"Bye, Carlin," she calls, and with a wave, he heads off.
Nobody's left but us and a few stragglers. Nobody in earshot.
"Wow," she breathes, adjusting her baseball cap and packing up her glove "I can't believe I hit it."
"I knew you would."
"Thanks," she says quietly, happily. "Thanks for teaching me."
"Molly."
"Yeah?"
"Everybody saw. They know."
She sobers. "I know."
I rub the back of my neck, shaking my head at the ground. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you."
"Don't. Don't apologize for kissing me."
"I'm not sorry I did it. I'm sorry I did ithere."
"Why?"
"Because now everybody's going to be in our business."
"So? They already are."
"Whispers, that's all. Now? Now they're gonna talk." I sigh, grabbing my bag, then hers.
Her face falls slightly.
We walk to my truck in silence. When we get to her side, I open the door for her and put our bags in the backseat.
"Do you…do you still want to come over?" she asks tentatively.
I do, more than anything. Can I do it without telling her everything I'm feeling and everything I'm scared of? All the things I'm not ready to say?
But she looks up at me with soft, worried eyes, and there's only one thing I can say.
"Always. Let's go, peaches."
Future Grey can deal with the drama. Tonight, I only want her.
Everything else can wait.
CHAPTER 27
TALK SHIT, GET HIT.
GREY
The sun is blazing, the crowd is cheering, and I can't stop thinking about Molly.
My head's been spinning since last night and the kiss heard 'round the world. We went back to her place, and once again, I forgot the whole word existed for a little while. But the world was still out there. And the second we left, I felt it.
I tried to tell myself it was no big deal. That nobody would care. That I imagined the looks and whispers and general feeling that I supremely fucked up. And then I got to the Rambler's game and discovered that it was already much worse than I'd imagined it could be and in less than twenty-four hours.
