I give him a mock salute. “Yes, sir.” Next thing I know, Darling’s pulling my head into his shoulder and knuckling the top of it. “Damn, brother, that was somethin’ else.”
“Seriously, quite the grand gesture.” Sin grins from the bench where he’s pulling on his batting gloves. “Happy for you, man.”
“Thanks, guys.” My cheeks are starting to ache but I can’t stop smiling. She’s here. She’s here, and she’s staying.
All of sudden, I drop to the bench. “Holy shit.”
“I think he’s finally getting it.”
I look up at Mav, Sin, Darling, and Monty, who are all crowded around me.
“Get what?” I ask hoarsely.
“What it feels like when you realize you’ve found the love of your life, and by some fucking miracle, she loves you back,” Monty comments.
Sin stands and grasps my shoulder. “We’re happy for you, Yami.” He heads to the stairs, taking them two at a time to hit the field and bat.
“The coach’s stepdaughter is a risky choice,” Mav says in his wry voice. “And here I thought I was the bad boy.”
“Not anymore. Sadie tamed you years ago,” Monty teases, earning a mock glare from Mav.
“He’s not wrong,” I say in agreement, my shock starting to subside. “And before she was Coach’s stepdaughter, she was my Isabelle. I got dibs.”
“Dibs? Don’t say that in front of her,” Rhett suggests, before lowering his voice. “Or Coach, for that matter.”
The sound of a bat connecting with a ball has all of us turning our attention to the game, where Sin is sprinting for first base. He makes it there with barely half a second to spare before the first baseman catches the ball.
“Phew. Okay boys, let’s win us a game so Yami can get back to his girl.” Darling claps his hands together and the guys disperse, leaving me and Monty on the bench.
“You good?” he asks, and I nod.
“Better than good. She loves me. She loves me and she’s staying.” I let my head roll to the side, then lift it from the back wall. “Shit. She’s staying. But her family. Her job. The restaurant. Fuck, what are we going to do about all that?” I move to stand, and only Monty’s hand on my arm stops me.
“Yami, my man. How ’bout you give her a chance to explain her decision before you start freaking about it. Stay in the happy place. She chose you, brother.”
I sit back down on the bench with a thud.
She chose me.
And I’m gonna make it my mission in life to make damn sure she never regrets that.
We win the game.
I mean, it was obvious right from the start we were going to. I pitched three no-hit innings in a row, only letting one guy make it to third in another inning, before my arm finally started to get tired. After enduring a lecture from the coaches about not burning out too early, I took it down a notch.
We still won.
And after the fastest shower and change I’ve ever done, I burst through the door of the locker room, my eyes scanning the crowd that’s waiting for the team. It takes longer than I want to find her. But as soon as I see Isabelle, I push through the people that are in my way, and I lift her into my arms and keep moving down the hallway, ignoring her laughter and feeble attempts to get me to put her down.
“Hold still, woman,” I huff, finally spying the door to the conference room we all met in earlier today for a pregame meeting. I’m hoping it’s empty.
Shifting my grip on Isabelle to one hand, I use the other to open the door, and thank fuck, it is, indeed, empty.
I don’t set her down until the door is shut and locked behind us. Even then, the most I do is let her slide down my body until I can wrap my hand around her ponytail, knock the hat off her head, and kiss her the way I wanted to earlier.
We don’t come up for air for a while. I’m too starved for her. Thank God she’s staying in Vancouver. Because I don’t know why I thought I could handle long-distance with her, when this kiss after just three days apart has me feeling like she’s my first drink of water after being lost in the desert.
“Kai,” she murmurs against my lips, but I just shake my head. I’m not done kissing yet.
