“I missed you too.”
I watch him disappear outside and find my mom and dad standing there. “Did you guys know about this?”
Mom smiles. “Aubrey called me last night. He wanted to surprise you.” I notice she has her shoes on. “Your dad and I are going for a drive, and your brother is heading to Claire’s. Give you guys some time alone.” I hug both of my parents, and they take off.
When Chance comes back in, he’s carry several packages. “Where’d your mom and dad go?”
“They wanted to give us some alone time.” I grab his hand and pull him into the living room.
Ava grabs his hand and makes him sit in front of the tree. I join them and lean forward, grabbing his gifts from under the tree. Ava climbs onto Chance’s lap, and he hands her the first gift. “This is from my mom and dad.”
My daughter wastes no time ripping the paper from the huge box. I grab my phone and take a video as he helps her open the box. Ava’s squeal is almost deafening as she pulls out two Disney Princess gowns with matching crowns and shoes.
She hugs them to her chest like they’re the most precious things she’s ever had. “That was so sweet of them. I feel bad, I didn’t think to get them anything…”
Chance covers my lips with his fingers. “Don’t feel bad. They wanted to do this for you guys.”
He hands me a box, and I open it—too slow for my daughter who grabs some of the paper and yanks. “Hey, turkey, Mommy can do it herself.” I pop the tape and lift the lid. “Oh wow,” I whisper.
They bought me the coolest crossbody bag with red, green, blue and gold designs. I pull it out and feel that it’s heavy. I unzip it and look inside; it’s filled with lotions and body sprays. “This is too much. God, they’re really great, Chance.” My eyes fill with tears because they’re so sweet and thoughtful.
“Don’t cry on me, baby.” He wraps his arm around my shoulders and hugs me tight, kissing my forehead before letting me go.
“Ava, come get your gift you picked out for Chance.” She hands him the little gift bag and grabs the paper for him, pulling it out. “Sorry, she clearly enjoys this part.”
When he looks inside the bag, he smiles and pulls out the keychain. “Ava, did you pick this out for me?”
“I did. Do you wuv it?”
“Very much. Thank you.” He hugs her and kisses the top of her head, making my ovaries explode. Next he grabs mine and opens it. He holds up the t-shirts and smiles. “These are great. Thank you.”
Chance hands Ava her gift from him, which is a set of Peppa Pig books. She wants me to take them home with me so I can read them to her every night. He then hands me a little gift bag, and I pull the box out from inside of it.
“Oh my God,” I whisper. It’s a delicate silver chain with an ‘A’ pendant with Ava’s birthstone in it. “T-this is s-s-so beautiful.”
I throw my arms around both of them, and Chance falls to his back. Ava laughs hysterically and then hops up, turning The Little Mermaid back on. I take a moment to show my man just how much his gift means to me. Our kiss is sweet—too short—but Ava doesn’t need to see his tongue down my throat.
“Thank you so much,” I whisper to him.
“You’re welcome, and thank you for my gifts.” Chance kisses the tip of my nose.
“I’m so glad you came.”
“I wanted to surprise you.”
The three of us snuggle on the sofa, watching The Little Mermaid. I wrap my hand around the pendant, smiling as I rest my head on his shoulder. Ava sits on Chance’s lap, and the three of us get lost under the sea.
Chapter Eighteen
Chance
“We sold a hundred and fifty tickets,” Hunter announces during our house meeting. The party is in two weeks, and I’m excited for it, I am, but now that soccer is officially over, I’ve been moody and restless.
Dad says he was the same way after his career ended. He said that now is the time to focus on school and being able to spend more time with Laken. It’s been a week and a half since the day I surprised her.
There was just something about seeing the happiness not only on Laken’s face, but Ava’s too, when I arrived that day that did something to me. Hell, every moment I’m with Laken I feel like I’m changing, but for the better.
“Rumor has it the brother who has sworn he was never going to have a girlfriend, has one,” Hunter says, and all eyes are on me. “She must be incredible if she convinced you to date her.”
I open my mouth to speak, but Trey beats me to it. “He had to convince her.” I’m going to kick his ass.
My brothers all make an “Ohhh…”
I flip them the bird. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just shut the fuck up. Laken is the shit,” I tell them.
“Wait, she’s the girl you brought to the party, right?” It was the first night she ever slept over, but only because she was drunk and got sick. I wanted to keep an eye on her.
“Yeah, that’s her.” I wait for him to say something smart, but he doesn’t.
“She seemed cool. I can’t wait to get to know her better. I assume you’re bringing her to the party.”
“Of course.”
After the meeting is adjourned, I head back to my place. I let myself into my apartment and change into my workout clothes before heading outside. It’s cool right now and perfect weather to jog to the athletic department and use the weight room.
There are a couple of football players and wrestlers here. Although I don’t know
