“Yeah, that was a lucky find,” Brutus admitted, looking at the brown leather recliner next to the pass-through. “I asked the host, and they said that this house belonged to their parents, who downsized after his father retired. Apparently the old man’s dream retirement was to have a leather recliner and be able to watch all the football he wanted.”
“Sounds like you renting the place is a bit of an homage to the man’s memory,” Linda said, and Brutus shook his head. “But he-”
“Moved into a retirement home after breaking a hip in the bathroom,” Brutus said. “Apparently the old man likes his new chair more than this one, and so they left it here. I did promise the house owner a signed jersey though as thanks, if he keeps it mum who he’s renting the place to. Not that I won’t be recognized, obviously. I don’t plan on being a hermit.”
“What is your plan?” Linda sat down at the kitchen table.
She looked so comfortable but also out of place in her uniform while sitting there, Brutus had to pause. He shook his head, and took a deep breath before going over and sitting down across from Brutus.
“Brutus, is this your way of asking me to move in with you or something?”
“Linda, I rented this place because I want to be near you,” Brutus said. “I don’t want to waste one more minute than I have to driving to see you, or only being able to see you on weekends. We’ve been doing that for a while now, and while it’s been good… I want to have you near me more. Now, I’m not forcing anything. I understand if you want to tell me to piss off, or you’re tired from work and just want to crash in the barracks and enjoy the mess hall food.”
Linda chuckled. “Well, lunch today was cheeseburgers. Pretty good,” she teased. “But what about you, Brutus? How will you train?”
“I spent the last day getting things arranged," Brutus said, gesturing around. "I've got a great gym nearby for lifting, and Dr. Caster will continue our physical therapy sessions by Zoom.”
“So you’ll stay here…” Linda looked around. She got up and went into the living room before walking through the rest of the house. “What about me?”
“It’s simple, Linda. I just want to be near you,” Brutus replied sincerely. “After the mission, and then that bullshit with the media leak, it makes me sick to my stomach knowing I can only see you for one, maybe two nights a week. Even then you’re tired a lot of Fridays, for good reason. I definitely don’t blame you for it, I’m damn near a zombie most Mondays. So totally your choice, this house is open to you. The bedroom’s got a king sized bed, and while I haven’t slept a full night in it yet, I did give it a test drive of just laying down and taking a nap this morning in it. It’s comfortable enough, better than what I had in the barracks. But this is totally up to you, Linda. If you want to stay here with me, every minute you want to be here, I want you here.”
“Are you flexing your wallet?” Linda asked wryly.
Brutus laughed, shaking his head.
“Good. I don’t care about your wallet, Brutus.”
“I know that, but if I can use my money to make time available for us, then I will. So… yeah, I hope you want to stay here as much as you want for the next few weeks.”
“And afterwards?” Linda asked. “Do you want to move in together or something?”
“I’ve thought about it,” Brutus admitted. “But I know that during the season, it’s going to be impossible. The distance is just too much, and we’re going to have to have some discussions about that. My days off during the season during regular weeks are either Mondays or Tuesdays. That’s… tough. But we’ve got some time to talk, to figure it out. In the meantime, you can stay over however company policy is.”
Brutus’s heart hammered in his chest as Linda thought about his offer.
Finally, she nodded, looking around.
“We’re well within recall distance of post,” she said, “so staying over isn’t a problem that way. I’d need to make sure Orkin and Linc know that I’ll be staying off post some nights, but… I’m pretty sure I can stay over at least three nights a week. As long as you don’t mind me waking up early.”
Brutus crossed the room, sweeping her up into his arms and wheeling her around before kissing her soundly.
“It’ll be good for me too,” he said as he set her down. “Training camp starts practice at six in the morning to avoid the summer heat. So having a little extra motivation to drag my happy ass out of bed at five isn’t a bad thing.”
Brutus proudly showed Linda what little was left of the house, both of them laughing over his total lack of military style to his bed, which was a cover sheet, plenty of pillows, and a light blanket tossed on the bed.
“Is this how you sleep at home?” Linda asked. “Your housekeeper doing it for you?”
“Actually, she gave up years ago,” Brutus admitted. “She just changes the sheets twice a week, which she’d show by folding the blanket before setting it on the bed. I just can’t sleep with tucked in sheets, I always kick and twist until they’re fully out. When we’re on the road, the first thing I do when I get to the team hotel is pull the sheets out before I even try laying down.”
“That sounds like a lot of extra work,” Linda said. “And you do that eight times a year?”
“Hopefully twelve or fifteen,” Brutus replied. “We’ve got the preseason games, and the playoffs. Even if we get home field throughout the playoffs, there’s still the league championship. So… maybe we should talk about how we’re going to make my football life work with this?”
“Might as well.” Linda went over and sat down on the edge of the bed. “So, what first? The deets about the press leak, or some ideas on how we might make this work over the next six months or so?”
“How about both?” Brutus offered. “Then we can maybe order some dinner, or if you want I can show off my cooking skills. I was able to make a run to the supermarket before coming to pick you up.”
“On that-”
