She smiled, scratching at the stubble on my chin.
“I came back to figure out a way to move on. Keep you in my life without making you my life and actually live somewhere, rather than just stay for a while. You see how that worked out.” The corner of her mouth hitched up.
“But my wedding video upset you?”
“It did. Yes, I was there. But I didn’t hear you tell Katie she was the one and only love of your life. I’d thought I had all I’d ever wanted, and in that moment, it all felt fake. That tomorrow, I’d still have to pretend I was only your friend and someone else would be sleeping next to you because you were never really mine.”
I’d love Katie until the day I died, but I loved Stella too. Maybe even more now that I realized how much she’dsacrificed to stay in my life. Our history only made everything I felt for her now deeper and stronger.
It would take time to make her see all of that, but I wasn’t going anywhere, and I’d make sure neither was she.
“Nothing about what I feel for you is fake. I love you so much it actually hurts sometimes.” I cupped her neck. “Like when I thought you were pulling away, like when I thought you were hurt.” I cleared my throat when my voice cracked.
“Two ER visits in two months. I keep giving you jump scares,” Stella said, relief washing over her gorgeous face.
“At the time, I’d thought I would only have one love of my life. But I am lucky enough to have two.” A tear coasted over my thumb when I wiped her cheek. “I mean you, if that’s not clear. I’m so sorry for hurting you for all those years, but please believe me now. I love you, and every part of me is yours. Okay?”
“Okay,” she said, her voice cracking.
“Then can I please fucking kiss you now?”
She nodded, and I didn’t waste any time covering her mouth with mine. It started slow, all the relief pouring out of me over almost losing her twice today, and after a long minute, it grew hot and desperate. I needed to prove that she was back and she was mine, and I needed to do that as deep inside her as I could go.
“Okay, I found three,” my daughter said, her voice wafting in from the hallway just when I had Stella on her back. “I’ll put in the first one and meet you downstairs.”
“I’m so glad we kept all those old DVDs for my daughter to find.”
“It’s okay,” Stella whispered, kissing the top of my head after I dropped it against her chest. “I’m not going anywhere.”
EPILOGUE
STELLA - THREE MONTHS LATER
“Let’s go, baby!” Rachel cupped her mouth and called out to her husband at the plate.
Since the Brooklyn Bats were too young a team to have old-timers’ day, where older legends came to play against the current team, management had thought up a new version—coaches and trainers versus the current team—right before the last game of the season.
Silas’s career had ended from a bad knee injury, but Lee had told me that his doctor had cleared him to play as long as he wore a brace around his knee. As Silas practiced swinging before stepping up to bat, he looked every bit the legendary player Lee had always said he was.
“This is so exciting,” Rachel said to me. “I never got to date a jock in high school, and I’m channeling the experience,” she said, adjusting her Jones jersey over her baby bump.
“Me neither,” I told her, although I had been in the stands for most of Lee’s high school games. After he’d left for the field this morning, I’d found his old jersey in the back ofhis closet and slipped it on. I’d thought I’d spotted it one morning and had felt a little guilty rummaging through his things, but he’d appreciate the sentiment enough not to mind.
Hopefully.
It had been a whirlwind of a summer, and I’d loved every minute of it. I’d learned that when I took the crazy travel and all night presentation prep out of the equation, I actually did enjoy fixing various problems for different companies. But now, I only accepted occasional remote assignments on a consultant basis. Lee had already signed a contract with the Bats for three more seasons since I’d agreed to move in with him and Bennie for good. He could keep doing the job he loved while I stayed with the father and daughter I loved.
Zach pled guilty to attempted manslaughter and was awaiting sentencing. The police had tracked down Rodney, who’d insisted that he had no intentions of hurting me for what Zach owed him. He’d only mentioned seeing my photo to taunt Zach, but after he’d realized that I was connected to a high-profile professional sports team, the New York detective speculated that Rodney had decided that coming after me would be more trouble than it would be worth.
I didn’t have to look over my shoulder anymore, even if I couldn’t shake all the regret. Doubt still crept in from time to time, but we talked it out and didn’t keep secrets. Lee hadn’t been mad at the one I’d kept from him for so long, and he even teased me about being the man of my dreams sometimes.
I couldn’t argue.
We all turned at a loud pop when Silas made contact, the ball sailing well into the outfield for a base hit. Itwould have been an easy out if Ricky hadn’t let it bounce before he threw it to first.
It wasn’t intended to be a fair game, and the players were saving their energy for the play-offs.
“Where did you get that jersey?” Lee asked me, leaning on the railing. We were sitting in the row behind the opposing team’s dugout to get a better look at our guys strolling up to the plate. I wanted the front-row seat to Lee in baseball pants like I’d had in high school.
