Page 13 of Her Athlete's Wedding Secret

Tessa laughed derisively. “You don’t know my mom.”

“What’s she like?”

“She’s a mess. Figuratively and literally. Don’t get me wrong, I love my mom, but I would never run my house the way she does.”

“Is she just a messy housekeeper?”

“Worse. She’s a crazy cat lady and a hoarder. I feel bad saying that about my mom, but it’s the truth. The entire town knows it.”

“I don’t think there’s anything you can do about that. Isn’t hoarding a sign of an underlying mental problem?”

“She has a lot of mental problems. She’s bipolar, and she’s pretty traumatized from when my dad left her.”

“That sounds like a lot for you to deal with.”

“It is a lot.”

“You deserve to live for you.”

“And you think me marrying you would be me living for me?”

“It could be.”

“Oh yeah?” Tessa crossed her arms over her chest. “How?”

“We talked about this. You could get that job you’ve always wanted in the big city.”

“I know. I’ve always had that image floating around in the back of my mind. I just never thought it would happen, so I didn’t plan my life around it.”

“What’s the point of having an aspiration if you don’t think you’ll ever get to live it?”

“Don’t you realize that most people don’t get to live their dreams?” Tessa asked. “You’re so used to getting all your wants fulfilled that you don’t understand how normal people live.”

“Trust me, I understand not getting something I desperately wanted.” And he did. For one, he knew he’d never get a happily ever after. Not after what happened with Megan.

“That seems hard to believe, coming from a pro football player.”

“A pro football player who might have his career destroyed soon.”

“You’re not trying to make me feel guilty, are you?”

“No.”

“Because this is a huge life decision I’d be making.”

“I completely understand.”

“It’s not every day that a girl gets proposed to. Not that you did a very good job of it. It was hardly romantic.” Tessa made a face.

“Considering the circumstances, I couldn’t very well propose romantically. You would have thought I was insane.”

“You are insane.”

“My coach is insane.”

“No. Your coach is fed up. At least that’s what it sounds like to me.”

“Unfortunately, you’re right about that. I brought it upon myself.”

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