I set her down and we scrambled to get dressed. She took my hand and had the biggest smile while we toured her new business. We got to the second floor and she told me about the layout she wanted. I wiggled my eyebrows at her when she pointed out the bedroom. “Make sure you get a big bed.”
“Yeah? What for? I’m a small person.”
“When I stay here with you?” I teased, yanking her to me to kiss her because I knew what it felt like to not be able to do that. “Duh.”
“Pretty confident, hm? How often do you plan on doing that?”
“I’d live here if you’d let me.” I lowered my voice and watched her face pale. “I need to work on building the trust back between us, but, baby, you’re gonna be it for me. When I think about my life in five years, I want to be playing baseball and be coming home to you. Maybe we have ten dogs. Maybe more. But you are in every vision.”
“Wow.” She blinked away the shock and leaned into my embrace. “We’ll get a big bed. The biggest. And I’ll even give you a drawer.”
“Too much, too fast.”
She rolled her eyes before her expression got serious. “I want that, too. You, me, twenty dogs. We’ll figure it out.”
Yes, yes, we fucking would.
Epilogue
Five months later
Sarah
There was dog shit everywhere. “Bea! Damn it!” I yelled, grabbing the shovel and pail to scoop up the piles. One downside to having twenty dogs staying at the house at one time was the poop.Really didn’t think that part through.Bea was a black Lab that had three legs and a personality as subtle as a Real Housewife. She thought it was hilarious to poop on the mat right outside the door. The dog hung her head as I picked up her latest gift. After taking care of it, I reached over to pet her. “You’re okay. I still love you.”
“Talking to the dogs again?” Ethan said, leaning on the doorframe. “You’re going to lose it one day.”
“Already have. My sanity is gone.” I pushed up from my squatting position and held my hand over my eyes to block the sun. “What are you doing here? I thought we cut back your time here.”
“I want to work here full-time.”
“Um, no. You’re still going to school.” I shook my head. “You need a fancy degree and all that.”
“I can still go to school, but I want to work here until we find someone I trust enough to take over the books.” His expression was firm while I studied him, but he could never stay serious for too long. “As a founding member of Triple B, we can vote on it.”
“Your sister is the third option! Not fair!”
“Doesn’t matter. It’s still following protocol.”
“I can vote, if that helps,” Brigham said, walking into the backyard wearing my favorite outfit of his—torn jeans and a vintage sports shirt. I made wide eyes at him. “I’ll just side with Easy E, though.”
“What the hell? Are you all conspiring against me?” I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest. “Fine. You want to work here full-time? Do it. But if your grades drop, I’ll fire you.”
“You won’t.” Ethan grinned and fist-bumped Brigham before walking back inside. “Megan wants to work full-time too. Just giving you a heads-up.”
“Ugh.”
Brigham pushed off the door frame and cupped my face, pressing his lips against mine to the point I got heated. “Mm. I like your lips.”
“You really liked them last night, huh?” I teased, earning a barking laugh from my boyfriend. My first boyfriend. A real one. It still felt weird to say. He was just Brigham to me. “I thought you had some meetings at the stadium. Everything okay?”
After his team had had a good run in the playoffs, they’d offered him a three-year extension to his contract. That meant at least three years of us being in the same city.
“It was great. Just going over stuff before spring training starts in a week.” He kissed me again, lingering a bit, before tilting his head back. “You should let your friends work here more. Your business is soaring right now.”
“But they have school.”
“Butyouhave an incredible opportunity for them to learn real shit, while working with their best friend. Could you use their help?”
