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Chapter 2
Luca
I was dragging by the time I walked out to my vehicle after practice. Although we were going into week five of the season, we were undefeated, just like the opposing team was. They had a damn good offense, but our defense was better, and I planned on annihilating them on Sunday.
After studying their previous year’s games at the beginning of the week, we’d been planning our strategies for some of their formations, deciding which receiver or running back was likely to get the ball, and who we needed to focus on the most while our defense had the field. Their quarterback was a hell of a player. He could run the ball just as competently as he could throw it. His college coach had prepared him well.
Shifting my gym bag on my shoulder, I popped the top off my water bottle and swallowed thirstily as I approached my huge SUV. The sight of the plates never failed to make me smile. LOVEBUG. Having a personalized license plate wasn’t the smartest idea for a celebrity, but I loved seeing my daughter’s name on my vehicle.
Before I could reach the black SUV, my phone rang, and I pulled it out of the side pocket of my gym bag. As soon I saw Vi’s face on my screen, my grin only grew, and I lifted the phone to my ear. “Hey, baby. How was your day?”
“Do you like the idea of a New Year’s Eve wedding?”
I nearly stumbled mid-step at her question. Straightening my back, I glanced around, trying to figure out if I’d taken a hit on the field and was still knocked out. That was the only scenario I could come up with for why my fiancée would want to discuss anything wedding-related with me. When I’d asked her to marry me, I’d had this idea that we would get married right away, but Vi had shied away from all things having to do with our wedding.
Which was okay.
I got it.
Remington was still holding on to a part of her, and I wasn’t going to push her. He was dead, and I got to live the life he should have been living. I was just grateful for the second chance at a lifetime with my soul mate.
My proposal had been the day before Love Bug’s first birthday. Now our daughter was five and in kindergarten. We’d been engaged for over four years, and during that time, we’d gone to so many of our friends’ and family’s weddings. But each time someone asked Violet about our big day, she would change the subject or find a reason to excuse herself from the conversation.
Then there was my mom, who kept pushing and pushing. And pushing. I’d told her to stop it or we wouldn’t be coming home for Christmas this year. It was an empty threat, because I knew Vi would still want to go, no matter how annoying Mom got. But the woman who had given birth to me didn’t need to know that.
All in all, I simply figured that once Violet was ready, she’d start planning.
Was she ready now, or was I knocked out cold and dreaming this shit—or was I just overthinking a simple question?
“Luca?” Vi’s sweet voice called. “Are you still there?”
“Yeah, baby. I’m here. Sorry, my brain blanked for a second.”
Her soft laughter filled my ear. “I didn’t think it was such a hard question. Maybe I should try something simpler. Do you want to get married on New Year’s Eve? Or we could do New Year’s Day? But if that isn’t doable, I guess we could have the wedding the week before the Super Bowl. I’ll just have to make some adjustments to whatever dress I pick out.”
I slapped my hand against my cheek, testing to see if I was conscious or not. The sting told me right away that I was, indeed, awake. “Y-you’re planning the wedding?”
“Picking a date is typically the first step, so yes,” she teased.
“You’re planning the wedding,” I repeated, making it a statement rather than a question this time.
“Luca? Did you get too much sun? Please tell me you stayed hydrated today…It was so hot, and—”
“You’re planning the wedding!” I shouted, catching the attention of several of my teammates as they walked to their own cars. They didn’t bother to stop and ask any personal questions. I wasn’t friendly with anyone on or off the field. Football might have been a passion I’d had since I was a kid, but it was just a job. I went to work, got shit done, and drove home, where my real life was waiting for me.
“Is…that okay?” she whispered.
The hesitation in her voice hit me harder than any tackle I’d ever taken on the field, quickly sobering me up. “Vi, baby. Love of my life. Keeper of my heart. It is, without a doubt, one hundred percent, perfectly okay for you to plan our wedding. I’ll marry you whenever, wherever, however you decide. Tell me what you need and want me to do, and I’ll make it happen. Want to go to Tahiti and get married on the beach in grass skirts and coconut bras? I’m down for it. I’ll rock one of those bras, but I might need a loincloth or something to contain my cock beneath those itchy skirts. Want to go to the Georgia Aquarium and say our vows underwater in their big tank with the whale sharks swimming all around us? Done. Instead of champagne, we’ll get the World of Coca-Cola next door to supply all the soda our guests can drink, and then I’ll beat the snot out of Atlanta’s offense the next day.”
Her laughter was so much better than hearing that little quaver that had been in her voice only moments before. “You’re insane.”
“I’ll do whatever I have to in order to make you happy, Violet.”
“Well, right now, I only need you to agree on a wedding date.” She made a humming noise, which told me she was thinking. “I guess if we wait until the end of January, planning the honeymoon will depend on if you guys make it to the Super Bowl this season or not.”
“You don’t have faith I’ll make it to the Super Bowl two years in a row, babe?” I pouted.
“I didn’t say that. It’s just, anything could happen in the play-offs.”
