Page 92 of A Game Plan for Love

I’ve flown through a million emotions today, and my brain is exhausted. Between the guilt and anxiety of Nora being sick yesterday, Declan getting the bug, our conversation, and the room for Nora in his home and her wanting him to be her dad, I’m beat.

There’s nothing left for me to process my own emotions.

“How can I help?”

I sit on the question. There’s only one thing I want.Him.

“C-Can you come over?”

He doesn’t hesitate. “I’ll be there in half an hour.”

Declan knocks on the door exactly thirty minutes later, a bag hanging off his shoulder and a king-size KitKat in his hand. I’m pulled into a tight hug, and when my muscles loosen, he releases me.

He helps me pick up the apartment, and when we slip into bed, he drags me against his chest.

Right before I drift off to sleep, I hear him whisper, “I would choose you and Nora in every lifetime.”

CHAPTER 27

Second Guessing – Florida Georgia Line

Declan

“Oh,Sharon,”Icallout as I enter her office.

She’s hard at work, typing away at her computer, funky purple glasses perched on the bridge of her nose. Her thick curly hair is tied into a bun on the top of her head, small strands of peppered hair sticking out.

“Come in,” she says, not lifting her gaze.

“Already am.” I wave the cappuccino I brought her in front of the computer screen.

She’s been my therapist long enough for us to build a rapport where she begrudgingly takes the coffee I bring her, but sighs in content when she takes the first sip.

“I’m very sorry I had to cancel our last session,” she says, collecting her coffee and pad of paper to sit on the large leather armchair.

I flop onto her couch, wiggling my ass to soften the cushions. I raise my hands over my head and kick my feet back. “We have a lot to talk about,” I start, staring up at the ceiling. It’s easiest to start this way—word vomiting to the wall, then looking at Sharon after. “Two months ago, I mentioned the woman I work with…”

“Yes. Addie?”

“Right. Well, alothas happened in the last two months,” I pause, and her head tilts up. The only indication that she’s both curious and concerned. “Last week I had the stomach flu, and she brought me soup and saw something she shouldn’t…” I let it settle in the air for dramatic effect, but Sharon gives me a bored look. “I may have bought furniture and turned one of the empty rooms into a bedroom for Nora.”

“Who is Nora?”

“Oh, right!” Didn’t know about Nora last time we chatted. “Addie’s daughter. She’s five, and a spitfire. Smart, curious, and full of energy.”

“Okay…” she draws out the word, “Why don’t you go over what has happened since our last chat?”

Sharon listens intently, scribbling down something here and there while I replay the last two months. My first date with the girls. Family dinner at Nathalie’s, and how perfectly they’ve slipped into our friend group. I share about our date in the hotel, and how I’ve been able to open up to her about my past. I offer minimal details about Addie’s own family and how Nora surprised me at a home game. Sharon chuckles softly when I tell her Addie yelled at me while I was puking.

But most of all, I express how complete I’ve felt since I met Addie, like my whole life there’s been a missing piece, and I’ve finally found it. How, for the first time, I can imagine the future, and it’s full of moments with Nora and Addie.

The future used to terrify me, and I’ve always struggled to compartmentalize the unknown that comes with tomorrow, but now, I’m hopeful for what has yet to pass.

“She doesn’t want me to regret the choice,” I admit, and the words sit sour on my tongue, “but choosing them is never a choice I could regret. I want the responsibility to take care of Nora and Addie because it feels like what I’m meant to do. I’ve always questioned where I belonged, but I think it’s because I hadn’t met them yet.”

“These are big steps,” Sharon says neutrally.

“I’ve never done anything half-assed,” I joke. She chuckles, and I add, “If I had to choose between them or football right now, I wouldn’t hesitate. I would never step onto a field again, and I would be content with my choice.”

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