Page 124 of This Wild Heart

She pointed over by the end zone, her grin mischievous, that dimple appearing in her cheek. “Greer said I could join them in the box, but I’d rather sit closer to the action.”

I fucking adored this woman. Panic seized my lungs, not knowing when I’d see her again, and I wanted to clutch her to my chest, press a fierce kiss to her soft, pink mouth until this violent want of her ebbed.

“Parker fucking Wilder, get your ass into the locker room,” Coach bellowed. “I will fine you into next year if you delay kickoff.”

I smiled down at her. “How are you gonna send me off to battle?”

She bit down on her lip, hands coming up to grip my chest pads. “Go kick some ass,” she said. Then she slapped my shoulder pads and shoved me backward.

I laughed, and God, it felt so good.

Anya did too, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. Taking the risk, I moved closer again, then dipped my head down and placed a featherlight kiss on her cheek. “Drive safe, golden girl,” I whispered into her ear.

Her eyes were still closed when I pulled back, and instead of waiting to see what was on her face when she opened them, I took off toward the locker room and slapped my coach on the ass when I caught up with him.

“I’m gonna bench you if you take that long again,” he yelled.

I turned around and walked backward so he could see my grin. “Totally fucking worth it.”

It was late when I got home, later than I had anticipated. Louise was reading on the couch when I let myself into the garage.

“Goodness, I thought you were dead in a ditch somewhere,” she said.

I smiled. “Poppy had her baby at the stadium after the game.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “What now?”

“In one of our training rooms, if you can believe it.” I pulled out my phone and showed her a picture of my sister and Jax holding a squalling little girl wrapped in a blanket provided by the EMTs on duty for the game.

“Oh my,” she breathed. “And she’s okay? Baby too?”

“Perfect,” I said. “Named her Rosie. She’s sweet. Plus, I won a bet that the rest of the guys could hear her screaming in the locker room during labor.”

Louise rolled her eyes.

“He go down okay?” I asked, gesturing toward the guest room with a nod. Greer was working on some designs for me to turn it into Leo’s nursery, but for now, the bassinet worked just fine.

She nodded, tucking her book away into her bag.

I dumped my duffel bag on the floor, bypassing the kitchen to go check on Leo. The guest room was dark, with only a small night-light plugged into the wall to give me enough light to see.

He was sound asleep, one arm having worked free of his swaddle, resting near his head in a loose fist. His tiny chest rose and fell on even breaths, and I gently touched the tip of his nose. “Some days I’ll be home before you’re in bed, I promise,” I told him. It would only get harder as he got older, and I wondered how the hell guys did this for years, missed all this precious time with their kids as they grew. I bent down and kissed him on the head before leaving the room.

Louise was waiting by the door when I came down the stairs.

“Watched a bit of the game. Nice touchdown in the second quarter.”

“Thanks. Thought he had me for a second before I broke to the right.”

“So did I.” Her eyebrows rose meaningfully. “She was there.”

“She was.” I tucked my hands into my pockets and rocked back on my heels. “Not sure what that means for her, though.”

The smile on her face was knowing, and sometimes I hated how much this woman saw through my shit. With a gentle hand, she cupped my face. “It does you no favors to pretend you don’t. You just have to be brave enough to act on it.”

“Speaking of which,” I said slowly, “think you can stay a little bit longer to help me with something?”

She arched an eyebrow. “You gonna pay me overtime?”

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