Page 88 of The Virgin Game Plan (Rules of Love 2)
All is well without a plan.
33
Holden
Before the game the next day, Thompson summons me to his office.
Gunnar delivers the message in a low voice. “Skipper wants to see you. Guess I can say I knew you when?”
My stomach nose-dives, but I do my best to keep a stony face. “It was fun while it lasted,” I say, and saunter out of the locker room. Alone outside the coach’s door, though, I draw a calming breath, square my shoulders, and rap my knuckles on the frame.
“You wanted to see me?”
“Kingsley, sit,” he says, gesturing to the chair across from him. He’s as warm as he’s ever been, but I don’t know what to make of it.
So, I sit, waiting for him to go first.
“We didn’t have much time to talk last night,” he begins, leaning back in his chair and steepling his fingers.
“That is true.”
“But now what I want to say is this. I know you make my daughter happy. I know she thinks you’re the cat’s meow. And I’m glad you seem taken with her too,” he says, then pauses.
That’s my cue, but it’s not a line when I tell him, “I’m more than taken, sir.”
“Good.” Then he shifts his weight forward and stares at me hard, our eyes locked. “But I also want you to know that, even though I may not have been the best father or husband, I expect more from you as my daughter’s boyfriend.”
“Of course,” I say.
He points at me. “I expect you to give her your all. To put your whole heart into your relationship the same way you do to the game. Anything less is unacceptable.”
I nod crisply. “Yes, sir.”
“Do you understand me?”
He’s not the Baseball Buddha now. He’s not the wise old man in the Webflix Christmas special. He’s simply a dad looking out for his girl.
“I promise, sir. I will give her everything.” That is absolutely my plan, and a promise I can keep.
“And then he went all gruff and said, ‘Treat her like a queen,’” I tell Reese later that night, recounting my heart-to-heart with her father.
She snuggles closer to me, her hair spilling over my chest and shoulder. “When he decides to dad up, he dads up.”
“He does indeed.”
“And what did you say?” She shifts around so she can prop her head in her hand and meet my eyes.
I run my fingers down her bare arm, watching the gooseflesh rise in their wake. “I told him that would not be a problem at all. I’ve got this covered.” Then I draw her in for a long, hot kiss that goes to my head.
When we break the kiss, she taps her fingers on my chest. “So, you’re off to Chicago next week for a series.”
“I am. You angling to line up some phone sex with me while I’m on the road?” I arch a brow, flicking my tongue along my lips.
“Maybe I am,” she says, all coy.
“Maybe I can fit you in,” I tease.
“Hey, treat me like a queen,” she says, laughing.
I tug her close, kissing her cheek. “Always, beautiful. Always.”
She sighs happily. “And what about Josh and your sponsorship deals? Are any coming through?”
I shrug. “He’s still working on them. It’ll happen when it happens.”
“Look at you. So laid-back and chill,” she says.
“I play a game for a living, and I found a wonderful woman to spend my days and nights with. What more could a man ask for?”
She arches a brow. “A World Series?”
“Well, duh.”
A couple days later, she drops a kiss to my lips before she leaves for work. “Good luck on the road. See you this weekend?”
“You will.” I yawn and sit up, then I grab a bag from the nightstand and hand it to her.
“What’s this?”
“Open it.”
She opens a small bag and lets her tongue loll out. “Chocolate. You must really want me to think of you while you’re gone.”
“I do, Reese. I really do.”
I kiss her once more and tell her I hope she has a great day at work then watch her go, knowing I could get used to doing this every single day.
Epilogue
Reese
* * *
The next week, I go over the game plan with Layla and Tia as we pile into a Lyft to head to Sausalito. “If anyone asks us when Holden and I are having babies, what do we say?” I quiz as I click my seat belt.
“‘We’re not sure yet. We haven’t moved past the we’re having too much fun trying part,’” Tia fires off.
Layla squares her shoulders, clearing her throat. “My favorite line I like to use is, ‘My fiancée and I are aiming for July twenty-third at three thirty a.m.’ How’s that?”
“My go-to is ‘We’re thinking of getting a cat first,’” I put in.
Tia adds, “Or you could say, ‘I’m going to have a cow if another person asks me about babies.’”
