Page 68 of Golden Goal

Chapter twenty-seven

Holt

“This is a nice neighborhood,” Becca says, hopping out of my G-Wagon that’s parked in front of the first house we’re seeing today.

I have to agree with her. All of the houses we passed driving down this street were large two-story homes set back from the road, each surrounded by a gate, making the homes even more private. Something I appreciated, and what made me want to see this house. So far, it’s also proved to be quiet. Which I really like. We passed a few people walking or running as we drove in, but the street was empty of cars.

I shove my hands in my pockets and follow her up the driveway to where Ashley, my realtor, is standing.

“Good to see you again, Mr. Abbott.” She smiles at me and turns to Becca. “You must be Mrs. Abbott. Nice to meet you.”

My brain short circuits at her words. At Becca being called Mrs. Abbott. Does she want to change her name if she gets married? She’s a doctor. How does that even work? Does she even want to get married?

Becca shakes her hand. “I’m not his wife. I’m his—”

“My girlfriend,” I say, shaking off the shock and slipping my arm around her, tucking my hand into her back pocket.

“Ah. Sorry.” Ashley grimaces. “I shouldn’t have assumed. Right, this way.” She leads us up to the porch, where she enters the code for the front door before rattling off the information about the house.

I’m not paying attention to any of it. I should be. But I can’t. My brain is still fixated on Ashley thinking that Becca was my wife. Do I want her to be? Last week I would have told you I didn’t want a girlfriend. Then yesterday, I told Becca I wanted us to be exclusive. Now I’m thinking about Becca being my wife.

“What do you think?” Becca asks, gesturing around the space. “About the split-level plan?”

“It’s nice.”

“I’ll leave you two to wander around. Let me know if you have questions,” Ashley says.

I take Becca’s hand and lead her out of the kitchen and into the living room. As soon as we’re out of the room, Becca tries to pull away.

“No.” I growl, tugging her closer to me.

Shit, should I let her pull away? Will she be mad at me for not letting her?

Before the panic can fully take over, she giggles and pats me on the chest. “I like holding your hand too, but you’re going to have to let go of me if we’re going to look at this house.”

“What if I don’t want to?” I murmur, checking out the living room and trying to picture it filled with my furniture, my family. Hadley reading in a chair by the window, Hazel playing with her toys on the floor, Becca lying on the couch.

But I can’t.

I shake my head.

This doesn’t feel right.

We spend the next few minutes wandering around, but my mind is made up. This isn’t the one.

“How many more houses are we seeing today?” Becca asks as she climbs out of my SUV a few hours later.

“This is the last one.” I peer up at the house in front of me.

Becca whistles as she looks around at the other homes on the street. “This is the same subdivision Hunter lives in, right?”

I wrap my arm around her. “Yep. A few of the other guys live a few blocks over, too.”

“I see the appeal then. Being close to your friends. Makes sense,” Becca says.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, folks,” Ashley says as she walks over to us. “My assistant called me on the drive over because there’s another home that meets your criteria. It literally just went on the market, but it will probably go fast, so if you want to see it, we should go today.”

“Let’s see this one first,” I say.