As I jog to second, I feel the first fat raindrops hit my arms. By the time I make it to third, the rainfall is steady. When I cross home plate, the first crack of thunder echoes. For the first time in a year, that sound doesn’t make me shrink and panic.
It makes me feelalive.
Wyatt’s waiting for me just outside the dugout. He scoops me up into his arms, hugging me tight as he spins me around in a circle. “Great job, Ev. Fuck, that was amazing.” The rain’s coming down so hard I can hardly see him in front of me, but I don’t need to see him to finally realize what’s been standing in front of me the whole. I’m done fighting this.
“That’s game, folks,” the ump shouts, his voice drown out by another round of thunder. “Get outta here before you all get soaked!”
The stands have emptied out, and the players are gathering their gear to leave. But I don’t move, and neither does Wyatt.
“Sheriff Knight?” Sherri hollers at him from inside the dugout.
“He’s taken, Sherri,” I yell back, cupping Wyatt’s cheek. I drag his mouth to mine and kiss him, sending a message for all the Sherri’s out there: Wyatt Knight belongs tome.
CHAPTER 12
Wyatt
When Everleigh’s lips meet mine, time stops. I don’t give a fuck that heavy raindrops pelt me in the face or that Coach Porter is yelling at everyone to take all their shit and not leave anything behind in the dugout. Thunderstorm? What thunderstorm? The only storm that matters is the one the two of us are creating right now as our lips repeatedly crash together.
My arms wind tight around the only woman I’ve ever truly loved, shocked and yet not surprised at all that she kissed me out in the open for everyone to see. Now that’s she realized what I’ve known for months, I’m never letting her go.
A crack of thunder seems to shake the ground beneath our feet, and our lips finally break apart. If there weren’t so obviously a storm overhead, I’d give that earth shattering kiss the credit. We share a look that seems to agree, and we laugh together.
I cup both her cheeks, locking my gaze with hers. Mascara runs from her eyelashes, the hair loose from her ponytail is wet and plastered to her skin. She’s never looked more beautifulthan in this moment. In those blue eyes, I finally see what I’ve been waiting months to see—our future.
At long last, the walls have finally crumbled.
“My house is closer,” I say.
“What about Flynn?”
“Left last night.”
“Of course he did.”
We quickly gather our things—Kurt refuses to leave until the dugout is empty—and, hand in hand, race up the grass-covered hill behind the ballfield to my house as the downpour rages on. Lightning flashes in the distance, urging us to get inside.
Thor peaks around a corner at us as we enter the kitchen, but another boom of thunder sends him cowering into my office. The threat of a possible thunderstorm tonight was the reason I left him at the house. He’ll burrow under the desk in what I’ve dubbed his safety bunker until the storm’s over. I reassure Everleigh as much as I push her up against the kitchen wall and start peeling away her wet layers.
Her hands scramble up my shoulders and grip my neck, dragging my mouth back to hers. Our lips move in a hungry rhythm that feels familiar, as though we’ve spent centuries making out. In every one of those lifetimes, I know in my soul we end up together every time.
Andthisforever starts now.
Last night, I hated that I had to leave before we could talk. Had I known I’d get called out to an accident scene minutes after coming all over the back of her shorts, I might’ve navigated the bedroom situation a little differently. Hell, I at least would’ve kissed her to make sure she knew that what happened wasn’t meaningless. I know it’s all too easy for Everleigh to dismiss it as some spontaneous, lust-induced encounter.
Or at least itwasall too easy.
But now?
“You know you kissed me in front of half the town,” I say as I tug her off her soaking wet sports bra and toss it aside.
“I know what I did,” she says, pulling my shirt over my head and dragging me back to her.
I dip my head, taking a nipple into my mouth as she struggles to tug down my pants. Funny how after I waited months for us to get here, she seems to be the impatient one. Me? I’m taking my time. We have all night, and I’m going to use every last minute of it to memorize every inch of her body with my tongue.
I strip her down until all that’s left is lacy red thong. Fuck me.
“It’s a good thing I didn’t know you were wearing this until now.” I stand back to admire the way she looks in that tiny strip of lace and nothing else. My cock hardens the rest of the way. The greedy bastard wants inside hernow.
