Page 72 of Lucky Baller
I’m going to miss her.
I think back to all the times I gave my teammates shit when they would talk about missing their wives or girlfriends—Trent, especially when he and Luna first got together. It was fun to get him all riled up, but now he just lets it roll. He doesn’t give a fuck what we say, and now I get it. I finally understand how he feels leaving her behind. And to add to that, she’s pregnant. I don’t know how he does it.
I place a kiss on her bare shoulder, and she stirs. “Landon?” Her voice is raspy with sleep.
“Hmm?”
“Why are you awake?”
“Just thinking.”
She rolls over to face me. The room is still dark, so I can’t see her, but I can feel her gaze.
“Anything you want to talk about?”
“Not unless you want to hear me whine about missing you?”
“You’re gonna miss me?” she asks, her voice sugary sweet.
“Hey.” I lightly smack her ass. “You could at least pretend you’re going to miss me, too.”
“I am going to miss you. Who’s going to keep me warm at night?” I can hear in her tone of voice that she’s teasing me, but the thought of another man getting to be with her like this, like we are in this moment, amps up my worry. Things have been great, but I’ve been here. Can she do this? Is she really willing to stick with me being gone all the time for my job? I love my job, football is who I am, but Tessa… I love her, too.
“That’s my job.” I pull her impossibly close. “Fuck, Tess, why’d you have to go there?”
“Hey.” She wraps her arm around me and gently strokes my back with her soft hands. “I was just teasing. There’s no one but you.”
“I know that. It’s just even the thought of losing this, losing you to someone who can be here all the time, it guts me.”
“I didn’t mean to upset you. I was just teasing. Of course, I’m going to miss you. I miss you when you’re at practice and I’m at the shelter. I don’t know how I’m going to do with not seeing you for four days.”
“I’ll call you as much as I can.” I’m already thinking about staying holed up in my room just so I can talk to her. I requested to room with Trent this time, and he agreed. I don’t even want to be around the single guys on the road. It’s not the temptation, but the rumors. I want to stay as far away from that shit as I can. I don’t need the press posting anything that could sheda bad light on me while I’m on the road. This is going to be hard enough on our relationship without the added drama and rumors that the leeches bring.
“Don’t feel like you have to. I’ll be here waiting for you, and I’ll be watching you on Sunday.”
“Come with me.”
“You know I can’t do that. I can’t leave Autumn alone at the shelter. Besides, I can’t just call her and ask for time off without notice. We’d need time to schedule volunteers.”
“I’ll pay for someone to come in and cover for you.”
“Thank you, but no.”
“I had a feeling you would say that.”
“It’s sweet, but you’re going to be away a lot. It’s not just this one weekend. This is our life, and we need to learn to deal with it the best we can. We need to get used to being apart.”
“You could quit and travel with me,” I offer. She thinks I’m kidding, but I’m dead serious.
“Then I’d be traveling alone. You have all your team stuff you have to do. I won’t get to see you much anyway.”
“I’ve never dreaded going away for a game until now.”
“Chin up, Number Eighteen,” she says playfully. I know she’s trying to lighten the mood. “I’ll be here, holding down the home front.”
Her words spark an idea. A crazy one, but it makes me feel better. “Stay at my place while I’m gone.”
“What? That’s crazy. Why would I do that when I have a perfectly good home right here, you know, the bed you’re sleeping in?”
