Stevie smiles and bats her lashes. “See? Not just a pretty face.”

“You’ve always been more than a pretty face, Stevie.”

“So are you, RJ.”

We all laugh, and I promise to call when I’ve popped the question, which hopefully will be tonight.

I end the call and exhale a long, slow breath. I’ve put off this conversation long enough. Lainey’s contract with the aquarium is up in three weeks. It’s already March, and playoffs are around the corner. And after that the expansion draft picks will happen.

One of our team members will go to Seattle. If Lainey agrees with my plan, it’ll be me.

I’ve just finished getting dressed and styling my hair when I hear the alarm buzz downstairs, signaling Lainey is home. I find her in the front entryway, trying to get Kody out of his snowsuit before he takes off down the hall. He’s definitely my son. He has two speeds: fast and faster. He was crawling by six months, standing by eight, and walking by nine. Now he’s bumbling around like a drunken, miniature frat boy. He’s also in the 99th percentile for height and weight, meaning he’s going to be a big boy, just like me.

“Da!” he yells. He starts flailing, batting at Lainey’s hands, when he sees me. I’m not sure if he’s actually calling me Dad or if he’s just making noise because he can, but I’m going to pretend it’s the former.

Lainey raises her hands in defeat, and he rolls over, then pushes himself to a stand. He looks like an overstuffed marshmallow, his arms sticking straight out as he bumble-weaves over to me. I crouch down and put my arms out, ready to catch him. He makes it halfway before he falls, but he doesn’t give up. He pushes back up unsteadily and stumbles the last few steps into my arms. “Good job, little man!”

I lift him into the air and make airplane sounds. He giggles and squeals. I tuck him under my arm like a snowsuit-covered football and close the distance between myself and Lainey.

She has one arm out of her jacket and one still in. I slide my fingers into her hair, tip her head back, and kiss her—with tongue—while Kody wriggles and laughs under my arm.

I release her and take a step back. “Hi.”

“Hi, yourself.” She arches a brow and shrugs the rest of the way out of her jacket. I set Kody down on the mat and help him out of his snowsuit. Once he’s free, he plunks himself down on the floor and starts going through the contents of Lainey’s purse, which would be fine if he didn’t try to shove everything into his mouth like it’s food.

“Give that to Mommy.” Lainey plucks a lip balm from his chubby fingers. He yells his displeasure until she replaces it with a soft hockey puck. It immediately goes in his mouth.

“He must be teething again.”

“He’s chewing on everything these days—like a little beaver, aren’t you?” Lainey picks him up and tickles his side, heading for the living room, which has slowly been overtaken by his toys.

We’re in the process of trying to divide the space so the whole thing doesn’t look like some kind of toddler amusement park.

Lainey sets him down in front of one of his educational toys that lights up and flashes . . . and plays annoying music, but he loves it and it keeps him entertained while we make dinner, so we deal with the noise.

“How was your afternoon at the spa?” Lainey went with some of the other wives. She deserves the break, because she moms it hard-core most of the time.

It’s been baby steps all the way: getting her used to worrying less about finances, infusing her into my life and my world, acclimating to the media attention. I don’t think that’s something she’ll ever be particularly comfortable with, but she seems to be handling it well, as long as I don’t throw too much at her at once.

She holds her hands out and wiggles her fingers. They’re painted Chicago colors.

I take her hand in mine and kiss her fingertips. “I like these.”

“I bet you do.” She steps into me, lowering her voice. “And I bet you can’t wait to see what they look like when they’re wrapped around your cock later.”

I can feel my eyebrows trying to hit the ceiling. She’s certainly not wrong, but Lainey generally isn’t quite so boldly explicit. She bites her lip, and her cheeks flush pink. I smirk and say nothing, waiting.

“Violet told me to say that,” she blurts.

“That sounds about right. You can tell Violet thanks for the hours of discomfort I face as a result, since I have to wait until Kody’s in bed to have that experience.”

She makes a face and looks over her shoulder to where Kody is happily playing, not getting into trouble. “We could put him in his room for ten minutes.”

I laugh. “I think I’ll take the prolonged anticipation, but I appreciate your thoughtfulness. Maybe we can get him into bed a little early tonight.”

“I’d like that.” She smooths her hands down my chest with a soft sigh, then steps back, aware if we keep touching and teasing each other we’re setting ourselves up for quick and dirty later, and that’s not part of my plan for tonight.

Lainey and I fall into our usual dinner routine, which means she tells me what to do and I do it while simultaneously getting all up in her personal space.

She stands in front of the fridge, bending to grab something from the crisper, so I take the opportunity for what it is and move in behind her. When she rights herself and steps back, she collides with my chest. I take the bag of carrots from her and kiss her neck. Lainey relaxes against me, tilting her head to the side, so I kiss all the way to her earlobe before I toss the carrots on the counter.

When she opens a cupboard to get a measuring cup, I step in and grab it for her. We move around each other, stealing kisses and furtive touches the entire time. Dinner prep is our foreplay.

“How was your meeting with your agent this afternoon?” Lainey asks as she sets the frying pan on the burner and brushes by me so she can get to the spice cupboard.

I pause in my carrot-chopping mission. “Good. I have something I want to discuss with you.”

She sets the ground ginger on the counter and turns to face me. “That sounds serious.”

I tug on her apron—team themed—and pull her closer. “It’s not serious bad. I just have some options I want to run by you.”

“Okay.” She glances over at Kody. He’s chewing on a book. It’s meant to be chewed on, so she refocuses on me.

“So we’ve talked about the Seattle expansion draft . . .”

She nods. “A lot of the girls are speculating who they’re going to keep safe. You have a no-trade clause, which makes you one of the nine.”

“That’s right, unless I opt to waive the no-trade clause for the expansion draft.”

Lainey’s eyebrows pull together. “But why would you do that? You’re team captain, and you love it here.”

“My contract expires in two years—I’ll be traded eventually. I talked to my agent, and if I waive the clause, Seattle will pick me up.”

Lainey chews her bottom lip. “Is that what you want?”

I pull her lip free from her teeth. “We would be closer to your family.”

She flattens her palm against my chest. “But these guys are like your family. You have years with them.”