“It sounds like a dream scenario.”
“It was, but there were certainly a lot of challenges that first year.” He shook his head. “Only half the guys the Sloths hired had any sort of baseball experience. The other half were all performers. It was trial by fire. We had to learn how to work together to develop the skills we were missing, and quickly. The performances started six weeks after our first practice.”
Gemma could sense that Tim was reliving the past. His hazel orbs were shimmering with excitement.
Spending so much time with such a tight-knit group of people can either be a good thing or a bad thing. In Tim’s case, it’s all over his body language.
“They became your best friends and a second family, didn’t they?”
He nodded. “They’re still the best friends I have.”
“I know the feeling.”
He shifted his gaze in her direction. “Dreams on Ice?”
“Mm-hmm. The year I joined DOI, the company was launching a new tour. All of us skaters got really close to one another.” She sighed. “Those first six months, we were one big happy family, but then we were told by management that they wanted to expand, and skaters started getting moved around to different locations.”
“It was that way with the Sloths too. Some of the guys decided it wasn’t for them. Others didn’t think we were getting paid enough or just didn’t like living out of a suitcase. When I decided to leave, there were only five of the original twenty-eight left.”
“What convinced you to leave?”
“I just instinctually knew. I loved playing for the Sloths, but baseball didn’t seem like the most important thing to me anymore. There were other things I wanted to do with my life, like teach.”
Gemma soaked in the information. “I wish things would become clearer to me. I thought I was ready to hang up my tiara and join the real world, but this injury has thrown me off. I don’t know what I want anymore.”
Tim rubbed a few circles on her hand. “Give it time. From experience, it’s never good to make any decisions when emotions are raw and you’re still coming to terms with an injury. When you’re ready to make a choice, you’ll know.”
Tim sounds so self-assured and confident. Will I really know, or is he just saying that?
Gemma thought about the last twenty-four hours and how she’d gone from skating in front of a crowded arena one moment to sitting on a couch in a small California town less than a day later.
I’ve always lived to perform. I’ve never wanted to do anything else or be anywhere other than on tour. But sitting here with Tim, just the two of us, feels so right. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else right now. Tim understands me. He sees me. He wants me.
I’ve never ever wanted to be with a guy more than I have with Tim. Does he want the same things I do? Does he see us as being more than just friends?
Chapter 12
Sometime later, still sitting on the couch, Gemma yawned and stretched. “Oh no, please don’t tell me I used you as a human pillow?” she squeaked.
Tim removed his glasses and put down his book. “Okay, I won’t.”
Covering her face with her hands, she shook her head. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to trap you. The heating pad felt so good, and I guess I was just so tired from traveling and?.?.?.”
“Gemma, you don’t have to explain it. It’s fine. I could tell you’re exhausted. Plus, Ilikedit. You kind of remind me of a baby sloth. They’re super cuddly and rest on your chest just like you did.”
Gemma rubbed her eyes. “Baby sloths? Did your baseball team have a real sloth as a mascot?”
“I wish, that would’ve been awesome, but it also would probably have been illegal.” Reaching for his mobile, he unlocked the screen and opened the photo app. “No, the baby sloths I’m talking about live in Costa Rica. I taught English there for a year after I retired from the Sloths, and my host family helped rescue and rehabilitate them.”
“Was it part of your master plan to go to Costa Rica?”
“Not at all. Actually, I thought I’d end up somewhere like Portugal or Spain. I didn’t have a choice on where the English teaching agency sent me.”
Gemma took hold of the phone. Her heart wanted to melt at seeing the oversized eyes and cartoon-like expressions on the fuzzy baby sloth faces. “They’re so precious.”
“They really are. I miss them. The closest I can get to a sloth around here is by visiting the zoo.”
She returned his mobile to him. “What’s the strangest thing you learned about sloths?”
