Mason shot her a look. “Thanks, Jen. We’ll meet you outside.”
I muffled a laugh as she left the room, very clearly dismissed. “Did you know we can hire people?” I demanded in mock shock.
“I know, she’s a bit of a snob, but she’s good and can likely get us in here quickly. My only concern would be security,” he mused as he looked out the window to the lawn below, “but we can likely have something constructed.”
“Do we really need to worry now that he-who-shall-not-be-named is behind bars?”
He turned to look at me, a soft smile on his handsome face. “Well, babe, there’s still the matter of my being relatively famous.” He winked. “The league actually requires me to have certain measures of security in place.”
“Oh yeah, that.” I scrunched my nose as he wrapped me in his arms.
He chuckled. “Good to know you’ll still love me if I quit my day job. Now, should we go for it?”
“I think so.” I nodded. “We’ll be comfortable here while we build our dream home, and Kodi will love it,” I added with a smile, thinking of the surprise I had for him.
And with that, we made one huge step toward our future together.
Chapter 20
MASON
“Dude, I think we’ve got a shot at it this season.” Ryan grinned as we walked through the airport, returning from our first away game of the season. The team was strong, and we’d won by a comfortable margin.
“I agree,” I replied, ignoring the number of phones pointed in our direction, snapping pictures.
“Next time, the girls are coming,” Ryan grumbled. Lily and Ellie had stayed behind to settle us in our new home, something I’d strongly opposed but had finally given in on when it became clear how much it meant to Ellie.
“You moving Lily in with you?” I wondered.
He snorted. “She’s already in, she just hasn’t admitted it.”
I laughed. “I can see that. Later,” I raised a hand in parting as we hit the parking garage. We had a few days off, and I had plans I was eager to set into motion.
“My girl better not still be at your place,” Ryan called. We both knew how they could lose track of time when they were together.
“If she is, I’ll send her in your direction.” I grinned, beeping the locks of the Rover and tossing my duffle inside.
The drive to the new house was longer, but as I pulled up to the welcoming two-story home now complete with a security gate, the extra miles were well worth it.
“Baby?” I called as I walked through the door, distractedly taking in the furniture and decorating Ellie had clearly been hard at work completing. She’d had help but unsurprisingly had wanted to do most of the work herself. “Ellie?” I called again, surprised that neither she nor Kodi had come down to greet me. I climbed the stairs, finding the master bedroom door closed. I could hear her moving around in there. “Babe?”
“Just a minute!” she called, the frantic tone in her voice setting me on edge.
I didn’t wait, pushing through the door, wanting to make sure she was safe. I didn’t know what I expected to find, but Ellie desperately trying to get a bow around a squirming German shepherd puppy wasn’t it.
She looked up at me, blowing the hair out of her face in comical dismay as the puppy and Kodi both bounded over to greet me. “Um, surprise?” She shrugged with a small smile.
I bent down to first greet Kodi before scooping up the puppy, who promptly began licking my face. “Who’s this?” I asked as Ellie moved in close.
“She’s your surprise. Damn, I thought it would be so cute if we all greeted you at the door with bows on,” she grumbled. “But this little one wasn’t having it.”
“Clearly.” I pulled Ellie into my side with my free arm. “And I like the bow idea on you, baby. How about later with nothing else?”
Her cheeks flushed. “I can do that.”
I kissed her soundly before putting the puppy down. “She’s so fucking cute.” I grinned as she tried to jump on Kodi. “He doing okay with her? When did you get her?”
“This morning. I’ve had this in the works for a while. Kodi’s been a trooper, but I’m sure he’ll be thrilled when she gets crated for the night.”
