a little suspicion.
“Where can I find Dr. Jones?” I asked, praying to the translation gods that I’d gotten it right.
The kids all looked at one another.
“Liberty?” I tried.
“Ahh!” They all started talking at once, and I was less-than-gently herded toward the camp. The place was massive. I’d seen the tent layout from the air, so I had a general idea that they were moving me toward the smaller, living-sized tents rather than the giant medical ones.
“Liberty!” one of the boys said and pushed me through a set of canvas flaps.
I stumbled into the tent and was met with a middle-aged woman wearing a very perplexed look. “God, I’m sorry.”
Her eyes widened. They were the same shade of green I saw in my dreams.
“Oh wow. You must be—” the woman started.
“Nixon?” Her voice came from behind me, and my knees nearly gave out as I turned to face her. She looked tired and so fucking beautiful that my hands clenched to keep from touching her. Her eyes were luminous as she blinked up at me, her pink lips parted in shock, but there was joy there, too.
Thank you, God, she was happy to see me otherwise this would have gotten awkward really fucking fast.
“Hey, Liberty.” Lame, but it was the best I had at the moment.
“Why don’t I just…” The tent rustled behind us, and Liberty’s mom disappeared.
“What are you doing here?” Her gaze flew over me like she needed to check me for injuries.
“It’s Tuesday morning.” I shrugged.
She sputtered a laugh, then threw herself into my arms. “I’ve missed you,” she said against my neck.
“I’ve missed you more.” I held her tight and breathed her in as my heart finally settled into a predictable rhythm. This was my life, right here with her in my arms.
Liberty pulled away but took my hands in hers. “Seriously, what are you doing here?”
“I had to see you,” I admitted. “I couldn’t take it. Not for another day.”
Her hands slid over her growing belly. “Did you hear that, baby girl? Daddy came to visit.”
I hit my knees and framed her belly over the teal tank-top that stretched over our daughter. “Hey, whoosh. Miss me?” My heart flew as I received a kick. “She’s bigger,” I said, looking up at Liberty.
She batted away a tear and nodded. “We both are. It’s a thing.”
“Don’t cry.” I stood quickly and took her face in my hands, wiping away any straggler tears with my thumbs. “I’ve only got twenty-four hours, and I’ll stand here and wipe away every single tear if that’s what you want to do with them, but it’s killing me to see you cry.” The pieces of my heart that had lain in a shattered mess the last month began to take shape again.
Not healed, but at least aware. The numbness was gone.
“You came all the way here for twenty-four hours?” Liberty’s bottom lip shook.
“Thank God there was a helicopter available, otherwise it would have been a hug and back on the boat.” My smile was slow but genuine.
She scoffed, then stilled. “Oh my God. You won’t make it back for practice tomorrow!”
“Nope. I’ll miss Thursday, too, and yesterday is obviously a wash.” Even though her tears had stopped, I still stroked my thumbs over her cheeks, unable to stop the simple caress.
“You’ll get fined!” she shrieked, pulling back and swatting my shoulder.
“Yeah, but Coach knows I’m on the fence about the contract they just offered. Seven years. I’m just not sure anymore.”
“They gave you seven years?” Her lips lifted, then dropped. “But the fines!”
“Coach estimated about forty grand, and I won’t start against Dallas on Sunday.” I shrugged. “But what’s the point of banking millions if you can’t drop everything to see your girls?”
Her jaw dropped. “Are. You. Kidding. Me? You’re letting Castle start? He’s the turnover king! The man can’t complete a pass to save his—”
I kissed her, stopping her steady flow of words. I kept it soft, light, nothing more than a brush of our lips, but it was enough to bring my banked desire roaring back to life. She was here, and I needed her. That’s all my body cared about.
But I hadn’t spent thirty-two hours traveling to get laid.
“Nixon,” she sighed, swaying toward me.
My chest tightened as awareness rose between us.
“Twenty-four hours, Lib. Why don’t you show me around?” I took in the colorful carpet beneath our feet and caught a peek of Liberty’s pack just beneath the bed closest to us. “I mean, you know, outside this tent.”
“I would