Vegas Aces: The Wide Receiver Complete Series

CHAPTER 16 TRISTAN

Something changed inside that house.

She finally saw how much I want this—how sincere I am in my words that I want to be with her, that I want a future with her. I guess I needed a pretty huge grand gesture to prove it, and showing her that I want her in my life long term in the form of a house seemed to be the thing that finally convinced her.

I know what I’m getting into, and I also know it’s exactly where I want to be.

Her eyes lit up when I told her it was ours now, and I want to continue to do things that make her eyes light up in that way.

It was a beautiful break from the stress of planning the festival tomorrow. She’s worked so hard, and on top of growing a life inside her, it’s overwhelming. So to be able to take a minute to breathe inside our new home…it just meant a lot to both of us.

After we decided on the baby’s room, we walked across to the master bedroom. We stepped out onto the balcony that’s in pretty good shape but in need of some repairs. I made a mental note to have my dad double check it, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to fix it myself.

We looked downtown. I’ve never been up on this balcony, but I can imagine taking a minute to watch the festival tomorrow from up here, or the Corn Boil later in the year, or the fireworks on the Fourth of July. It’s a place where I imagine rocking chairs and a glass of whiskey as we overlook the town where we first fell in love.

She’s letting me in. She’s giving me the things I hoped she would, and I really feel in my heart that she’s not doing it because she’s scared to do it alone or because she’s trying to fill some void. She’s doing it because we were always meant to be together. It just took a little extra time to get it right.

I don’t want to leave, but we have to get back to work. She needs to get back home, and I need to run over to the high school to check on Coach and see whether he needs help transporting the tables and chairs.

We stand on the front porch for a beat after I lock the front door, and we both stare at the door for a second. The house is white, and I’ve got a painter coming to freshen up the exterior, too.

“You like the red front door?” I ask.

She smiles softly as she stares at it. “I love the red front door.” She glances over at me. “And I love you.”

My eyes soften as I toss my arm around her shoulders and pull her into me. I press a soft kiss to her temple, and then I grab her hand and we head back toward my truck.

I drive slowly along the street because that’s what you do in Fallon Ridge. The posted speed limit is twenty-five, but rarely does anyone go that fast…unless it’s a teenager. They tend to drive double the speed limit, and they’ve been known to compete in drag races that start downtown and end up in the fields beyond the high school, though the local law enforcement does their best to put a stop to that.

“I was thinking about how I have no ideas for names for the baby,” she says. “And I was wondering if you had any.”

My chest tightens as the realization dawns on me. She wants me to be a father to the baby as much as I want to be.

“I always liked Emma and Madison,” I say, but somehow those don’t feel right.

“Those are lovely names,” she says.

“What names do you like?” I ask. I pull onto the street behind ours.

“I don’t know. I have a few I keep thinking about, but I haven’t settled on anything.”

“What are they?”

She clears her throat. “I like Violet and Riley, but my grandmother on my mom’s side was Caroline, and I think that’s a pretty name.”

“Do you want a name with meaning?” I ask.

She lifts a shoulder. “It doesn’t matter. When we were together, I always imagined a T name since we’re T and T.”

I chuckle. “What about Dynamite?”

She giggles. “Hi everyone, meet baby Dynamite! We call her Dyna for short.”

“I love it,” I joke. “What about Tori?”

She shrugs. “Definitely not Tiffany,” she says as we pass Tiffany Gable’s parents’ house.

“What do you have against Tiff?” I tease, though the teasing feels misplaced given the fact that I have a few things to hold against her myself.

“She never hid the fact that she wanted you even though you were with me,” she points out.

“But I wanted you , so it never mattered.” I reach over and squeeze her hand. “You were the only one I saw. The only one I cared about.”

“You married someone else,” she points out.

“A drunken mistake that took me two years to fix, but it’s fixed now. And for the record, I never felt so much as an ounce for her compared to what I feel for you.” I wish I knew a way to convince her how much truth is in those words.

I pull around the corner so we’re on Oak Tree Lane, and I spot it immediately.

A white BMW sitting in my parents’ driveway.

My heart sinks.

I thought this was over. I thought we were done.

She’s never been here before, and I can’t see any reason why she’d be here now.

“Who’s car is that?” Tessa asks absently as we stop in front of my house and I put the truck in park.

I close my eyes when I see her standing by the front door.

I should have known she wouldn’t just walk away easily.

“Savannah,” I hiss.