“I’m happy,” I say and smile as I gather my nerves. “I’m really happy when I’m with you.”
He swallows a particularly large bite and grins back. “I’m happy around you, too.” He puts his hand over mine and squeezes.
Encouraged, I press on. “You know I’ve fantasized about kissing you since my last year of college—your first year in the big leagues. You were a rookie and I swear the cutest guy I’d ever seen.”
“We met when you were in college?”
I shake my head. “No. I mean I saw you on TV. Jane pointed you out and I swear I fell in love with you the moment I laid eyes on you.”
Casey’s smile drops and he wipes his mouth with a napkin. “Sage…”
I close my eyes and ignore the hesitation in his voice. I need to get this out before anyone can convince me otherwise. “You had this cocky grin and chip on your shoulder, but there was something in your eyes that pulled me in. Just like they’re doing now.”
His stare gives me goosebumps. I imagine he’s searching, reassuring himself that what I said was true. Embolden, I continue. “When I first met you at Charlotte’s apartment I couldn’t wait to finally talk to you…but then, well, you said some things about the Falls and I couldn’t believe you would say something like that about a place I love. But it was foolish of me to judge you without knowing your own experiences and expecting them to be like mine. I think loving someone is accepting them and loving the parts of them that are different, too.”
I grab his hand and it feels ice cold between my fingers. I rub his knuckles to give him warmth. “My heart is filled with happiness and love, Casey. I feel like the universe kept us apart for a reason, but I think that I wasn’t ready for you. I’m ready now. I want to be with you.”
I’ve said a lot, I know. But I would regret him leaving tomorrow and not knowing exactly how I feel.
Casey continues to stare but he inhales deeply, almost like a sigh, and my gut tells me something is wrong, but I can’t seem to stop myself. I have this burning need to tell him everything my heart dreams about. I can’t keep it in despite Charlotte’s warnings. “I can travel with you and study while I’m there. Maybe you can fly back to Cedar Brook Falls for the holidays. I’m sure we can make it work. We can do anything if we love each other.”
Casey’s gaze drops for only a second. His eyes are soft, but his face is tight. He pulls both his lips into his mouth and squeezes my hands. This is it. He’s going to tell me that he loves me.
But he doesn’t get the chance. I spot his mother running over to us, as though a pack of pitbulls are at her heels. She’s staring at our clasped hands and grabs one of Casey’s arms and yanks him away. “Casey, darling, you must speak with Jacob before he leaves. I promised him you’d sign his jersey for him.”
I wait for Casey to yank his arm back, but he doesn’t. He lets his mom pull him away and while his face is sad as he leaves, he does nothing to stop her.
I watch them go, his mother’s hand on his back, guiding him toward the crowd of excited neighbors. I feel guilty for having this conversation on a night when he’s supposed to be spending time with his family and those who’ve been waiting for him to return for years.
A soft arm wraps around my waist and I smell Charlotte’s perfume, instantly recognizing her without needing to turn around. “You okay?” she asks.
I smile. “Yeah. I’m good.”
“I saw you talking to Casey. It looked intense.”
I take a deep breath and smile. “My feelings are pretty intense, and I want him to know this can work between us.”
“So, you told him how you feel?”
“All of it.”
She squeezes me tight. “That’s what I love about you, Sage. You don’t listen to anyone, just your heart. I hope he doesn’t break it.”
My eyes never leave him. Casey is faking a smile at some tall fellow. I can tell because it doesn’t reach his eyes. My heart swells, knowing that he smiles differently for me.
“That’s Jane. I think she’s waving us over.”
I turn toward Charlotte’s gaze and see Jane standing with Austin and his father. She’s pointing at me and Charlotte hooks her arm with mine and pulls me over. “Come on.”
There are less people on this side of the room. It’s as though the crowd shifts, depending on where Casey’s standing. I hadn’t noticed until I was away from him.
“Hey! What’s going on?” asks Charlotte when we reach the trio.
“Austin and his dad can’t settle an argument, and I said the best person who knows baseball better than these two is Sage.”
“Caleb was busy, wasn’t he?” I ask.
Jane smiles. “We couldn’t find him.”
