I shift my head down an inch toward her head and catch a whiff of the intoxicating smell of her shampoo, lilacs and lavender. It’s a real struggle to keep my arm on the back of the couch and not drop it down to wrap her up and pull her onto my lap.
Every day it gets harder to not tell her, show her, how I feel about her. I know she’s not ready for that yet. The one-year anniversary was a couple of months ago and it set her back a bit. I can still hear her cries at night and those dark shadows still paint her eyes on more days than not. She needs more time, but it’s so fucking hard to wait.
A text comes in on my phone and when I thumb it open, I suck in a breath of surprise, causing Luna to turn her head andlook at it. Her hand flashes out and tilts the screen so she can see it better and then she snags the TV remote and pauses the show. I swallow the knot in my throat at the look in her eyes as she stares at me. I’m about to tell her it’s nothing, that I’m not interested, when a smile cracks across her stunned expression.
“That’s amazing, Gage! Congratulations.”
Now everyone is looking at me so I have to explain. “They offered me a job and I said no. This is just another offer to sweeten the deal, but I’m not going to accept.”
Julian narrows his eyes at me. “What deal and how sweet is it?”
I shift uncomfortably before telling them about it. “It’s remote work at a mine up north. They need heavy equipment mechanics pretty badly, so the pay is more than double what I make right now.” I glance at Luna, who still has that strained smile on her face.
“You’d have to move up north? Like move, move?” Reid asks with a hint of panic in his voice.
“No, it’s on a rotation, fly in-fly out. Seven days on, seven days off.”
“You need to say yes.”
My eyes dart to Luna at hearing that from her. That smile is gone and now she’s completely serious. I shake my head but she just nods.
“Yes, you do. This is an amazing opportunity, Gage. You can’t let it pass you by, not just the money but the experience.” Her throat bobs. She’s smiling again but this time it’s real and soft as she takes my hand. “It’s time. We all have to start living our lives. Besides, seven on, seven off means we still will have you half the time. That’s not so bad.” She turns to the others. “Right, guys? He should take it, right?”
They all nod in agreement but the air is thick with all the words we aren’t saying. Torrin’s gone for part of the year forbaseball, and if I take this job, I’ll be gone for half the year too. Is she ready for that? Am I ready for that? My eyes drop to her lips as she swipes on some cherry Chapstick. It’s a nervous tell of hers. I want to kiss that cherry right off her lips and tell her that I’m not going anywhere and that right there is the reason I’ll take the job. A little bit of space between us will help me keep my distance until she is ready. What she says next has me shocked and then glad.
“I won’t be here all the time either.” Her eyes flash around to all of us before landing back on mine. “I’m… I got a job, too. It’s nothing big, just waitressing. It’s time for me to start doing more, living more. My therapist signed off on it.” Her eyes well up but she sniffs those tears back. “Take the job, Gage. This is a good step on our journey, for both of us.”
I reach out and pull her down so she’s cuddled back up next to me and take the remote to start the show again. It will be good for us and it will help her be one step closer for what comes next… us.
Chapter 29 - Torrin
I head to the living room after getting all my stuff unpacked. It’s great to be home again, even if it is only for a few days. So far, my second season in the Minors is going great and I have high hopes of getting called up to play at least a few games in the Majors this year. The hardest part is being away from the guys and Luna. We do a lot of FaceTime calls and texting but it’s not the same as being here day in and day out. I’ve got a four-day block free, so I left right after practice and drove through the night. The twelve-hour drive between here and Winnipeg is mind-numbingly boring as there’s not much to see but flat prairie the entire way. It was worth it though, to get a few days with the guys and Luna in before the season starts in full swing. The second anniversary of Atlas and her parents passing is coming up in a few weeks and it hurts that I won’t be here with them all for it.
Julian is lying on one section of the huge sectional couch, flipping through his phone, and greets me with a head tilt. I swipe at his legs until he moves them and sit down. Luna and Reid are on the other section sitting cross-legged and facingeach other. They both have headphones on and are holding their phones in front of them. Luna suddenly lets out a squawk of outrage - making Reid burst out laughing.
“Oh, oh, oh! Take… that!” Luna yells as she stabs at her phone.
Reid’s laughter dies as he makes an offended expression at her and immediately starts tapping at his phone.
I send Julian a confused look. “What are they doing?”
He looks up from his phone, glances over at them, and smirks.
“They’re fighting.”
My head bounces between them and Jules before I throw up my hands. “Explain how that’s fighting, please, because I don’t get it.”
He finally tosses his phone to the side and gives me his full attention.
“Whenever they get into an argument, instead of saying mean things, they do a song battle. They take turns finding songs that have the lyrics they want to say and then text them back and forth to each other.” He lets out a small laugh. “I’ve seen them go for like, two hours before. Sometimes, they even throw memes at each other.” He shrugs one shoulder. “It’s almost impossible for them to stay mad at each other once they get going.”
I blink a few times and shake my head. That’s… kind of awesome. Especially for the two of them who love music so much. I watch them for a few minutes more and then lean forward and grab a book that’s on the coffee table. It has an illustrated cover with the side of a woman’s face next to a skull. I’m guessing it’s Luna’s, so I flip it over to see what it’s about and read the back. It’s clearly a romance, but there’s four guys listed as her… mates? As in? I open the book to her bookmark and start reading. Three lines in and my mouth drops open at the explicit, detailed sex scene with the female character and all four men,doing… having... My mouth goes dry at the idea of that, of Luna being interested in THAT. Gage comes in and drops down in the seat behind Luna, knocking me out of my stunned trance.
“Hey, glad you made it ok.” He tells me as he leans forward and looks over her shoulder at her phone screen. When he sees that there’s music playing, he tells me in a lowered voice. “She’s pretty excited about tomorrow. I think she’s nervous too.”
Before I can respond, Reid gushes with shiny eyes, “Ahhh, I love you too!” and dives forward to pull her into a hug. They both pull their headphones off and toss them on the coffee table. When Luna stands up and turns, spotting me, her face breaks out in a blinding smile that has my heart beating faster.
“Ballboy! You made it!”
