Page 123 of The Game We Played

“I’m sorry, gorgeous. I had no idea you were struggling.”

I grunt. I’m not struggling. Smugglers don’t struggle. We adjust to new circumstances. Usually, because someone let their sheep loose or someone dropped a load of fish onto the boardwalk by ‘accident’.

“How about I ask your sisters to come to the game this weekend? I’ll fly them up. They can stay in your apartment. You can stay at mine.”

“I’m not leaving my sisters alone in my apartment. They’d probably start a fire or get in an argument with the neighbors when they decide to blare demonic music at four in the morning.”

“It’s not your apartment. What do you care?”

I lean back to glare at him. “Destruction of property is never okay.”

“Sometimes it’s justified.”

“No. It’s not. It’s never justified to burn a teammate’s cleats.”

“It is if he put Icy Hot in your underwear.” He shivers. “I’ve never experienced worse pain.”

“You get hit by three-hundred and fifty-pound men on a regular basis.”

“I stand by my statement.”

He’s not wrong. I spent two days watching him lay on the sofa with ice on his crotch, whining and complaining the whole time. I’m concocting a work emergency when he contracts a cold. If I don’t disappear, I’ll have to gag him.

“What do you say, gorgeous? Shall I call your sisters? They’d love to visit.”

“I don’t know. I’m worried they’ll copy my credentials and end up in the locker room. I don’t want to imagine the destruction they’d cause.”

He grins. “Sounds like fun.”

Of course, he’d say fun instead of hell. Tanner is still a goofball. He’s no longer a player and hasn’t been in trouble lately. Except for small pranks against his team members.

But I’ve learned this is how men on a team bond. They prank and tease each other. As long as no one ends up in the emergency room, I let it go.

“We can ask your parents to come, too. They’ll keep an eye on Beth and Anne.”

I snort. “They will? How do you think the twins ended up the way they are? Let me tell you. It wasn’t because my parents kept an eye on them.”

“If I ask Dan to keep them in line, he will.”

“I love how close you and my dad are.”

“He’s a good guy. And an amazing parent. I’m taking notes.”

My heart thumps. “Taking notes?”

“For when we have kids.”

My chest tightens. I want to give him children, but we haven’t discussed it before.

“Kids? You want kids?”

“Yep. I want a boy to teach to play football.”

“What if he doesn’t like football?”

He shrugs. “I’ll learn whatever sport he wants to play.”

“What if he wants to do ballet?”