Page 112 of Cross Check Daddies
“Still my favorite man,” she tells him, rubbing his belly while lying flat on the sidewalk. Jackson giggles from where he’s hiding behind Cam’s leg.
We all laugh. For a second, it feels like nothing in the world can touch us.
Cam carries Jackson up. Tanner lingers, checking the locks. He always does that now—ever since Brooke got too tired to remember if she turned the key.
I stay back. Just for a second.
Watching the woman I love, the kid we’d die for, and the future we’re building without apology. Then I follow.
On the way, I ask Ivy, “You really quit?”
She nods. “I needed to be here. For her. For myself.”
“You planning to stay?”
She gives me a side glance. “You planning to eventually marry her?”
I grin. “Touche.”
Back in my place, I crack open my laptop and stare at the document I’ve been editing for weeks. My retirement letter—a clean, direct statement I can hand to the team.
But I want it to be bulletproof.
So, I ask Brooke for her best friend’s number. I text Ivy.
>> You still a lawyer?
>>Yes.
>> Mind reading something for me?
She’s upstairs within the hour, reviewing the contract clauses I flagged and making annotations like it’s second nature. “You’re walking away at a good time,” she murmurs. “You did what you came to do.”
“Yeah.” I rub the back of my neck. “Now I get to do something else.”
She nods once. “Go build a life, Carter. I’ll make sure they can’t touch it.”
The next day, I sign the papers she sends over. Leo takes it like a champ, though I see something flicker behind his eyes when I tell him. He claps my shoulder, says he understands. Tells me the team will miss me. Says Beau and Tanner will carry us into the next season.
Two days later, the headlines explode.
ICEMEN’S HEAD COACH ACE CARTER ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT
That’s it. No gossip. No speculation. No side-by-side photos of Brooke and me. Just a clean announcement and a quiet exit.
It’s exactly what I wanted.
Brooke’s face shows up instead under better headlines.
MIAMI TECH CEO BROOKE LANE TAKES HOME THREE INDUSTRY AWARDS
FROSTBITE BREAKS SALES RECORDS WITH MULTIPLATFORM LAUNCH
She goes viral for her speech. For Jackson on her hip. For calling out boys’ clubs in tech and pitching a new mentorship program for single moms in gaming. The video racks up millions of views in a week.
She doesn’t mention us.
And we don’t mind—that spotlight belongs to her.
