I hit second, and by then, Laila hopped on third and was sprinting home. I chanced a look, and Jensen and Auggie had made it home. Yes. Eliot fielded my ball and lobbed it toward Clover.
She was laughing and waving her hands to catch it. I put on a burst of speed. I’d round third and sprint home. There was no way Clover could beat me. My old competitive drive surged.
Clover’s laughter reached me. Just as I was about to step on base, she backed up—right into my path. I tried to curve around her, but my bad knee gave out.
We collided. The ball bounced off my head.
Shit. I clamped my arms around her, and we were flying. Twisting to the side, my shoulder took the brunt of the fall. Pain exploded through my side, but I didn’t let go of my wife. Triumph soared because I’d managed not only to keep from plowing over her, but that I’d cushioned her fall. We lay still for a few moments, our breathing ragged. Then she wiggled around, kneeing me in the balls.
“Oomph.” A long groan left me.
“Oh my God. Are you okay?” Her hands were flat on my chest, and she was straddling me. “I’m so sorry.”
My dick forgot about the assault and decided it liked her weight on top of me.
The sun was behind her, outlining her in a full-bodied halo. A sexy, adorable angel perched on top of me. My shoulder throbbed, and twinges zipped through my knee like lightning.
Her ponytail hung over her shoulder. “Van? Are you okay?”
I blinked, and my brain came back online. “Me? Are you okay?”
“Yes. Because of you,” she said softly.
Shadows surrounded us. Acid churned in my gut. They were going to yell Because of you for totally different reasons. They had to hate me after seeing the collision.
“Oh my God,” Poppy shouted. “Did we kill him?”
“That was cool.” A kid’s voice. Auggie?
“Did you see them fly?” No, that was Auggie. It must’ve been Cali before.
“He’s out,” Laila said. “The ball hit him. He’s out.”
“He saved Clover’s life.” That was Jensen.
“He saved Clover’s bones and probably the baby,” Violet added, sounding impressed.
The baby. My astonishment that I wasn’t getting berated vanished. I gripped Clover’s upper arms. The chorus of voices chased the blood out of my groin. “Did you land on anything? Does anything hurt?”
“I’m fine.” She lightly shoved at my chest. “Where do you hurt?”
Nowhere. Not with her round ass sitting on my pelvis and her hands prodding my torso. She pushed into my shoulder, and I winced.
“Oh no.” She scrambled off me. “We need ice.”
“Got it,” Alder said and jogged away.
“I’m fine.” I rolled to the side and pushed off the ground, careful of my leg. “It’s the old ski injury.” I tried to roll my shoulder and grimaced. The dull throb was superficial, but damn, it was still sharp. “The shoulder will be fine after a little rest.”
Clover blinked up at me. “We’ll get it iced, get you some ibuprofen or something, then you rest.”
“As long as you’re okay.” And the baby. A strong sense of protectiveness surged inside of me. She was rattling off ways to care for me, but I’d been through worse and had taken care of myself. “You sure you’re good?”
“Yes.” A smile curved her pretty pink lips. “The landing was a little hard. You should have some more brownies.”
I laughed, my relief acute. “I’ll have a couple before we leave, but I think that cookie salad will do the trick.”
“You deserve all the leftovers.” She tucked an arm through my uninjured side and led me off the field.
