Vegas Aces: The Wide Receiver Complete Series

CHAPTER 29 TRISTAN

The weeks seem to fly by even though she’s been on modified bed rest. We present the check to Landon’s family, which is a quiet affair since I know how prideful the family is. Still, it’s life-changing, and Tessa cries as we hand it over while I swallow down the lump in my throat.

We did that.

We helped them, and we helped change their lives.

Something about the two of us coming together to plan this event that benefitted not just Landon’s family but the entire town of Fallon Ridge causes some feeling beyond pride to bloom in my chest. When the two of us join forces—T and T—it’s explosive, and I feel the future within our grasp as we work together to do more good.

But for now, we rest. We binge shows on Netflix. We eat popcorn and she watches me work out. We order furniture for our new home. She helps me stretch my hamstring, which is feeling better and better every day, and she rests, too, after that scary emergency room visit.

We decide on July seventh as our move-in date. The baby will be almost a month old by then, God willing, and it’s three weeks until camp starts so it gives us some time to get adjusted to our new life together as she gets to know a completely new town.

Her obstetrician warned her to stay on pelvic rest for the next few weeks, and she has to attend weekly appointments to check the placenta placement. She said it was probably okay for her to travel to Vegas, but we decided not to risk it since she needs to check in with the doctor each week. The doctor also told her to take it easy, so it’s not really bed rest, but it’s not really normal activity, either.

I find myself boarding a plane after a difficult goodbye. I don’t want to attend my Big D Bash. I don’t want to fake like I’m a happy bachelor partying it up when my girl isn’t even here with me.

And so that’s why I was honest with Ben. I explained to him via text message that I’m already engaged to another woman, that we’re having a baby together, that the situation is complicated but I’m not coming to Vegas for a huge weekend of hook-ups.

He was totally understanding, and while it’s still the Big D Bash since it’s all about celebrating my divorce, it’s also about celebrating the off-season with all our buddies. So the Big D also stands for Drinks. Defense. Dudes.

Not Dick. Anyone who thinks the D stands for dick needs to get their mind out of the gutter.

I brace myself for the shenanigans that will surely ensue as the plane takes off, and as it lands and I stare out the window at the familiar landscape, it feels like home.

It’s so strange how two places feel like home, but I spend more than half the year in Vegas, and I miss it when I’m gone. As much as I love Fallon Ridge, there’s just something about Vegas that calls to me.

I spot the skyline made up of hotels starting from the south end of the strip—Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Excalibur, MGM, and so on down the road to the Cosmopolitan and the back of Planet Hollywood, Paris, Caesar’s Palace, where the Big D Bash is set to be held starting tomorrow, and all the way north toward the Stratosphere.

There’s just something magical about this city. It’s not all roses all the time. While some dreams are born here, others die here. The excitement some feel turns into an addiction to others—addictions to gambling, or drugs, or alcohol, or women, or food. It can be overwhelming, but it can also be the greatest place in the world.

As we move slowly along toward the cut-off date for my potential extension, I can’t help but hope with everything I have that the Aces sign me to another year. I want to stay here. I’d love a lengthy career playing for one team.

I have friends on other teams. Some are happy, while others aren’t. There isn’t much not to love about playing for the Vegas Aces, that’s for damn sure.

I sign a few autographs and take a few selfies as I get off the plane, par for the course given I’m back in my hometown where I’m most recognized.

I shoot off a text to the Thursday Night Crew once I’m in an Uber toward Caesar’s, where I managed to secure a suite.

Me: What’s the plan for tonight? Plane just got in and I’m on my way toward Caesar’s.

I get a hit back from Travis right away.

Travis: Cory and me already out drinking.

Me: Where?

Travis: Not sure how the fuck you spell it, but that club at MGM.

I chuckle quietly in the backseat. Hakkasan is notoriously the celebrity hangout in Vegas, so I assume he means that place.

Me: I’ll check in and drop my bag then meet you there.

Travis: We’ll come to you. We were thinking a high-stakes room and some BJ.

Me: Blow jobs?

Travis: Blackjack, you dumb shit. Although now that you mention it…

Cory: Stop looking at me like that, Woods.

I chuckle again to myself.

Me: I’ll meet you in the high stakes area in an hour. For blackjack.

Travis: For blackjack.

Patrick: Will you dumbfucks shut up?

Austin: I’m finishing an appearance but I’ll swing by after.

Jaxon and Deon are still out of town, but it looks like there will be four of us ready to take Caesar’s for all it’s worth.

I check in, stop in my room, and call Tessa to let her know I’ve arrived.

“Hey,” she answers softly.

“I miss you already.” I move toward the window to check out my view. My suite looks out over the Bellagio fountains, and they happen to be going off as I gaze down. It’s relaxing, and all I can think is how I wish Tessa was here with me.

“I miss you, too.”

“I just called to let you know I’m here at my hotel. I’m looking down at the Bellagio fountains right now from my room,” I say.

She hums softly. “Sounds amazing. Send me a picture.”

“As soon as we hang up, I will.” I perch on the edge of the chair next to the window to enjoy the view. “Have I missed anything since I’ve been gone?”

She chuckles softly. “It hasn’t even been half a day yet. And no. The answer is a solid nope. How’s the hamstring?”

“I barely feel it at all since you worked your magic. How about you? Any bleeding?”

“None today,” she says.

“Thank God,” we murmur at the same time.

“Do you have plans for tonight?” she asks.

“I’m meeting my buddies for some blackjack in a bit, but other than that, nothing special.” I think about how most twenty-five-year-old dudes would take this town by storm, and I feel suddenly a little lame.

She clears her throat. “What do you think the party will be like tomorrow?”

“Lots of people in swimsuits, live music, and plenty of alcohol,” I say. “Ben usually throws an end of summer bash with all the same elements, but I think he’s doing this one instead this year. He’s got two babies he wants to get back to, so I think the party guy of the league has actually settled down.”

“Shocking everyone,” she says, and we both laugh. “Someone else will have to fill those big shoes.”

“Maybe Travis,” I suggest.

We stay on the line a little longer, and by the time I head down, I spot my buddies already gathering near the high stakes area with drinks in hand. I’m the last to arrive, and my hand is empty. On that note, I take a detour at the bar, grab a beer, then head toward the guys, who are waiting for me.

And that’s all it takes.

A three-minute detour to grab a beer causes chaos.

We’re swarmed, the four of us. Three wide receivers and one tight end in their hometown hanging at a popular Vegas casino for the night…I suppose we should’ve seen it coming.

It’s mostly women, and from the looks of it, it’s two or three bachelorette parties filled with women clamoring for the attention of a professional athlete. What a story to go home with, right?

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas…unless you fuck a celebrity. That goes home with bragging rights.

Drunk bachelorettes are catnip for my boys. Cory’s cheesing it up big time for every selfie request, two girls are hanging off Austin—one grasping onto each bicep, Travis is already making out with some girl he’ll never see again, and then there’s me…the guy getting annoyed because these gorgeous women keep bumping into my arm and causing me to spill my beer.

I’m just not the party guy my buddies want me to be. I’d rather be at home watching the next episode of Outlander with my pregnant girlfriend.

I suck in a breath then chug my beer.

It’s going to be a long night.

Hell, it’s going to be a long weekend .