“How lucky am I to have found the person I love most in the place I love most.”
“Reese,” I exhale, clicking the side of her phone to lock the screen. “This is everything. This is perfect. Thank you. I’m so proud of you.”
“I’m proud of me too. But there are a few other things that didn’t make the article. Things I need to say that are for only you to hear.”
I give her my full attention.
“Before you, I had never felt seen.”
Oh, my heart.
“I didn’t have someone to witness my every day. The mundane moments, but also my biggest accomplishments. No one was there to see them for themselves. Even if they were technically there, no one ever saw me. It’s easy to get lost when you’re no one’s number one. Easy to be forgotten. It was strange and lonely, even if I didn’t admit it, to go through life without being seen. But I think you see me, Emmett.”
I swallow back the emotions sitting in my throat. She has no idea just how blessed I feel to be the one granted the opportunity to see her.
“Yeah, baby. I do see you. And it’s been one of my greatest privileges, to witness you live your life. To see you for who you are.”
Her eyes are a touch glassy as she nods, soaking in my words.
“And I hope you trust me when I tell you that I love you, Emmett. I’m an overthinker. I’ve already thought of every reason why I shouldn’t and yet I still do.”
My chest rumbles with a silent laugh. “I know you do, Reese. I love you too. Any plausible reason not to flew out of the window a while ago. Maybe the day you walked back in here. I didn’t know that love would find me like this, but you’ve had my attention for a long time, and I can’t look away.”
She bites back her smile before pressing her lips to mine once again.
“And lastly,” she says when she pulls back. “You need to know that I would’ve given my job up for you, the same way you tried to give yours up for me. There’s not a question in my mind. This career is no longer the thing I want most out of life. You are. But I’m glad I didn’t have to give this up because when I picture our future together, I see us here. Together.”
Here. On this field. Running this team together for a lot of years to come.
In the place I love most with the person I love most.
“You and me.” I slip my hand into her hair, gliding my thumb over her cheekbone. “And when we’re done here, who will be next? Who’s going to take over for you?”
She shrugs so casually, as if she doesn’t already have a plan. “Who knows, maybe Max will take an interest in baseball. Baseball is family, after all. We should keep it in ours, don’t you think?”
Epilogue
Reese
A Few Months Later
I turn the hot water on, letting it fill my bathtub.
It may only be the middle of the day, but life has been nonstop for months, and our season just ended two days ago, so I’m stealing every extra minute I have to relax.
The media was not very kind to me after Emmett’s and my relationship became public knowledge, but it was nowhere near as bad as it would’ve been if I hadn’t had the opportunity to get our side out first.
The headlines were predictable, and I felt bad for all the noise it caused around the team. The boys though, they were great. They didn’t care at all about the circus it created. They truly are so supportive of their field manager and me, that every time one of them was asked about us in the press, instead of getting defensive, they liked to gush over our relationship. Sometimes to a comical level.
Eventually, it seemed that reporters got bored of only receiving positivity in response to their intrusive questioning, so they stopped asking.
It wasn’t easy, seeing certain things said about me, but it was expected. Something I learned this year is how important it is to pick a partner that you don’t feel like a burden to. Emmett never shied away from listening when I needed to vent, or defending me at every opportunity.
And it was different this time than it was the last time when I made an unexpected trade that had the entire league up in arms.
When Milo first joined the team, I was questioning my own decision.
But with Emmett, there was no doubt in my mind. I didn’t question a thing. It made it a whole lot easier to block out the nonsense knowing there was no other choice. There’s not a world in which I wouldn’t choose him.
