The Gate to Everything (Once Upon a Dare Book 1) (6 page)

Jordan had hoped building Grace a replica in Atlanta would show he still wanted them to get married someday. He’d hoped she would be willing to wait a few more years for him to be ready to settle down. He’d also hoped she might consent to live in the house with him, but she had strong views about marriage and living together… It was why they hadn’t lived together before.

Now he was having a more modern house built on the property, one better suited to his style. The other house would serve as a guest house…if he could bear seeing it on a daily basis without being weighed down by memories.

“Why don’t you tell her?” Sam suggested.
 

“I know where your mind’s going. You think it might help sway Grace. Besides, Blake bought the house next door to Natalie and talked her into marrying him again.”

Sam shrugged. “It worked for Blake, didn’t it? And it’s Grace’s dream house.”

But Grace wasn’t Natalie. He didn’t know all the reasons Natalie had agreed to get back together with her ex-husband, but Jordan wondered how much his friend’s retirement had played a role. That was something he wasn’t willing to do. Not yet.

“I’m not sure she’ll go for the house now—or the idea, which is why I haven’t said anything,” he said, mulling it over. “She’ll probably be upset that I built her a replica without her knowing about it.”

“That’s what I’m talking about, Jordan. Maybe you should have asked her first. You don’t just build a woman a replica of her dream house as a surprise.”

“But I
love
to build things,” he said, gesturing with his hands. “Architectural design was my major in college, and I used to work construction with Grace’s dad. Hell, I helped him build that house she loves.” Pat Kinkaid had hired him as a paid helper so he could make money for school, but Jordan knew the older man had also looked out for him because he didn’t have a man around the house. Designing and building houses would have been Jordan’s backup if football hadn’t worked out.

“Personal communication certainly wasn’t,” Sam said dryly. “You know she doesn’t want to stay in Atlanta permanently.”

“Sure, I thought she’d be more willing to stay in Atlanta if I gave her the house, but that’s not the main reason I didn’t ask first,” he said, feeling the need to defend himself. “Grace hated me paying for things. I figured…if she saw it, she’d have to accept it.”
 

In hindsight, Jordan could see how his plan might not have been the best. He’d thought she’d want to stay in Atlanta. She loved working with Tony and the rest of her restaurant family at Marcellos. And his career was taking off. But Sam was right—he should have asked.
 

“Grace is practical,” Sam said, nudging him with his boot to reclaim his attention. “Appeal to that side of her. Who knows? Maybe if you’re closer to each other, you might be able to work out the reasons why you two broke up. Asking what she wants would be a good step.”

“You think it’s my fault,” he said, staring mulishly at his friend.

“It’s never one person’s fault,” Sam said. “I’ve been around the block enough to know that. But the way you’ve been behaving lately isn’t exactly a declaration of love.”

Jordan looked down in his lap. Now he really felt like shit.

“Maybe this is the Universe’s way of giving you two a second chance? A broken condom doesn’t happen every day.”

Jordan felt all the hairs rise across his skin. “Imagine that. A broken condom as a sign from above.”

Sam gave him a playful shove. “Help me finish up before the other guys get here. You can stew and stock at the same time.”

“Stew and stock,” he muttered, following Sam to the bar. “She’s due August 17, by the way. I have time to figure things out.” Again, he heard Grace saying she didn’t want to wait on him anymore.

“Plenty of time,” Sam said as they finished up the duties in preparation for their friends’ arrival.

A few hours later, Sam’s place was a madhouse in the best way possible. All of the Once Upon a Dare guys were joshing with one another and having a ball.

Jordan was keeping to his seat on the sofa after having successfully defended himself from a pantsing. Grant Thornton was a defensive lineman for the San Francisco Sting Rays, which meant he could pretty much take down anyone he wanted—unless you knew his downfall. The man couldn’t stand being tickled. Worked every time. Jordan had needed to get a little more creative with Brody Kellar. As the wide receiver for the Chicago Titans, his buddy could outrun him without much effort. But Jordan wasn’t above a well-timed trip—at least off the football field.

Logan Eastwood, wide receiver for the Boston Stars, was prancing around in a rainbow sequins tutu, which Sam had presented as this reunion’s Smuck award. Of course, no one truly wanted to win. The “winner” would have to wear that freaking rainbow tutu out in public, and who was down with that?

“Are you going to tell us what the Smuck competition entails, Sam?” Zack Durant, quarterback of the New Orleans Akkadians, called out.

“Yes, I need to know how
not
to win this tutu,” Hunter Cahill said. “I’d lose my spot as quarterback for the New York Tigers if anyone saw me in that thing.”

Blake Cunningham put his hand on his hips and stared them all down. “If Coach Garretty heard you right now, he’d say you’re a bunch of wimps.”

“Easy for you to say, Blake,” Hunter told him with a slap on the back. “You’re retired, and Natalie probably loves you enough to tolerate the sight of you in a tutu.”

“Zack Sprat here needs to win it because it would look good on his St. Bernard,” Brody said, grinning like an idiot.

“Don’t talk about my dog that way, Brody,” Zack warned, “or I’ll use you for gator bait in the bayou the next time you visit.”

“Ohh,”
everyone cried.

Jordan tried to get into the spirit of things, but just couldn’t muster the enthusiasm. His mind kept spinning about what to do about Grace. Was Sam right? Was telling her he’d built her dream house and asking her to live next door to him the best approach?
 

Someone kicked his feet, and he looked up to see Grant towering over him.

“What’s your deal, Dean?” he asked. “You’re worse than a bump on a log.”

Sam gave him a look as if to say,
Might as well tell them.

He downed the last of his drink and set the glass down with a clack. “I got Grace pregnant.”

Zack and Hunter stopped roughhousing immediately. Blake turned to look at him, and he met the man’s gaze. The rest of the guys were soon sitting down around him, all business.

“Tell them what you told me,” Sam said.

So he did. The guys mostly had shocked looks on their faces.

“Are you completely sure it’s yours, man?” Zack asked when he’d finished.

Jordan leaped up and was in his friend’s face in seconds. “We’re talking about Grace here,” he snarled. “Not one of your Vegas showgirls.”

Sam and Blake pulled them apart, and Jordan huffed back to his seat.

“I’m sorry, Jordan,” Zack said. Judging from his tone, he meant it. “You broke up months ago. I had to ask.”

He bit his lip to keep from shooting his mouth off.

“I like Sam’s idea of giving her the dream house you had built for her,” Blake said when the silence in the room became overwhelming.

“Oh, yeah?” he asked, feeling way too exposed for comfort. “Sure, moving in next to Natalie worked for you, but not everything has an easy solution, man.” He was doubting the wisdom of his plan more and more since talking with Sam. Grace was going to see the house as another stalling tactic on his part, which it was.

“Jordan,”
Blake said, staring him down. “I feel for you. But don’t push it. Besides, I had less of a chance of winning Natalie back than you do with Grace.”

“That’s the God’s honest truth,” Logan said. “Grace is a sweetheart, but Natalie…”

Blake turned his gaze on the wide receiver.

“Come on, man,” Logan said, not backing down. “Your wife is awesome, but she can be pretty scary sometimes.”

“That’s the way I like her,” Blake said, “but we’re getting off point. If you love Grace, you need to fight for her. You find out why things fell apart and you fix it. Do you hear me, Dean?”

Romancing the woman who was carrying his child? “I hear you.”

“You don’t believe you can do it,” Grant said, slapping his forehead. “I can hear it in your voice. Coach would bust your nuts for that wishy-washy response.”

“Grace isn’t a football play,” he said, but even he could hear the wimp factor in his voice. “What if I mess it up more? This isn’t just about me and Grace anymore. We’re having a kid. Man, I just saw stars like I got my bell rung.”

“Put your head between your knees then, Dean,” Brody said, demonstrating the move. Sure enough, it helped. After a few moments of holding his head like that, the dizziness passed.
 

“You’ll figure it out,” Blake said as Jordan leaned back against the couch. “Just don’t wait too long to get your head out of your ass.”

Was his head up his ass? It chafed to hear his buddy say so, but he knew one thing for sure. Despite winning the Super Bowl, his lifelong dream, he didn’t feel quite right. A part of him had been hollow since his breakup with Grace, and he wasn’t sure it would ever be whole again unless he got her back.

“You should tell Grace you built her dream house because you wanted her to be happy—in Atlanta where you both have careers,” Zack suggested. “That’s pretty romantic, if you ask me.”

Would she see it that way? He had to find out. “I might need some help,” Jordan said. “You guys love me. Maybe…” No, no one could put in a good word for him with Grace. Not even Natalie, with whom she’d been friendly. He had to win her back on his own.

“If you need help, you ask,” Sam said in a definitive tone. “Now, let’s leave Jordan to his thoughts for a while.”

Grant reached over and shook him playfully. “We’re here for you, man.”

“Thanks,” he said, burrowing deeper into the couch.

“All right,” Sam said, rising and going to the center of the room. “Who wants to hear what I’ve cooked up for the Smuck competition?”

“Me!” Brody called out while others shot their hands in the air.

“I’m almost afraid to ask,” Blake said with a playful shudder.

“Only because you won—or should I say
lost
—last time,” Logan said, grinning. “I have fond memories of Zeus the boa constrictor, not to mention you screaming like a girl.”

Blake walked over and got in his face. “I never scream like a girl.”

“Do you want to hear or don’t you?” Sam asked.
 

They all shut up and nodded. None of them could deny Sam for long.

“Your goal is to pick out as many marbles as you can in under a minute,” Sam said. “The one who picks out the fewest has to wear the rainbow tutu. Mom made it, by the way, so no cracking jokes about it around her.”

There was a catch. There was always a catch.

“And?”
Grant asked for all of them.

“The box holding the marbles is filled with crickets,” Sam said with a grin.

“Shit!” Brody said, shuddering. “I hate bugs, but especially ones that jump.”

“Me too,” Zack said. “You need to have your head examined, Sam.”

Their host gave him a mischievous smile. “You forget. My dad used to play for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Anyone know what they were called before that?”

Everyone looked at each other.

“The Cricket Busters?” Zack asked, throwing his hands up in the air. “Oh, please put us out of our misery.”

“The Bug Eaters,” Sam said. “I won’t be wearing that tutu. I’ve got strong blood running through these veins.”

But Jordan didn’t. Either that or his concentration was shot.

He ended up wearing the rainbow tutu.

Chapter 4

The day Jordan returned from vacation, he headed to Marcellos to see Grace. His time away had helped him decide on a plan of action. He only hoped Grace would listen.
 

In the past few days, he’d ordered all the most highly recommended pregnancy, fatherhood, and baby books. He was in full-on preparation mode, but it chilled him to the bone how much the books couldn’t tell him. How was he supposed to take care of a kid? How was he supposed to know what to do when it cried or asked him the big life questions? He was so going to screw things up.
 

When he pulled his Maserati to a halt at Marcellos’ valet stand, he eyed the young man barreling toward him with a ferocious scowl instead of his usual smile.

“Hey, Johnny, how’s it going?” The kid hailed from Florence and was in his third year at Georgia Tech’s mechanical engineering program. He worked two jobs to pay for school. Jordan had always tipped him well.

The boy ripped the valet card off, nearly tearing it in half. “Fine,
Mr. Dean
. I’ll try not to dent your ride.”
 

Jordan winced. He wouldn’t be surprised if there
was
a dent in his car when he reclaimed it. Johnny adored Grace. Hell, everyone at the restaurant did. And given that the vast majority of the wait staff was either Italian or Italian-American, they protected her like a sister in the old neighborhood. He couldn’t imagine they’d be happy with him—even if Grace had mostly initiated their breakup. They were blindly loyal that way.