Final Score: Part One (Game On 5)

Smiling up at Kayla, I said, “You know, that sounds good. I’ll talk to Bree about setting it up.”

After spending a little more time discussing all things wedding, Kayla and I headed downstairs to the man cave in the basement to check on the guys. Radleigh’s “man cave” wasn’t really solely for him and his friends to hang out, it was just the name given to the place he could store most of his gadgets and crap we didn’t want cluttering up the living room. Aside from Jessica’s nursery, it was my favourite room in the house. It homed a leather sofa bigger than the one in our lounge, plus three enormous bean bag chairs, and there was also an enormous shaggy rug in the centre of the room for people to sit on when all the seats were taken. The television on the wall could have rivalled any cinema screen, and games consoles and games sat on shelving underneath. At one end of the room was a fully functional bar. Small, but ideal for get togethers. At the other end we had two classic arcade games: Pacman and Space Invaders, and there was also a pool table Radleigh and I most definitely never had sex on…

When Kayla and I entered the basement, Radleigh, Bryce and Jesse were gathered around the Pacman machine, clearly involved in some kind of high score battle as trash talk was flying all over the place, and out of respect for Bryce who was currently taking his turn, Kayla and I sat quietly on the sofa, waiting for them to notice us. In a few minutes, Bryce growled out his annoyance and Jesse slapped him on the back, laughing. “There’s no way you old dudes can beat me on this!”

It was true; he had held the high score for around three months, much to everyone’s frustration.

“We were playing before you were born,” Bryce said.

“But you no longer have the reaction speed to kick my ass!”

Bryce and Radleigh exchanged a look, both of them grinning. “Shoud we kick his ass?” Radleigh asked.

Bryce nodded. “Yeah. For the ‘old dudes’ comment, he sure deserves it.”

Jesse backed away as the three of them laughed and they finally noticed Kayla and I, both of us chuckling at their banter. They were like overgrown children when they got together sometimes, but I wouldn’t have had them any other way. Cody had transferred to Denver at the beginning of the new season and that had left them a man down but they seemed to be gelling just fine without him. I’d always liked Cody, but when he’d started dating the cousin of Radleigh’s ex, the infamous Jen, it had made me edgy. Ashley was actually incredibly sweet and had even gone to the trouble of apologising for being related for the woman who had broken Radleigh’s heart, and told me that she didn’t have a whole lot to do with her anymore. Jen had got what she wanted; a man with lots of money who gave her some kids, and she was living the high life in New York. Well, good for her. Perhaps I owed her a favour; if it weren’t for her being a cheating skank, Radleigh wouldn’t be mine now. I wouldn’t have had the life I had.

“How long have you been there?” Radleigh asked, eyeing us. They must have been engrossed in their game for a long time.

“Just a few minutes,” I told him. “We thought we’d come down and see what you’re up to.”

Jesse glanced sideways at Radleigh and Bryce. “They’re threatening me. Save me, Leah.”

Bryce and Radleigh did look kind of intimidating beside Jesse; not because they were in any way a threat to him, but because they were so much bigger. Beside them, Jesse really looked his age.

We all laughed and I said, “If you mess with the big boys, you’ve got to be prepared for the consequences.”

Chapter Five – Superficial Decoration

Because Kayla had school the next day, Jesse took her home a little after nine thirty, and Bryce left shortly after, leaving Radleigh and I alone again. Jessica was still fast asleep in her crib, so we curled up together on the sofa, him lying behind me, my back pressed to his chest. His arms were wrapped around me, my hands covering his. We’d had a great evening but my mind was still very much focused on the job offer I’d gotten earlier. Based on Radleigh’s earlier mood, I wasn’t sure this was the right time to bring it up, but leaving it any longer would have felt dishonest. We’d sworn that we would never keep anything from each other again; at least nothing that related to us as a couple. This very much fell into that category.

“I need to talk to you about something,” I said, after mustering up the courage to get the words out. It took a lot because I was almost positive I knew how he’d feel about me going back to work with the Warriors. But the more I’d played it over in my mind, the more sense it made. The more I thought it was worth at least giving it a try.

“What is it?” Radleigh moved one hand up to my face, lifting my hair back over my shoulder and placing a soft kiss on my neck. I closed my eyes, instantly wanting more just from that slight brush of his lips, but I pushed those thoughts aside. I had to focus.

“I didn’t just visit you randomly today.” I shuffled my body around so I could face him. This was not a conversation for him to have with the back of my head.

His eyes narrowed slightly. “What do you mean?”

“Richard called me. He asked me to go see him.”

“Why?”

“Because… he wanted to offer me my old job back. Johnny handed in his notice.”

“He wants you to come back on the team?”

I nodded. “He told me to think about it, and I know it’s a huge thing to consider but… I kind of want to go back.”

His arms loosened around me a little and I sat up. “Full time?” he asked, and again, I nodded. “I thought you… I mean, we talked about this over and over, Leah. You said you wanted to stay at home with Jessica.”

“I did. I do. But… it’s just… it’s hard being here all day. Pretty much everyone I know works for the Warriors, and those who don?

??t work elsewhere. I don’t know any other mums to hang out with yet, so it’s just me and Jessica a lot of the time, and I love that. But sometimes…”

“What? This isn’t enough for you?” He gestured around the room, as if our incredible house represented everything I should have wanted from my life. Perhaps it should have. And in many ways it did. But when it came down to it, the house was just bricks. What mattered was the people inside it, and if they weren’t happy, everything else was nothing more than superficial decoration.

I shook my head. “That’s not what I said and it’s not what I meant. I have everything I’ve ever wanted, Radleigh. I have you and we have Jessica. But at times, it’s like I’ve lost myself a little. I love being a mum and I can’t wait to be your wife. I’m just considering that there are other options. I don’t have to just be Jessica’s mum or your wife. I could work again.”