Game for Tonight (19 page)

“Wow,” she breathed. “I guess that means you forgive me?”

“When you show up at a game, wearing my number, you’re forgiven,” he said as he slowly dropped her to her feet, his arms still firmly around her waist. “And I was an idiot, not to listen to what you really said,” he admitted, his voice low. “I’m so damn sorry for being a stubborn ass.”

“I’m sorry too,” she said, then tipped her head in the direction of the herd of reporters just behind him. “They’re all waiting for you.”

“I don’t care.” He bent over her, pressing his forehead to hers. “I missed you, Aub.”

She smiled tremulously. “I missed you, too.”

“We just won the freaking Super Bowl,” he said, sounding like a little kid, but he couldn’t help it. Life couldn’t get much better than this.

“I know.” She laughed. “I watched you. You were amazing.”

“The team was amazing,” he corrected. “Did you see the way Hamilton caught that ball? Unbelievable.”

“Did you see the way you threw that ball? Unbelievable,” she mimicked softly.

“Yeah, it was pretty awesome.” He went solemn as he remembered why he was playing the game in the first place. “How’s Sheridan? Do you know?”

“She’s okay. She’s been put on bed rest.” Her voice dropped to a bare whisper. “She’s pregnant. With twins.”

“Twins?” His brows rose, and Aubrey shushed him. “No way.” No wonder Quinn had taken off. He got it. If anything ever happened to Aubrey, if she was ever at risk…

He’d go to her, no matter what.

“They’re going to trade me,” he said, needing it out there. “Maybe this is the wrong time to tell you, but I know I’m leaving the Hawks. Despite what just happened, they won’t keep me. They have Quinn. And they could gain a lot from trading me.”

She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. Wherever you are, we can make it work.”

He knew she was right. It didn’t matter if they lived across the country from each other, they could make it work. Maybe he could even convince her to come with him eventually….

“We’re going to make an announcement later. But first, I think you need to go attend to your duties as the reigning Super Bowl–champion quarterback.” Aubrey gave him a nudge, and he glanced over his shoulder to see everyone watching them. Reporters and photographers—who were taking plenty of pictures of this moment—fellow team members, Harvey Price—hell, even Charlie Monroe was down on the field.

He turned back to Aubrey and kissed her. “I love you, Aub,” he murmured close to her ear before he pulled away to smile down at her.

She sucked in a sharp breath, and he swore he saw tears sparkling in her eyes. “I love you, too.” She gave him another shove. “Now go attend to your adoring fans.”

…

“I feel like I’m dreaming.”

Aubrey shifted so she could rest her chin on Flynn’s bare chest, her hair falling across her forehead. He smoothed it away, his fingers tangling in the strands, and she closed her eyes, wanting to purr at the blissful sensation of his hands in her hair, his hot, naked body pressed to hers.

“Oh, what happened today was 100 percent real, baby. Trust me.” The pure satisfaction she heard in Flynn’s voice made her smile. Made her body heat up in all the right places, too.

“You won the MVP,” she murmured, turning her head so she could press her cheek to the center of his chest, his steadily beating heart beneath her ear reassuring. She sort of couldn’t get over that. He’d gone from the bottom to the top in less than twenty-four hours. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Hamilton deserved it more than I did,” Flynn said grimly.

“No, you deserved it. You were amazing.” She snuggled closer, kissing his skin, loving his taste. “You should be so proud of yourself.”

“It was an amazing day. Made better because you’re with me now.”

“You just won the freaking Super Bowl,” she pointed out, drifting her fingers across his firm chest. She couldn’t believe she was here with him, lying next to him. She was the luckiest girl in the world. “That’s pretty major.”

“I just told a woman that I love her for the first time,” he countered. “That’s pretty fucking major.”

She lifted her head so she could study him once more. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to you saying bad words.”

He chuckled, and his hand drifted down to curve along her waist, rest on her hip. “Will you get used to me telling you I love you?”

Her heart threatened to burst, she was so happy. It had gone from a terrible day to a hopeful day to a scary day to the absolute best day of her life. So many emotions, so many things happening, the very best of them all that Flynn was back in her life. Back in her arms. Her heart finally felt full. Complete.

“I don’t know,” she said, smiling up at him. “I may need to hear it a few more times.”

Flynn smiled in return, dipping his head so he could kiss her, his hand tightening on her hip, pulling her so she lay sprawled across the top of him. “I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you, too.” She nipped his chin, making him laugh. “Say it again.”

“Aubrey.” Another kiss, this one deep, his tongue lazily tangling with hers. As if they had all the time in the world, which they did. “I’m in love with you. I love you.”

“I’m in love with you, too.” She giggled. “Now, maybe you should show me how much you love me.”

“Gladly. We have all night long, and I plan on using every single hour to its capacity.”

A shiver moved through her. She couldn’t even worry about sleep. Not when she had the man she loved beneath her. “More like we have the rest of our lives, you know.”

“Yeah, we do.” His hand cradled the back of her head, pulling her down for another kiss. “So we better do this right.”

“I think we already are.”

Epilogue

“Tell me you have names picked out. I’m dying here. I have to know what you’re going to name them.” Willow wouldn’t leave Sheridan alone. She’d been harassing her for months, constantly asking if she had chosen the names for her baby girl and baby boy.

Sheridan rubbed a hand over her big belly, a serene smile on her face. She was huge, due in a month and could go into labor at any given time. This was why Jared was at Sheridan’s baby shower, keeping watch in case something happened.

He was the cutest father-to-be Aubrey had ever witnessed. He hovered. He took care of his wife by waiting on her hand and foot and was so gentle with her, shot her looks filled with so much love, his love for his wife almost took Aubrey’s breath away.

“She’s not answering me.” Willow threw Aubrey an irritated look, and it took everything Aubrey had not to laugh at her frustrated friend. “I give her the most beautiful baby shower ever, and she just smiles at me like she’s the Mona Lisa while not saying a word.”

“Oh, leave her alone,” Aubrey said as she stood. “I bet if you stopped nagging her all the time, she’d tell you the names freely.”

“In my dreams,” Willow said with a laugh as she rolled her eyes, making Sheridan laugh, as well.

“Maybe they haven’t made up their minds yet,” Aubrey suggested.

The men—including her man—were in the kitchen, gorging themselves on the leftover food. The baby-shower attendees had all left, but Aubrey had stayed behind to help clean up and also because she was Willow’s cohostess.

“Oh, we have,” Sheridan said, laughing even harder when Willow cursed low under her breath. “It’s fun torturing her, though.”

“You’re mean,” Willow tossed over her shoulder as she flounced her way into the kitchen.

“You feeling okay?” Aubrey asked Sheridan. She was sitting in an overstuffed chair, looking slightly uncomfortable as she readjusted her position. “Want me to get Jared?”

“Please.” Sheridan smoothed a few stray hairs away from her face. “It’s exhausting, carrying two babies around all the time.”

“Babies that are going to be spoiled rotten when they decide to come on out,” Aubrey said, waving a hand at the giant stack of opened presents sitting on a nearby table.

“I have good friends.” Sheridan beamed, then made a little face and clutched her stomach. “They’re kicking extrahard today, I swear.”

“You all right, babe?” Jared appeared out of nowhere, kneeling beside Sheridan, his big hand sprawling across her belly. “Ready to get on home?”

“No. This is my party.” She leaned back against the chair and closed her eyes. “And this chair is so comfortable.”

“Everything okay?” Flynn snuck up behind Aubrey, slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him.

She turned in his arms, smiling up at him. “Just talking about all the great gifts Sheridan and Jared got for the babies.”

“For Sadie and Aidan,” Sheridan added.

Aubrey peeked around Flynn’s shoulder, her mouth dropping open in shock at the casual way Sheridan had just revealed her babies’ names. “Did you really just say that?”

Sheridan nodded, smiling when Jared kissed her cheek. “Those are the names. Too bad Willow isn’t in here to hear that particular announcement.”

“I heard everything!” Willow yelled as she exited the kitchen, Nick right behind her. “Oh my God, I love them both! So perfect. Sadie and Aiden Quinn. How cute is that?”

Pretty dang cute. Aubrey blinked hard, trying to fight off the tears that threatened. She was just so happy, and she couldn’t believe her life could be this good.

She had friends who loved her and a man who loved her, too. Babies on the way, babies she couldn’t wait to spoil and hold. So she could imagine herself as a mother someday. And there was a wedding to plan…the most overwhelming thing of all. But she was still in a blissful state of shock, considering Flynn had asked her to marry him only a few days ago.

Luckily enough, their families had come around to accept them as a couple. Her mom grudgingly admitted she liked Flynn when Aubrey called her a few days ago to announce their engagement. And Flynn’s dad liked her, too, though he was a tough nut to crack. Her future mother-in-law was much easier to get along with. Aubrey was thankful they had their families’ blessing. This was a happy time in their lives, and their family support meant the world to her.

They left Willow and Nick’s house a few minutes later, Flynn gathering her in his arms the minute they were alone in her car, kissing her until she felt like she was going to melt in his arms.

“I’ve missed you, Aub,” he whispered against her lips.

“We’ve been together all afternoon,” she said breathlessly, trying to recover from that deep and delicious kiss.

“Not really. You’ve been busy helping out with that baby party,” he pointed out just before he kissed her again.

“It’s called a baby shower,” she corrected after he finally pulled his lips from hers. She leaned back in the passenger seat and watched him as he started her car, thankful he was driving and not her. She was tired and more than a little aroused at having her boyfriend—fiancé—back home for the next month.

He’d been gone, in Denver for the past few weeks, where he was going back to begin training camp at the end of July as the Broncos starting quarterback. He was excited, and so was she, but she was also a little sad. A long-distance relationship was hard, no matter how temporary, but she knew they could make it work.

And in the meantime, she was looking for work in Colorado. She loved her Hawks, they were everything to her, but now that Flynn had made it official and she was the future Mrs. Foley, she needed to be with her man.

“That ring sure looks good on you,” he said, pride filling his voice.

She glanced down at the giant diamond sitting on her left ring finger. It glittered in the waning sunlight. “You know what’ll look even better?”

He flashed a quick smile at her as he turned right, heading toward the highway. “What?”

“A ring on your finger. I can’t wait to make you officially mine.”

“Oh, you already have me, Aub. No way you can shake me now.” He stopped the car at a red light and leaned over to press a quick kiss to her lips. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she murmured, twisting the ring this way and that. “Think we should have a big wedding or small?” Nick and Willow had recently gotten married in April, and their beachside ceremony had been so intimate, so beautiful, she was starting to think that might be the way to go.

“Any way you want it to go down works for me. I want you happy. That’s all that matters.”

“How did I get so lucky?” she asked, the tears springing back into her eyes. This entire day had been an emotional event, happy and overwhelming, and she was so damn glad to have this man in her life.

“I ask myself that every single day.” He grabbed her hand and kissed the top of it, leaving their clasped hands resting on his thigh. The light turned green, and he started driving once more. “Now, if I can just get your sweet ass to Denver, everything will be perfect.”

Aubrey burst out laughing. “Did you just call my ass ‘sweet’?”

He grinned. “You know it. Everything about you is sweet.”

Everything about him was sweet, too.

A half hour out of Carmel, Aubrey’s cell rang and she answered it, sitting up straight when she heard Willow’s frantic voice. “Turn the car around,” she ordered Flynn as she listened to Willow rattle on. “Go back to Nick’s house.” Willow chattered at her some more, then hung up. “Scratch that,” Aubrey said. “Go to the hospital.”

“The hospital?” The concern in Flynn’s voice was clear as he pulled onto an off-ramp and headed across the overpass to turn back south toward Monterey.

“Sheridan’s gone into labor. The babies are on their way.” Excitement coursed through her veins and she waved a hand at Flynn. “Speed up! I don’t want to miss this.”

Flynn chuckled, and his foot settled heavily on the accelerator. “Whatever my girl wants, like I said earlier.”

“Promise?” she asked softly.

His gaze met hers, steady and true. “Always.”

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