“Hey,” he said. “Sorry I missed bedtime.”
“It’s okay,” I answered. “How are you feeling about the game?”
“Like shit.” Jace sat up. “Knew it would be a tough one, but we should have done something. Couldn’t catch for shit tonight either.” He wasn’t wrong. As much as I wanted to argue with him, the Hawks hadn’t been at their best tonight. They’d lacked that usual chemistry on the field, missing too many catches and striking out far too easily. “Don’t want to talk about it, if that’s okay. I’d rather focus on better things. How was Anna today?”
“Good,” I mumbled, trying to figure out how to broach the topic I’d been weighing for hours.
Jace frowned, shifting closer to the phone. “What’s going on, Kins? Is Anna alright?”
“Yes, yeah,” I mumbled, looking up to the ceiling as if it held all the answers.
“Then what’s going on?”
With one last, unsteady breath, I turned to meet his worried scowl. “I’ve been thinking…”
“And?”
“IthinkIwantmorewithyoutoo.” My words came out jumbled and in a rush, almost a match to the pounding in my chest.
Jace’s face didn’t shift, but, even through the screen, the tension radiated off him. “Say that again, Kins. Slow this time.”
“I think…” Deep breath in. “You asked me to be sure, and I am now. I want you, Jace. I w-want to be with you.”
TWENTY-EIGHT
“Repeat that again.”
My mouth dried, not trusting the words coming from Kinsley. When I first crashed into the hotel room, I’d been miserable, replaying all the terrible calls and plays from the game tonight. My own arm had been shit—I missed balls I should have caught in my sleep.
Then, this phone call changed everything. I hadn’t talked to Kinsley much today—only a few texts about Anna, nothing more. No mention of what happened between us. It was cowardly, but I hadn’t wanted to push her, sure she’d shove us back into our co-parent roles, that I’d made a mistake by asking her to think about what she wanted, and it would be another excuse for her to push me away.
But with one sentence from Kinsley, all my doubts faded away.
"I want to try this, Jace. When I’m with you…” Her voice trailed off, but the corner of her lips turned up. “Being with you makes me happy—happier than I’ve been in years. And I’m tired of fighting it because I’m afraid.”
My fist pumped into the air, unable to hold back for a minute longer. “Thank fuck, Kins.”
“Something tells me that was the answer you wanted to hear.”
“Hell yes, mama. You have no idea what hearing that is doing to me right now. I wish you were here so I could show you.”
“God, so do I,” she breathed out. “When do you come home?”
“Three more days.” We had another two games to play in San Francisco, and then I’d be heading back. But that was too long, enough time for those doubts to creep back into Kinsley’s mind. “Come out here.”
“What?” she squealed. “Jace, I can’t just?—”
“Look, I’m not trying to push you into anything, but if it’s about work, tell me the last time you took a day off.” She opened her mouth, but I beat her to it. “And no, Anna being sick doesn’t count. I mean a day to do something for you. A vacation. Spa day.” Her mouth twisted into a pout—I had her there. “Take off the next couple days and fly out to meet me. I don’t want to wait anymore.”
Kinsley chewed on the corner of her lip. “Okay, fine. I might have six weeks of vacation time, and I haven’t taken a single day off.”
“You coming to me, Kins?”
“Yeah,” she laughed. “I guess I am. Shit, what does a plane ticket cost? I’m not even sure, but I should have enough to cover it. Should I bring Anna? She’s never traveled that far from home, and I’m going to need to pack all her stuff.”
“Woah, mama. Slow down. First of all, I’m paying for the tickets.” She frowned into the phone. “Don’t you dare argue with me, not when you’re coming here to be with me. I’m taking care of it.”
Kinsley paused, and her jaw twitched. “Okay, fine. You can pay for my ticket this one time, hotshot. But I don’t need you to cover me.”
