Page 109 of Player Misconduct
“No… God no, I love the house.” she shakes her head, giving me relief right away. “Vivi knows exactly what I like and it’s perfect. I couldn’t have done a better job. But the monogrammed robes and signature shampoo and conditioner that she had to order from New York that’s currently sitting in the shower of the primary bathroom was a dead giveaway before she even texted me.”
I laugh. “I sort of told her to do whatever she had to in order to make sure you loved it and said yes.”
Kendall comes closer, her hands sliding over my hips, makes my cock twitch and now I’m thinking of all the other activities we could do in this kitchen that would taste better than breakfast.
“I love the house. But you didn’t have to spend this much. I would have said yes to something much smaller. I don’t want you to think I need any of this to be happy.”
“I know you don’t, but I can easily afford it. I haven’t spent a lot in all the years I’ve played professionally, and my father left behind a life insurance policy for my mom, my sister and I, to make sure that we were set if anything happened to him. I never spent my third over the last fifteen years and it’s grown in interest.”
“Your father protected you even in death.” she says as if more of who my father was as a man and a provider is revealed.
I nod. “It’s grown big enough to have paid the downpayment on the house, and there is still enough left over that the monthly interest will pay the monthly mortgage, utilities… everything. I put all of it in the trust as well so it will also cover this house and it will grow with Niko. No matter what happens to me. You’ll always have this place.” I can see her shoulders ease with the reassurance that I’m financially stable enough to do this for our son. I know her experience with Tarron left her in a hard spot financially. I want her to know that something like that will never happen with me. I’ll always make sure she’s taken care of… like my father did.
“I can’t believe you already did all of this… thought this far ahead.” She says, glancing around the kitchen as if to understand that this place is her safe place to raise our son, no matter what.
“You’re always the first thing on my mind, Kendall.”
She pushes up to her tip toes and kisses me. It is soft and tender and then she pulls back. I want to increase it, to christen every surface and room in this house with her, but I know she’s starving, growing that baby and my job this morning isn’t over.
“I know that now.”
“Besides, I don’t think my father could have dreamed up a better way for me to use his life insurance policy than to use it to take care of his grandson and you. It’s the best way I can honor his legacy.” I tell her.
I turn to the pancakes, just now realizing that I forgot about them. I flip them quickly and this batch is going to turn out perfect. I pull out my phone and snap a photo. “I have to send this picture to Saara and rub it in her face that I’m actually a great cook. She’s a liar.”
Kendall laughs. It’s real, completely her and completely unguarded. I wish I could bottle that sound and keep it forever.
I slide the pancake onto a plate, pour another, and this time I watch it closer. Kendall leans against the counter beside me, one hand lying loosely on the top of her belly as if it’s a permanent armrest, the other reaching for the spatula.
"Let me help before you burn the house down on our first morning here."
"Our first morning," I repeat, letting the words settle. "I like that."
She glances up at me, eyes soft. "Me too."
We work in comfortable silence—me pouring, her flipping, both of us stealing glances when we think the other isn't looking. By the time we sit down at the empty kitchen island with a plate of pancakes between us, the morning feels like something out of a dream…but this is real.
"These are actually good," she says, surprised.
"You sound shocked."
"I am shocked. You almost burned the first three. I can’t blame Saara for her original assumptions. I was getting concerned there for a minute."
"Learning curve," I say, forking a bite. "Next time I'll be a pro. Besides, you were distracting me in that shirt."
“Would it have been better if I came down here in no shirt?”
“Yes,” I say immediately, baring letting her finish the last word.
She grins. "Maybe next time," she echoes, and the way she says it—like there will be a thousand next times—makes something in my chest expand.
I never thought I'd feel home here like I do in Finland. But I do now. Kendall is the only home I need.
I haven’t asked if I can move in yet. For now, I think it’s better that we move slow. She took the buying of the house well considering she’s used to plans, schedules and control. I don’t want to overload her or this could all come tumbling down before I know it.
Instead, I’ll settle for sleepovers whenever she allows. Hoping by the time the baby gets here, she’ll want me around more permanently, but I’m not in a rush. Sitting in this kitchen, just the three of us with pancakes, is fucking heaven on earth.
It’s enough.
