“I took off for a couple of days to come see my girl.” I dropped my bag by the door and stretched out my arms. “Do I get a kiss hello or what?”
“Do you…” She trailed off, her face crumpling as her jaw shook. “Jesus, Silas.”
She ran into my arms and sobbed into my chest.
“Hey, don’t cry, baby.” I pressed her flush to my chest as I rocked her back and forth. “I’m so sorry for everything.”
“You?” She popped her head up. “I’msorry. If I hadn’t come to see you and played that stupid game in the bar?—”
“I loved that stupid game. Every fucking second of it. And that you rearranged your life just to come see me and make sure I was okay.” I took her face in my hands, swiping her tears away with my thumbs. “That’s why I left Boston early. A call or a text wasn’t going to cut it today.”
“Are you in trouble at work? Between me working for the PR agency and sponsoring my sister’s team?—”
“No, Slugger. I can assure you that I’m not. In fact, they were all too willing to give me a couple of days off. I am going to stay here and take you out to breakfast in the morning. People may stare, and I honestly don’t give a shit.”
“I love you so much,” she said, swallowing when her voice cracked. “And I love that I don’t have to hide it.”
“Me too. And the next home game, you’re right behind the dugout. And I’m going to kiss you in front of the whole goddamn stadium so everyone knows you’re mine.”
“Still can’t shake that alpha thing, huh?” She gave me a soggy smile.
“When it comes to you, never. I just hope you can forgive me.”
“Why?”
“Because,” I breathed out, rubbing my hand up and down her back, “I’ve brought a lot of mess into your life. And I made it pretty damn miserable for you today.”
She lifted her gaze, grabbing the back of my head with both hands.
“You didn’t do any of that.Wedid that. And I wouldn’t trade one single second with you. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, besides my sister. As long as I have you, whatever happened today doesn’t matter.”
My shoulders slumped, the tension knotting my back since my meeting with Kent and Cole finally loosening enough to breathe.
“You have no idea how much you have me.”
I was seconds away from dropping to one knee and begging her to marry me. But I didn’t want the day that we went viral to be the same day I officially asked her to spend the rest of her life with me.
And I needed a big ring.
But until then, I had the girl, and she was all I’d ever want.
We fell into a kiss, sweet and full of relief at first before it caught fire as usual. I lifted her by the waist, drifting my hands up her thighs and playing with the hem of those tiny shorts.
I’d claim her on the couch now and in front of the world tomorrow.
“Hey, guys. I’m sorry.” Taylor’s timid voice wafted in through the hallway. “But Auden is on the phone, and she says she has to talk to you right now.”
I groaned, sitting on the edge of the couch and grabbing a pillow to place over my lap.
Rachel laughed, smoothing down her tank before she opened the door. “I’m here,” she said as she pressed Taylor’s phone to her ear. “Why are you calling my sister so late?—”
She held the phone away from her ear as I heard Auden’s muffled voice, loud enough to make out from the couch.
“I haven’t checked my sales dashboard all day, but viral videos never do much for me,” Rachel said, holding the phone in the crook of her shoulder as she flipped up her laptop screen. She punched a few strokes on the keyboard and gasped.
“I have never sold that many books in one day since…ever.”
I popped off the couch, still holding the pillow as I looked at the screen from behind Rachel.
