Every word that leaves her beautiful mouth is a dagger to my heart. It also angers me that this is the way she sees herself.
“Then who gets to choose that? Because I can tell you, Sweetness, that the only girl Ineedis the one sitting right here.” At my words, her wide, teary eyes finally meet mine. My hand once again reaches for her cheek, cupping it while I beg with all my might for her to listen to my words. “I need the girl that makes me laugh without even trying. I need the girl that keepsme on my toes even when I think I know what to expect. I need the girl that prefers lying in bed with a good book instead of partying the night away. I need the girl who has the best ass I’ve ever seen. I needyou,Sweetness. Don’t you see that?”
Tears fall freely down her cheeks, and I wipe them away with the pad of my thumb. “I just don’t get it. Why don’t you want those other girls?”
“Because they’re not you,” I reply with no hesitation. “They’re not you, Sweetness.”
Candi swallows hard. “You want me?”
It’s so tempting to grab her shoulders to shake some sense into her, but I don’t. “Fuck yes, I want you. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything.”
“Even more than baseball?” The corners of her mouth twitch as she holds back a smile.There’s my girl.
“Yes, more than baseball.” I want this girl more than anything in my whole life. If that meant spending every day telling her how amazing, talented, smart, and sexy she is, then I’ll fucking do it. Candi smiles at that, some of her worry around her eyes melting away. “Now, can you stop telling me who I’m supposed to love?”
“Love?” Her eyes widen at my admission, but she nods her head, “I guess I can do that.”
“Good. And yes, love. I love you Sweetness.
Before she has one more moment to doubt herself, I pull her lips to mine and she tenderly kisses me back, her fears seeming to melt away with my touch. More than a month has passed since that fateful night when I stumbled upon a girl sleeping on a bench, the night when I found the most amazing person I’ve ever met. Candi is everything I didn’t know I needed or wanted.
Thank God for that stupidCupid’s Shufflefor making me see her.
Epilogue
Candi
Three Years Later
The radio blasts an eclectic list of songs as Jaxon and I make the long drive to Rose Prairie from the city. Rosewood takes on its Liberty College rivals this weekend and there is no way we are going to miss it.
“What the hell is this song?” Jaxon glances over at me, a bewildered look on his face. He looks handsome as ever as he maneuvers the country roads, his baseball cap turned backward threatening to make me drool. His aviator sunglasses hide those crystal blue eyes, but I can sense his confusion.
“Oh, come on. You know who this is! I swear we’ve listened to it before.” Jaxon has a very limited range of music tastes, which is why I always get to pick out the songs.
His eyebrows raise slightly over the rim of his glasses as he looks sideways at me. “I shit you not, I’ve never heard this song in my life.” He’s being completely serious too. He honestly thinks he’s never heard it before.
“It’s the Gorillaz,” shaking my head at him, I show him the screen of my phone.
“Never heard of ‘em.”
“After three years together, I would’ve thought I’d have broadened your taste, but no,” I mumble to myself.
After graduation, Jaxon was ‘called up’ as they say in baseball to a farm team to play minor league ball. After some talking, hedecided to give it a shot. I know that his heart is in non-profit work, but he can do both. It’s been two years of hard work, but last week he got the call.The call. He’s going to the Major Leagues, and I couldn’t be prouder.
We moved to the city together where I was able to get a job as a copy editor at a small publishing house. I like it, but I much prefer to read my books at home.
Coming back to visit Rosewood is one of our last trips before Jaxon heads to the Major League, so it’s a bit bittersweet. We won’t get another trip like this anytime soon, at least until the season is over.
Before long, Rose Prairie trickles by through my window, and an overwhelming sense of nostalgia slams through me. I’ve missed this place. For over a year, this small town was my home. It’s the town where I fell in love. It’s where I had my first date. I love this place.A tear threatens to fall, but I quickly wipe it away before Jaxon notices.
The turn for Haverford Baseball Field comes into view, but Jaxon drives right past it. “Um, I think you forgot your way around town, Jax. The turn for the field is back there.”
Jaxon shifts slightly in his seat clearing his throat. “Yeah, I know. There’s just a stop I want to make first.”
“Um, okay.” He turns onto Main Street and I’m hit with a million little memories as we pass through the town square. Our first Christmas Spectacular together, our anniversary date to Mama’s Cakes, the coffee shop and bookstore that he let me have a shopping spree in on my birthday. Such treasured memories.
Damn, there must be something in this Rose Prairie air that’s got me all in my feelings today.
