The media had always been obsessed with me. And then with my relationship with Violet. We were labeled the fairy-tale love story of the NFL. Fans were just as invested in our marriage as they were in my team winning.
Now that I was retired, they wanted to change that. Blame her for me quitting. Sowing controversy with bullshit like we were on the road to divorce. Their latest theory was that Vi had given me an ultimatum—football or her.
She hadn’t and never would.
But if she did, it would be her. Hands down. Every. Fucking. Time.
As I chugged my drink, I heard footsteps. I knew it was her before she even reached the door. My dick got hard, my entire body already straining toward her. She was texting one-handed, not looking up as she headed straight for the fridge.
Her blond hair was in a messy knot that was off-center, big chunks falling around her face. She wore one of my hoodies that swallowed her, one side having slipped off her shoulder, showing me she wasn’t wearing a bra. Her sleep pants were at least a decade old, so baggy they dragged on the floor. She’d forgone makeup the last few days, having been in work mode to help her mom with a project that needed to be finished for the magazine.
So fucking beautiful.
I watched her pull the water pitcher from the fridge and walk to the cabinet to retrieve a glass. Her eyes left her screen only a few times to make sure she didn’t bump into anything, but I knew she was aware I was in the room. It was in the change in her breathing, the soft sigh that left her, as if she was releasing alittle of the stress that had been tightening her shoulders all day simply because we were in the same space.
While she poured her glass of water, I moved up behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist and dropping my chin on her shoulder. She smelled good, so I pressed my nose to her neck before nipping her below the ear, rubbing my hard-on over her luscious ass.
If there hadn’t been the risk of Love Bug walking in on us, I would have pushed her sweats and panties to her knees, soaked up the sight of her perfect ass, and then fucked her up against the counter.
Vi made a humming noise, leaning back into me, but didn’t drop her phone. With all the craziness of the last several weeks—the championship game, followed by weeklong press bullshit, reviewing game film, practice, then the Super Bowl and the insanity following our win—there hadn’t been much alone time for Vi and me. We’d made love, but it had been in stolen, rushed moments.
I wanted to take my time. Savor her. Worship the goddess my wife was.
“Baby.” I nipped at her ear. “Come upstairs with me.”
Feeling her tense, I frowned and was about to turn her to face me when she picked up her water and ducked under my arm. “Sorry, babe,” she called over her shoulder. “I have to get this done for Mom tonight. All hands on deck for the deadline.”
“Vi?” I called after her.
“Go to bed without me. I’m going to be up late. Unfortunately. Love you.”
I stood there, looking at the door she had disappeared through, feeling like I’d been punched in the gut. “The fuck just happened?”
Luca
“Uh-oh.”
I snapped out of my stupor when I heard my princess’s voice. She walked in through the back door, and I glanced at the time. Jagger had taken her and his girls to the movies, so I was expecting her home.
“Which one of the boys put that dazed look on your face, Daddy?”
Grabbing the back of my neck with both hands, I squeezed. “How was the movie, Love?”
“Meh,” she shrugged, dropping her bag on the counter. I fought a smile. Her godmother had rubbed off on her too much for me to try to curb that now. “It didn’t hold up to the hype. The best part was when Arella made a cameo. How did we not know? Grier and I both screamed at the end credits when we saw her.”
“Contracts and all that crap.” I excused my cousin. “She legally can’t tell anyone about the parts she has until they tell her she can.”
“Rude,” she complained.
I kissed the top of her blond head. “Did you eat?”
“We had snacks at the movies, but Uncle Jags stopped for fries on the way home.” Giving me a hug, she stepped back. “I need a shower, and then I need to text my friends to tell them about the movie.”
“Sure… Hey.” I stopped her before she got to the door. As she glanced back at me, my heart melted like always when I saw her violet-rimmed blue eyes blinking at me. “Has Mom been acting weird to you?”
Love Bug frowned. “Weird, how?”
“I dunno.” It wasn’t so much how she had acted. More a feeling. I didn’t have to explain it to my daughter, though. She knew how it was with her mother and me. “Just…off.”
