“I’m pretending I didn’t hear that alarm. And that I get to keep you in bed all day long.”
“Um, you have a game to coach,” I said, still not making a move to get out of bed as Silas buried his face into my neck, his stubble scraping my skin as he peppered kisses across my shoulder.
“No time for sad breakfast?”
I laughed, remembering our first morning in a hotel room. I hadn’t wanted to get out of his bed then either but for much different reasons.
I’d see him again, but other than close friends and family, no one would know. I hated how it cheapened what we had, and I really hated how I couldn’t figure out a way around it.
“No. I need to get the train back to Penn, and the station here is about thirty minutes away.”
“I don’t like you traveling all this way by yourself.”
I laughed, finally pushing away from Silas and swinging my legs over the side of the bed.
“I’m fine. Plus, all that time alone is good for plotting my next book. Thanks to the hot ballplayer in the bar last night, I have atonof ideas.”
Silas’s mouth curved into a sleepy smile as he watched me pluck my clothes off the floor.
“How do you start? A book, I mean. I’ve always wondered where writers begin.”
“Everyone is different,” I said as I slid on my bra. “Personally, I start with tropes.”
“You start with what?” Silas asked me on a yawn.
“I guess I start with what I want the story to be. Like a second chance, age gap, forced proximity, friends to lovers. Maybe think of it as the colors I use to paint the picture.”
“What are our colors?” he asked, lounging against the headboard, resting the back of his head on his hand. His eyes were hazy as they fixed on me. He was so beautiful, and leaving him was already excruciating. “Besides age gap.”
I laughed at his narrowed eyes.
“Well,” I started after I pulled on my tank top and sat on the edge of the bed, “forbidden lovers, forced proximity. Since we couldn’t seem to escape each other.”
“I never wanted to escape you.”
“Same,” I said. “And celebrity, since you know, all the reels. And it always comes with a happily ever after.” I stood, bending over the bed to brush his lips. “Guaranteed.”
I scratched at the extra stubble on his chin.
“You’re damn right it does.”
“I better go because you need to shave before you get into uniform.”
The sun bled through the hotel curtains. I wished I’d booked an earlier train to lessen the chance of running into anyone on the team. We’d taken a big risk in the bar last night, but I hadn’t seen anyone from the Bats, and the team they were playing didn’t know me.
We were either going to come clean or get caught since we were becoming sloppy. The scary part was, even though I was supposed to, I was beginning not to care.
“You didn’t have to walk me all the way outside,” I told Silas as we strolled through the lobby. “I don’t even have luggage to carry.”
“I will get you into a cab, and then you can text me from the train station here and when you get to Penn.”
“Any specific stops you want to hear from me in between?”
“Just humor me,” he said, squinting at me as a cab pulled up to the entrance. Other than the driver and the hotel staff, no one was around but us.
“I love you,” he said, pressing his mouth to mine for a quick but toe-curling kiss. “Get home safe, Slugger.”
“Have a good game, Coach,” I said, smoothing my hand down his shirt as I brushed his lips. “I love you too.”
