“I don’t need either of those things. We have everything we need right here.” I gently place my hand over his bandage.
Lennon’s smile is blinding. “You, dream job, and happiness.”
“I’ll make sure you get it all.”
It’s one vow I have no problem making.
IV
TALON AND MILLER
Chapter Seventeen
MILLER
The sun beats down on my bare skin, the only part not overheating being the small area covered by my tiny boardshorts. Not that I mind.
I’m on an eight point nine-million-dollar yacht anchored off the coast of Fiji, lying back on a deck chair, beer in hand, and Talon and I have everyone at our beck and call.
I can feel Damon’s stare without needing to turn my head. “What?”
“When you guys said you were doing your bachelor party here, this is not what I thought we’d be doing.”
This is my idea of a bachelor party. Relaxed with nothing to do.
Clearly, my fiancé doesn’t feel the same way. He’s swinging from a rope on the side of the yacht like he’s some Tarzan wannabe and cannonballing into the water below.
“Talon asked Joni and Ema about strip clubs. Apparently, Fiji isn’t that type of place.”
“Eh. This is better anyway.” Damon lifts his beer to his lips. “Just not what I expected.”
“Yeah, it’s all fun and games until your highest-paying client breaks his neck jumping off this boat, and then the NFL will sue your ass and I’ll be a widower before we’re even married.”
Hey, at least then I won’t have to tell Talon what I’ve been keeping from him.
Damon side-eyes me. “Somehow I don’t think it’ll be the extreme sports that will kill him.”
Exactly. “Not gonna think of that while we’re on vacation.”
“You need to tell him before he finds out from someone else.”
I shake my head. “I can’t. I just … can’t. You don’t understand. This is, like, betrayal to the utmost degree.”
“Dramatic much? It’s not like you cheated on him.”
“I think he’d be quicker to forgive cheating than … the R word.”
“You can’t even say it, can you?” He leans in closer. “Retirement.”
“Shh!” I sit up and twist in the direction where Talon is.
My gorgeous man smiles and waves at me before jumping again.
Good. He didn’t hear it.
Damon and I have already decided as a team that my career is done at the end of next season. He’s not even going to try to get me another contract.
“Talon will understand. Especially when you tell him your leg’s not one hundred percent. He didn’t suspect anything when you refused to go wakeboarding the other day?”
Getting out of that one was hard, but claiming to feel unwell worked out considering I puked everywhere from seasickness later in the day. “Nah. He thought I was sick. Which I was. Technically. But if I tell him I have no faith my leg will hold up, all that’s gonna happen is he’ll worry and then send me to a ton of different doctors to try to find the one who recommends not retiring and that I’ll be fine.”
“He will not. Your health comes first. And yeah, you probably do still have a few seasons in you, but you need to think of your future. What if you take one bad hit? He of all people knows sports injuries. Your leg will always be weaker than it had been, and your tear three years ago cut your career by at least twenty percent. Talon would logically know this.”
It’s my turn to side-eye him. “I’m judging you right now.”
“Uh, why?”
“Because you put the words Talon and logic together. Like, in the same sentence.”
“How long do you really think you can keep this from him?”
“I don’t know. Every time it gets brought up, I could blow him. He likes it when I do that.”
Damon laughs. “And when your coaches bring it up in front of everyone in the locker room?”
“If there are any more homophobes lurking on the team, they’re gonna get an awesome show.”
“Miller—”
“I’ll tell him. But not yet. Maybe on the way back into the real world in two days.”
Damon reaches over and pats my knee. “Just remember, sooner rather than later. At least before training camp. It’s your last season together. Make it worth it.”
Worth it.
My whole damn career has been worth it, but the last three seasons being back on the field with Talon have been indescribable. I don’t want to leave it behind, but I know my limits. I was lucky to come back after my injury in the first place, and I only have Talon to thank for that.
Keeping it from Talon is idiotic, and sneaking around to doctors behind his back hasn’t been easy. But I don’t want him to worry, and I don’t want him to push for something I’ve already decided against.
My football career is over. I have one more season left in me, and then I’m done.