I shake my head at him in disbelief, but he’s smiling proudly. “You have no shame, Montgomery.”
“Not an ounce.”
“Your family is coming over for dinner for the first time tonight. We should probably clean this up before they get here. And you should probably not have your dick out either.”
He gives my ass a slap before he stands. “Fine.” Dropping another kiss to the top of my head, he climbs out of the tub. He grabs a towel, wraps it around my body, and picks me up, not putting me on my feet until he’s carried me away from the wet floor.
He tucks another towel around his waist before he gets to cleaning up the mess we made.
“How are you feeling about that?” he asks. “Everyone coming over here?”
He pours the rest of the wine down the sink since half of the glass was filled with water from the tub. I grab his wet clothes and add them to our hamper.
Things are easy between us. We move together like a well-practiced partnership, regardless that we’ve only been doing this for a handful of months.
“Good. This is your home now too. They should feel welcome here.”
“I know, but it’s kind of been your hiding place until you let me in.”
I remember only a short time ago, how scared I was to let someone in again. Not only into my condo but also my life. But plot twist: letting Emmett in has not only gone well, it’s the best thing I’ve ever done, and life has only continued to get better from there.
And at this point, with how much time we all spend together, Emmett’s family has started to feel like my own. Of course they should be here.
“I don’t feel the need to hide anymore,” I tell him honestly. “I want them to be here.”
Emmett stops what he’s doing and looks at me with an edge of disbelief. “I love that you want them here.”
I slowly make my way to him, wrapping my arms around his waist. “Well, I love you.”
He holds me against him. “You keep surprising me every day, Reese. How lucky for me that I’ll never finish falling in love with you.”
Epilogue
Emmett
One Year Later
I lean my elbows against the railing in my usual spot in the dugout.
It’s the same place I’ve stood during every game this year. The same spot I’ve watched every game in my coaching career.
But this game is different.
World Series. Game 5. Playing at home.
Something in the air is telling me this is the game. We’re up 3-1 in the series, heading into the bottom of the ninth. I probably shouldn’t be so confident. The game is tied after all. But I’ve been confident in this group all year.
And it just seems like fate that this record-breaking year, one of the best of my life, would be topped off with a World Series Championship.
The energy is humming around me. From both the guys in the dugout, as well as the packed stadium of fans. Then, of course, there’s all our families sitting in the section directly behind us.
Home or away, for this whole playoff run, Reese has bought out that entire section for the players to have their families close by. Sure, some of these guys make ridiculous money. They don’t need the help in purchasing expensive game tickets. But there are others, like Milo, who are still on a rookie contract and shelling out that much for tickets to his World Series games wouldn’t be feasible.
So, Reese bought them for everyone. Without being asked to. Because of course she did.
She’ll tell you herself, baseball isn’t just a business anymore.
It’s been fucking adorable how stoked Milo gets before every postseason game when he finds his parents in the crowd. He’s really grown into his own this year as a player and is now someone that every other team dreads to see at the plate. His confidence has skyrocketed. Partly thanks to him playing well, and partly due to the help from the vets taking him under their wing.
