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He snorted. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
Her voice went serious. “Dad didn’t make you feel valuable, and you’ve been living your life that way, but it isn’t true. It was never true.”
Matt cocked his head as though he didn’t know what she was talking about, and maybe he didn’t. Maybe it was she who’d been living her life like she wasn’t valuable.
“Um, thanks?” he said. “If that was actually a compliment?”
“It was.” She gave him another hug. A quick one this time. “Will you play catch with me sometime?”
“Sure.” He patted her shoulder. “But not now because you’re really bad at it. Maybe Carson can give you some pointers.”
She smiled and shook her head. “I’m going to miss you.”
“Then it’s a good thing that Denver gets phone service.”
“Yeah, but it won’t be the same as nagging you in person.”
He grinned. “Not going to lie. I’m not going to miss the nagging.”
She playfully smacked his shoulder. And then, despite his insistence that he wouldn’t play catch with her, the two of them spent the rest of the time tossing the ball back and forth.
* * *
Olivia had been concentrating so ferventlyon making a list of everything she would have to do in order to move to Denver, and on saying her goodbyes, that she didn’t spend much time considering how she was actually going to say hello to Carson.
During the flight, she’d been positive he would be thrilled to see her. She’d imagined a reunion fit for the big screen—her running into his open arms, him twirling her in the air and kissing her.
It wasn’t until she was at the Denver airport debating on whether to rent a car or get an Uber that she began to worry.
What if he wasn’t home? What if he wasn’t as happy to see her as she supposed, and she was about to make a fool of herself? Megan’s surprise visit hadn’t gone well for her. And here Olivia was doing the same thing. It would be so humiliating to have to stand on Carson’s doorstep, unwanted, and call a driver to come back for her.
No, that was her past talking—those feelings of not being valuable enough. She was his girlfriend. He would be happy to see her.
Unless he’d already flown to Vegas for the game there. How early did the team leave for the next game? She should’ve asked him about it, but it was a little late for that now.
She rented a car and drove to his house. The process took longer than she thought and it was nine-thirty by the time she pulled into the complex. Colonial-looking homes spread out next to a golf course. Everything was new, manicured, and screamed wealth.
Carson’s porch light was on, but the home looked dark. Maybe he was out celebrating with friends. Or in Vegas. She parked just past his garage and slowly got out of her car. How did she tell him she was here? Just go to the door? Maybe it was best to prepare him, make sure this was a good time for a visit.
While she walked up his driveway, she called his number. He picked up almost right away. “Hey,” he said.
“I saw your game today. Congratulations. Awesome touchdown.”
“Yeah, hopefully that will put to rest questions of whether I’m fully recovered.” His voice sounded light and happy.
“I also saw the interview you did afterward, and I want to talk about us.”
“Good. I want to talk about us too.” He took a deep breath. “Look, I love that you’re loyal to the people you care about. You feel like leaving Lark Springs is abandoning your family, and although I don’t agree with that, I understand. So if you don’t want to leave, I’ll take the cabin off the market and live there off-season. And when I retire from the NFL, I’ll move back to be with you. But, hear me out, I don’t want to be apart from you in the meantime. So if you agree to move to Denver, I’ll hire a personal assistant in Lark Springs to make sure your mother goes to her appointments, and who’ll do your father’s taxes, and try to, I don’t know, hire legal counsel for Matt the next time he needs it—all the things you usually do.”
Carson wanted her to come. It was everything she needed to hear. “You don’t need to do that.”
“I know, but Iwantto do it. I’ll do whatever it takes so that we can be together.”
“Okay.”
“Okay, you’ll move to Denver?”
“Okay, I’m already here.”
