream to get me to stop.

Since I decided to hold off on getting a job, I took classes to get my teaching license. Now I’ll be able to work whenever I’m ready. I followed Martin around to a lot of his games until I was too pregnant to fly.

Because of my bloated belly, I couldn’t try out to be a cheerleader. I was a little disappointed, but the excitement of the baby made up for it.

We had our daughter, Nikki, at the beginning of the off-season. It was perfect timing, because I couldn’t have imagined giving birth without Martin by my side. He was so great and attentive.

I won’t lie, I was pretty annoyed when I was having contractions and all of the nurses were fawning over him. He gets recognized all the time. For the most part, I’ve gotten used to his fame.

Our daughter is absolutely perfect in every way. I could spend all day looking at her little face. I was so worried that I wouldn’t know what to do with a baby, but between the books I read, Martin’s mom, and motherly instinct, it was a breeze. I mean, it was really hard at first, but I had a ton of help. Luckily Martin was around most of the day, so he spent his time talking to our daughter about football. Martin’s mom moved in with us for a few months and was an absolute angel.

My parents visited as much as possible, and I think having a granddaughter softened my mom a bit. She hates the idea of being old enough to be a grandma, but adores shopping for cute—and crazy expensive—outfits for Nikki. Nikki is just as happy wearing Burberry as she is in a football jersey. I’ve already promised her that when she’s old enough to make her own decisions, I’ll let her participate in any activity she chooses. Martin also agreed that we weren’t going to force her to play sports, no matter how much we wanted her to.

After I found out I was pregnant with Nikki, both Martin and my parents wanted us to get married. Martin got a ring, but I refused to get married, just because there was a baby involved. I wanted both of us to be sure we were ready for the next step.

He kept asking me, once a month at first, and then would check in on a weekly basis. I kept telling him no because I wanted to make sure everything was right. In retrospect, this seemed a little mean of me, but I think it made us really decide what we wanted in a marriage.

In the fall, Martin was asked to come back to Princeton to be recognized as a former athlete, now in the pros. Of course, I went with him, and we brought Nikki along. I wanted her to see where mommy and daddy met. Little did I know, our parents were also in attendance.

At halftime, the announcer gave a short speech about Martin’s college career as our little family walked out on the field to wave to the crowd. All of a sudden, the cheerleaders came out and brought him a little box.

He got down on one knee and proposed to me with our parents, our daughter, and my old squad surrounding us. I couldn’t say no if I wanted to, since there were thousands of cheering fans around.

I knew right then that the moment was perfect. This man constantly surprised me and I wanted to be with him for the rest of my life. We’re planning our perfect wedding for next summer in the mountains, near Aspen. I expected my mom to have a venue already booked, but I think she learned her lesson about making plans for me. I wasn’t really someone whose life followed a plan.

Being the girlfriend of a professional athlete was not what I expected. I thought it was going to be crazy parties every weekend and a hectic schedule. In reality, we stay in and watch movies and play with our daughter.

Martin travels for away games every now and again, but he’s really not gone a lot. He’s a great father and always has enough time for his little girl.

I know it wasn’t a conventional first few years out of college, especially from someone as career-focused as me. While my friends were backpacking through Europe or going to loud concerts, I was at home reading stories about puppies and kitties.

Martin’s mom babysat for us a lot, and we went to our fair share of celebrity-filled bashes, but we always wanted to come home early to kiss Nikki goodnight.

I wouldn’t have traded the way things turned out for anything, though. We got just about everything we ever wanted in life, just all at once. It wasn’t always easy, but it was worth it.

If someone had told me as a youth where my life would have taken me, I would have laughed. For that matter, if someone told me my life would be like this before my last year of college, I wouldn’t have believed it. I learned a while back that there’s no point in trying to control where things are headed.

If I would have stuck to the plan, I would be miserable in the Hamptons, gossiping with other housewives. Now, I’m soon to be married to a professional football player and the love of my life. Our daughter is everything I ever wanted, and we have everything we could possibly want or need at our fingertips.

If I knew anything for certain, it was that rigid plans only led to pain and disappointment. I decided to live my life open and willing to make the best of whatever opportunities popped up.

It was working pretty well for me so far.