“Still want to retire?” Winston asks sarcastically.
“Uh, no. As long as Layla still wants me after I confess everything, I’d really like to stay with the Raptors,” I answer.
“Good,” Winston replies. “We aren’t ready to lose you just yet.”
Marcia hands me the folder. “Take this. The two of you need to read it together and make sure you agree with what we’re proposing. Actually read it, Max. Don’t expect her to read it and give you a summary.”
“Can I go?” I ask. “I need to go meet her to confess everything, and hopefully she still wants to date me, or this is all moot.”
“Just know, if you break her heart, and she quits because of you,” Coach says, lowering his voice, “I’m booting you from the team to get her back.”
“No offense taken, Coach. I would do the exact same thing,” I say with a smile, jogging out of the room. I can’t believe this. I get to keep my job, and the girl? Fucking awesome.
An hour later, I’m waiting for Layla to arrive. She requested we meet in front of the ballpark. With a game in a few hours, there aretons of people around. The stadium is right in the middle of a bustling section of Denver, full of tons of restaurants, bars, and breweries. The gates will open soon for anyone wishing to watch batting practice, and as I scope the area for Layla’s arrival, I take a deep breath. God, I hope she forgives me. That we can move past this.
“Is that you, Sunshine?” I hear a call from behind me, and turning, I find Layla grinning broadly at me. Even better, she’s wearing my jersey. Grabbing the hem, she shifts it around as she spins in a slow circle. “You like? Figured I could rep your number. And don’t freak out, but I bought a Holloway jersey and one of Dante’s as well. I’d hate for my boys to think I’m playing favorites.”
“Layla,” I breathe, my eyes dragging slowly down her body. Wearing a white tank top under the jersey, cutoff jean shorts with frayed edges, and pink Converse on her feet, she looks perfect. “You’re so fucking beautiful.”
She beams up at me, then stands on her tiptoes to kiss my cheek. “Thank you. So do you want to go first, or should I? I think we have a lot to talk about. Did anyone tell you I went to the management team yesterday? I assumed you’d hear about it, and that’s why you were so off when I saw you earlier.”
“No, they didn’t tell me until I barged in there an hour ago,” I murmur. “I told them I wanted to retire.”
Her eyes widen in horror. “What? No! That’s not what I wanted! You’re doing so well here. You need to stay, finish out your contract, and get an extension!”
I shake my head. “I don’t need any of that. I don’t want it. Not unless you’re there with me. Layla, I love you. I’ve fallen so desperately in love with you. I don’t want to hide it or sneak around. I want everyone to know that I’m taken. I need to have you by my side. Waking up next to you, traveling to games, you sleeping on my shoulder on the flights. I want your makeup all over my bathroom, the weird drawings you make with your hair in the shower, and all the red fruit we can find for our murderous guinea pigs. I want it all, Peaches, but only if it’s with you.”
A sheen of tears covers her eyes as she laughs breathily. “I love you too. And I want all of that too.”
I let out a huge exhale of relief, sweeping her into my arms, and burying my face in her neck. I hold her tightly for a moment, then realize I still haven’t confessed. “Layla.”
“Hmm?” she murmurs.
“There’s something I have to tell you first. Remember before I left, and you corrected me about the number of times we’ve had sex?”
She grins. “I do remember that. Took you long enough, MaxEverettCallahan.”
What the fuck? My mouth drops open. “You knew?”
She shrugs, pulling something out of her pocket. I stare in disbelief at the tie I used to blindfold her that night in Chicago. “I didn’t realize it until later. There was something familiar about him, and it wasn’t until you kissed me in Houston that I connected the dots. I think I vaguely recognized it the time you kissed me outside my apartment, but Houston definitely cemented that you and Everett were the same person. My question is, how long did you know?”
I chuckle awkwardly as I look down at the ground. “Specifics?”
“Yes.”
“The first time you came, you tossed your head forward, and the light hit your face perfectly.”
Layla laughs. “You still fucked me, knowing it was me?”
“I did,” I murmur. “I shouldn’t have. I should have told you immediately and left. But I was so attracted to you, and I thought maybe it would get you out of my system. It did the exact opposite, by the way. You were more ingrained in my soul than I could have ever imagined. Now I don’t know how to get through a three-day road trip without you. I played like shit this week.”
“I know,” she says with a giggle. “I watched.”
“I thought you’d be so angry with me,” I confess. “Like I was somehow cheating on you with … you. And lying at the same time.”
“At first I was mad. I felt a little used. But then I tried to putmyself in your shoes. What would I have done in that situation? Would I have hightailed it out of there, or confronted you immediately? Maybe I would have done the same as you. Frankly, I knew it wasn’t intentional, because you didn’t hold it over my head.” Her teasing grin stops as her face falls. “This doesn’t change the fact that what we’re doing is bad in terms of my job. I basically told them to keep you, and I can find another job. I do love working with you guys, but I’d rather have you than the job.”
A smile spreads across my face as I grab onto her hip, pulling her closer to me. “You have me, Lay. But it doesn’t matter. I talked to the GM today, and he said as long as we fill out some kind of consensual relationship agreement for them, we’re good to go.”
