“Then you returned it.”
“Stealing’s wrong.” He sighs then smiles. “Plus, I got busted with it hanging in my closet and knew the ladies in my life were aware.” He holds my hand to his chest. “The crazy shit that went on in my head from then until I, um?—”
“Kidnapped me.”
His lips twitch up. “Let’s go with that’s when I found out you weren’t marrying the douche.”
I nod my agreement.
“Did you know then you were gonna?”
“Make out with you in the gym? No.”
“Gotcha.”
Be vulnerable, I tell myself.
“I hoped that after I took time to heal, you might still be interested.”
He smiles—big, too—as he says, “And then my tongue found the warp speed button inside your sweet little pussy, and here we are.”
My insides clench, but I do not squirm and am able to keep the need his words cause inside of me to reply, “And here we are.”
“You get by admitting that I’m going to be facedown between your thighs, punching that spot like a speedbag.”
Heat pooling between said thighs, I get lost in that idea for a beat too long.
“It’s not just about the way you taste, Riley Mae. It’s about not believing I’d be in this position.”
I clear my throat. “Position?”
He shakes his head. “Not like this.”
“I—”
“Quick tour of the city?” He lets go of my hand to turn.
“Sure.”
“I’ve spent a lot of time here with the family, but now I get it was because I would have been sitting at your brewery every spare second and looked like a creeper.” He chuckles, now with both hands on the wheel. “Right down here a bit is Roman’s place.” He pulls over. “He bought the townhouses, and CeCe happened to own the big Victorian.” He points to it. “He lives here now, and his four rentals, Slugger Row, are all rented out by teammates. They’re a fucking trip. You’ll meet them someday.”
“The house is stunning. Looks like something on Main Street in Blue Valley, but bigger.”
“It is. His place was a wise investment. He gets in my shit about the lake house, but the way I was burning through money, thinking that was going to equate to peace and happiness, it made sense.”
“That’s a lot of happiness,” I state.
“Grew up pretty rough, didn’t have much, but quickly found I had more than most.”
I make my move. I take his hand. “Family.”
“Yeah, fuck yeah. And the good kind. Well, once my old man was finally put in his place and realized his boys weren’t having it anymore.”
“He’s in jail, right?”
He exhales a deep breath.
“You don’t have to?—”
