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That raises my hackles. “We can leave?—”
“Don’t. That didn’t come out how it was meant to. Gracie says you’re a really good guy. So does Belle. And my boys like you too. I’m just having a hard time accepting Everly in an adult relationship. Are you coming to dinner at my house after this?”
“Yes, sir. I mean, yes. We are. It was nice of you to invite us today. We won’t get many weekends where we can come to a game once the season starts.” Jax spits out his binky, and Declan laughs and picks it up, then tosses it into the car seat. “Here.” He puts his hands out. “Why don’t you let me hold him. Everly is about to come on the field. You don’t want to miss my girl doing her thing.”
The look he gives me is sad. “Doesn’t matter how old they get, Cross. They’re always your girl. Enjoy them when they’re little and still think you hung the damn moon.”
I carefully give him Jax and watch Declan’s eyes light up when Jax yanks his hair. “What do you say, Jaxon? Maybe you’ll like football better than hockey, unlike my kids.”
Doubtful. But I keep that to myself as I walk up to the glass and watch a giant kickline of cheerleaders marching out onto the field in only slightly more clothing than Everly wore on stage lastnight. And damn, she’s incredible. The way she moves. The way she smiles. She lights up out there, brighter than the brightest star.
“Daddy,” Kerrigan squeals again. “Look at Miss Evie. Look how pretty she looks, Daddy.”
“She’s perfect,” I whisper, and Declan claps my shoulder.
“Nobody’s perfect, Cross. But she’s pretty damn close. So don’t fuck it up.”
I don’t bother correcting him.
But he’s wrong.
Everly is perfect.
Perfect for me. For us.
And I’m not fucking this up because that woman is the love of my life.
Before the end of the first quarter, the suite is full of people. Everly’s family is big. And full of football players. Two of her uncles played for Maryland before they retired. Her godfather played for the Kings. And another uncle is apparently a former Navy SEAL, who warned me that he didn’t need Sam Beneventi to kill me if I hurt Everly. He knew 131 ways to kill a man and dispose of a body without ever being caught.
Finally, I gave in and asked Sam, who’s Maddox’s dad, why everyone uses him as a threat.
Maddox laughs at me right before his father smacks the back of his head. “Comes with the job,” he tells me and walks away.
“What’s his job?” I ask Maddox.
“Waste management,” he says with a straight face, then follows his dad.
Wait . . . like . . . ?
Kerrigan runs over and throws her arms up in the air until I pick her up. “Daddy... is it almost over?”
“Soon, baby,” I tell her and kiss the top of her head.
“Hey there, little lady,” Everly’s brother Leo says as he moves next to us. “Are you having fun at your first game?”
She nods her head, the space buns Bellamy put in her hair bobbling with the movement.
“How about you, man? Are you a football guy?” Leo reminds me of Ares. He’s tall and lean but muscular. Everly mentioned he’s a hockey player at Kroydon University, and I can see it.
“I mean, it’s not hockey, but it’s not bad,” I tell him.
He takes a pull of his beer and watches Callen make a great catch. “Yeah, I’m with you. Pretty sure Dad cried when he ended up with three hockey players instead of football stars.”
“Yeah. I could see that.”
“I still feel kinda shitty about what I said at the girls’ place a few weeks ago. It really did just come out wrong. It’s pretty cool seeing Everly bring you around the family. Especially the whole family. I’ve only ever met one guy she’s dated, and that’s because I played hockey with him, not because she brought him around the family.”
Warning bells go off in my mind. I probably shouldn’t ask, but I fucking have to.
