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“Let’s just take a minute. You and Jensen have a divorce to settle, and I don’t want to get in the middle of that. Plus, Remi has to be completely well before we can plan anything else.”
“Chase, I know I can’t expect you to stay, and I don’t want to be separated if we can avoid it. It feels too much like when you left six years ago.”
“Except nothing is going to happen to rip us apart this time. We just have to work out the logistics so whatever we do is best for Remi. Those reporters today made me realize that we have to be careful.” Chase’s face was soft with contemplation, and the soft stubble that had now become scruff. “I don’t want J to have any blowback from this. He doesn’t need to be made a fool of, even if it’s all made-up lies. I don’t want it to appear as if I swooped in and broke up his marriage right under his nose. You and I have each other; we have our perfect little Remi, and the rest of our lives together. We can afford a little patience so Jensen doesn’t suffer unnecessarily. We’re both visible in the sports world and I want to make sure his pride stays intact.” He pressed a kiss to my temple. “I owe him that, at least. It might be a little inconvenient for a few months, but trust me; you and I are going to be together like we were always meant to be. With Remi.”
How was I lucky enough to have two such amazing men in my life? Jensen unselfishly making it easy for me to be with Chase, and Chase making sure Jensen wasn’t hurt unnecessarily. Hope unfurled inside my heart. Jensen and Chase would be okay.
I looked up into Chase’s face in wonder, unable to articulate the pride I felt. “I love you; so much it’s hard to put it into words.”
Chase reached out and ran a gentle finger down the side of my face. “I’m counting on it.”
CHASE
We made it to the finals of the first league tournament, but Chelsea kicked our ass 5-3 to win. I was mostly healed, and the purple bruises were starting to turn an ugly yellow and green. I blamed myself for the loss because I’d missed the practices for six weeks, but it couldn’t be helped. My teammates and the coaches were gracious, but they were obviously anxious about what my long-term plans were.
After the story broke that I’d been back in Atlanta for several weeks, an agent representing the US National Team had contacted me. I had a serious offer in front of me that had to be considered. As much as I hated the thought of leaving Arsenal and all of the friends I’d made in London, I had to consider what was best for my family.
I’d been in London for eight days and I couldn’t wait to get back to Teagan and Remi. Remi was going to get out of the glass cage any day now, and I wanted to be there for that.
Teagan had been conspiring with my sister, mother, and sister-in-law to have a surprise party for Remi when she got out, which I thought was a brilliant idea.
I Skyped with Teagan daily, and most of the time she was in the isolation suite and she could hold up the tablet so I could talk to Remi. She was getting stronger and stronger, the bloom in her cheeks was healthy and she had a lot more energy. She liked to make up shows and do them for me over Skype and my heart filled with pride. She was missing two front teeth and that gave her a bit of lisp, but she didn’t seem to notice or care either way. I was bursting with pride and my teammates were probably ready to sack me because I never stopped talking about my girls in America.
Bronwyn tried to corner me at my apartment right after I got back in London and though I tried to be respectful of her feelings, she put the moves on me, thinking that she could change my mind with sex and when I told her I wasn’t interested, she wouldn’t stop. I shouldn’t have been surprised because sex was our main connection, but I’d hoped she would have moved on after Atlanta. She wouldn’t back off and kept grabbing at me until I was rude about it. The twinge of guilt I had over my behavior went away the second I remembered she was the reason my relationship with Teagan went to hell. I requested one of the other trainers to work with me, and kept my distance from her, making damn sure my phone was in sight at all times. I wouldn’t put a repeat performance past Bronwyn, and it was doubtful Teagan would fall for it again, but I wasn’t taking any chances.
Teagan had been bugging me to learn some simple choreography to a song Remi liked because she wanted to surprise Remi during the party she was planning with Kat and my mom. I’d been asked to do a lot of things in my life, but this was new. The song was Pharell Williams’ Happy. It had a fun, snappy tune and I could see how it was completely appropriate for a party, and given Remi’s affinity for singing and dancing, how could I refuse?
It turned out to be great fun. My teammates started out making fun of me, but many of them knew the song and Ceasar Rommono, our goalkeeper, helped me learn the damn thing. When he suggested we make a parody and convinced Yosef, the team photographer, to take a video of me and some of the Gunners dancing around the locker room, on the field, in the parking lot of our stadium, and on the team buses.
Some of the shots were of the whole team and others of individuals dancing along. We even convinced Coach Noonan, the team doctor, and a couple of the trainers to join for a few frames. Of course, we were also lip-syncing the song and I was front and center. The different pieces were edited together in a mash-up just like the real video. It was completely goofy, but my friends and I laughed our asses off practicing with beer and Jack the second night I was back in London. It was heartwarming to see how supportive my friends had been and how willing and enthusiastic they had been to help me make it so amazing.
It was so much fun, it turned into a thing, and we did one for JT’s song;Can’t Stop the Feeling, too. I remembered how much Remi loved that song and I was sure she was going to love it.
I could hardly wait for Remi to see them. I was jumping-out-of-my-skin excited. Of course, it would probably outdo Teagan’s surprise, but what the hell; I was making up for lost time.
I pulled out my phone as I waited for my plane to take off from Heathrow. I couldn’t wait to hear Teagan’s voice. For her part, she and Jensen had filed for divorce, and she was packing up her things and putting a lot of it in storage for the time being. Kat came up on the weekend to help her so Teagan could still spend most of her time at the hospital with Remi. It was five hours earlier in Atlanta than it was in London and it would be breakfast time there. It was 3 AM London time and I was hoping to sleep much of the almost nine-hour flight, so I wouldn’t be dragging when I arrived. Jet lag was always easier to manage than when I traveled from Europe to the States.
“Hey!” Teagan answered. Her voice was jubilant and happy. We still weren’t a hundred percent sure that Remi would be cured for good, but her progress and prognosis were good. Her blood counts were better than Dr. Radar expected for so soon after the transplant.
“Hey, Monkey.” My words had to be laced with the love and anxious desire I was feeling. I was elated and it was catching. The flight attendants in first class beamed at me as they passed. I was smiling so hard the muscles in my cheeks hurt.
“Ace Forrester,” one of them mouthed, pointing at me.
I still had on my sunglasses but she was still able to recognize me. My brow shot up and I nodded with a smile, but put a finger to my mouth, hoping she’d understand I didn’t want my presence on the flight spread around.
“Got it,” she mouthed again.
“Are you on your way home?”
Those words meant everything to me. It didn’t matter where I lived, or even what team I ended up on, the only thing that had to be was that Teagan and Remi were with me. There was nothing that mattered more or anything I wanted more. Wherever they were was home. I’d miss my team, but more and more, I was leaning toward taking the offer from the U.S. National Team.
“I am,” I responded. I was sitting next to the window, and in the time since I dialed the phone, a woman in a business suit took the berth across the aisle. I was thankful for the sleeping cubicles not only because it would help me really sleep, but because I didn’t have anyone right next to me. Still, I turned a bit away so that my conversation couldn’t be overheard. “I’m dying to see you. It feels like ten years.”
Teagan laughed. “I missed you, too, but I promise, it didn’t feel like ten years. It didn’t even feel like six.”
I was watching out the window of the plane, watching the baggage get loaded into the underbelly of the plane. I chuckled. “Yeah. Are you going to stay with me at the shitty apartment tonight?” We’d started to refer to the place that way. “If you don’t want to, we can get a room at a hotel by the hospital.”
“I’m not sure.” Teagan’s response was vague, but it still felt positive. There was a smile in her tone that she didn’t match.
