The Rookie and Me (COMPLETE)

nine.

I woke up to an empty bed and the smell of bacon coming from downstairs. I didn't plan on staying the night, but I'm glad I did. I grabbed my phone off of the nightstand and checked the time. It's just past 7:30 a.m. Whitney and Cameron are probably still sleeping. I'll call them in a little bit to check on Cam and see how their night went. I'm sure Whitney is anxious to hear how my night went with the hunky rookie.

I rolled out of bed and headed downstairs. Tyler had his back to me, standing at the stove cooking some bacon and eggs. I snuck up behind him and wrapped my arms around his massive body as much as I could. My fingers won't even touch, he is so huge.

He gasped and grabbed my hands lightly. "Oh my god, you scared the shit outta me!"

I laughed and said, "That was my goal." I smiled and stood on my tippy toes to kiss him. "Good morning, rookie."

He cupped my chin in his hand and lifted my face up to his. He kissed my lips softly and let his lips linger on mine. He grinned down at me and turned back to the stove to finish making the bacon and eggs. He put the food on two plates and set them down on the island. We sat side by side on the bar stools.

"So we already know that I don't have any living family, aside from Cam. I'm just curious... What is your family like? How long have your parents been together?"

He finished chewing a piece of bacon and cleared his throat, "Well, my parents will be married thirty years next July." He paused, trying to think of the next thing to say about his family, "You already know my dad played in the NFL, too. He was one of the greats of the 80's. My mom stayed home with us kids until my brother was in junior high, then she went back to work part time."

"What are they like? Are you pretty close with them?"

He nodded his head and took a drink of his orange juice, "Yeah, we're all pretty close, I guess. My mom is a sweetheart. She always prioritized us kids over everything else. She has always been one of the easiest people to talk to."

I smiled at the way he spoke about his mom. I can only hope Cameron speaks of me like that when he's a grown man. "She sounds great."

"She is, definitely."

"And what about your dad? What is he like?"

He sighs and shrugs his shoulders, "He's cool, most of the time. With my sisters, they were always 'Daddy's little princesses'. But with his sons, he has always had extreme expectations from us. Even as small kids, we were expected to make it to the NFL just like him."

"Did he force you guys to play football since he did?"

"I wouldn't really say he forced us to play, but he definitely is the reason we got started. We fell in love with the game just the same as he did. And we just so happened to be pretty good at it, too. He definitely pushed us too hard at times though. School and football were always top priorities. Everything else came after." He said while scooping up another bite of eggs. "I'm obviously grateful now to him and all the pushing that he did for me, but I didn't feel the same way when I was a kid. I just wanted to be a normal kid."

I could tell by the way he was talking that the bar was set extremely high, probably the second his parents found out he was a boy. I felt bad for him at that moment. What if he didn't want to make a career out of football? What if he wanted to be a carpenter, or a doctor, or own a business? He didn't seem too bothered by the memories, but that's a lot of pressure to put on a kid.

"I'm sorry you had so much pressure on you all the time. I can only imagine what it was like." I said as I reached out and grabbed his hand.

He shrugged his shoulders. "It got me where I am today so it did what it was supposed to do."