He didn’t want any walls between them, so he moved until he was in her line of vision, forcing her to look into his eyes.
“I’d love to claim that I’ve always been the kind of man who deserves you. But that would be a lie.” Looking into those deep gray eyes flocked by wet lashes, the promise left his mouth like a vow. “I will spend every day for the rest of forever proving that I’m a man you can be proud to call yours.”
Her eyes softened with an emotion he’d desperately wanted to claim was love.
“Anywoman would be lucky to call you theirs,” Aly assured him.
But later, after a fun night with friends, when he lay in his bed with her in his arms. He realized she’d never said thatshefelt lucky. And that left him uncertain.
CHAPTER22
Football games were morefun at home. That was the lesson of the day. The box the Evans family had purchased for Clayton’s game against the Giants was huge. There was a kitchenette area with food and two servers to the right. To the left was a sofa and a bin of toys for little ones. There were indoor and open-air seats for watching the game. But all the Evans siblings and their significant others plus kids? Whoa. Mid-way through the first quarter, Aly was overwhelmed.
Though she’d been overwhelmed for days. Yesterday, they’d finished the staging and cleaning of the house so the space would be ready for final interviews on Monday. The rush of trying to stick to that timeline for a Wednesday finale date had all the cast and crew on edge. And Friday night had been a roller coaster of highs and lows. Aly meant what she’d told Will.
It was fine.
She was fine.
He’d handled the situation better than anyone could expect. Lily even teasingly gave him an A+ rating on crisis management when Will and Aly had finally made their way downstairs on Friday night.
Will was worried that she judged him for dating Genni, but she, of all people, wasn’t one to judge about dating history. She’d dated more than a few idiots in her lifetime. Will’s confession about being unprepared to settle down in the past didn’t scare her. In truth, it was more frightening that he was making it clear he was ready now.
Because she felt like she was on the edge of failure at any given moment. Like she was far from the kind of person a guy like Will should settle down with. And as she glanced around at this family—this perfect, ideal family she would have killed to be part of growing up—failure seemed all the more scary. Was she an awful person to wish the Evanses were just a bit less perfect?
So far, she’d had her ear talked off by at least three of his relatives while she nodded stupidly, adding almost nothing of value to each conversation. Mostly, she spent her time trying to remember all the names.
“Come with me,” a large blond man holding a newborn said. It wasn’t Luke or Danny; she’d never met this man. “I’ve got a quiet place. Trust me.”
His eyes were kind and knowing, so she followed him. He led her to a row of seats that were half-blocked by a wall to the bathroom. The field was visible, but they were isolated in this spot, and the noise of the open area of the box was muffled by the wall.
“You’re pretty well hidden here.” He smiled.
“Thanks…” She trailed off.
He dipped his chin. “Grant.”
She smiled, and the two of them sat in comfortable silence, surveying the field in front of them.
After a few minutes, a little girl about a year old toddled over. “Dada.” Her toothless grin was adorable.
“Do you mind?” Grant asked, holding the newborn out.
Aly reached out nervously. Unable to say no, though, she took the little bundle of pink so he could lift his other daughter into his lap.
The little one on her squirmed, and Aly shifted, snuggling the baby against her chest and kicking her feet up on the chair in front of her.
Grant smiled when his daughter settled.
Grant’s wife and Will came over to check on them a few times, but no one else bothered them for the rest of the first half. And for the first time that night, Aly settled. Maybe, given some time, she could do this.
* * *
Will surveyedthe scene in the box at MetLife Stadium. Clayton was having a great game, but Will had seen almost none of it. He’d hardly taken his eyes off Aly. He’d watched her struggle to interact with his huge family, he’d seen her get nervous, and he’d observed her push through the discomfort. He’d helped her out here and there, but he’d let her find her own way too. Everyone had to in his family. And to his amazement, she was doing it. Both he and Trish had checked in when she and Grant set themselves up together in the corner. Boy, talk about uncomfortable silence. But the moment he saw her with Grant’s youngest asleep on her chest, his future clicked firmly into place.
In reality, the second he pushed for more than friendship, they had settled into something big, something lasting. Now he saw it—himself on one knee, watching her walk down the aisle to him, her stomach growing with their next child. Gray hair, wrinkles, grandchildren, he saw it all.
“Looks like Clayton’s making the playoffs. That means he won’t be back until February, and I’m leaving for Alaska in January. I’ll be gone for six months,” Luke said, coming up next to him. “You won’t be able to wait until the summer, so we might as well go now.” It was that twin thing. Normally, it pissed him off, but at the moment, it was nice to have Luke’s assurance. To know he wasn’t losing his mind. Because this had happened fast.