He opened his mouth, but I cut him off before he could talk.
“Softball was a way for me to fit in when I was younger. I’m sure this will come as somewhat a shock to you, but I was a weird kid.”
Trip widened his eyes in mock surprise and I stuck my tongue out at him. I settled more comfortably on his lap so I could talk to him, but still not losing contact with his magnificent chest muscles.
“My parents put me in every sport, and softball was the one that didn’t make me as miserable as the rest. For some strange reason, pitching wasn’t dreadful. It had nothing to do with the love of the game, but just being able to be social.”
“But the season’s almost over, and you’re so good at it. Look at all the wins the team has because of you.”
“But that’s just it, I do it for the team. I don’t do it for me, and the achy muscles I have the next day. It may be hard for you to understand, but I could give up softball right now and never think about it again.”
“You say that now.”
“I say that always. If there’s one thing I can tell you with certainty is I know how my mind works. Softball’s different for me than it is for you. I see how your eyes light up when you talk about the game. You smiled more than I’d ever seen you smile when you were back practicing with the Pappies. Baseball’s your dream. That’s the reason you changed.”
“I changed because I wanted to be the person you deserve.”
“And I don’t accept that. You talk about me regretting our relationship because I didn’t play out my last season, or I will miss out on something because I’m younger and haven’t experienced what you think I should. Well, the same goes for me. I don’t want you to one day resent me because you changed who you were for me. I refuse to take that blame. You changed because it was time. You were put in a scary situation where you saw your dream almost yanked away. It wasn’t for me and it shouldn’t have been.”
“You’re amazing. How did I get so lucky to deserve you?”
“Who said you have me?”
Trip smiled and pulled me close until his lips met my ear. “All the posters you have of me stashed in your top dresser.”
I pulled back and stared at him in horror. My face burned and I could feel my ears turning a new shade of red. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I denied.
Trip stood and carried me into my room. He deposited me on my bed and reached for the damning drawer.
“Okay, you proved your point,” I cried to his back.
He held the stack of posters I hid from him the night I took them down with a huge smile plastered on his face.
“You looked so guilty that night I snuck in here to find out what you were hiding. I had to stop myself from laughing when I saw it was exactly what I accused you of hiding.”
“So what? I’m sure there are a ton of women who have you plastered all over their walls,” I huffed, taking the posters from him and placing them gently on my desk.
“But you’re the only woman I care about,” he whispered into my ear, pulling my back flush to his chest.
“Are you sure? There are a lot of women who’d gladly take my place.”
Trip grasped my shoulders and spun me around. “McKenna, I know what I want, and I want you. If you don’t feel the same way tell me now and break my heart, darlin’. I’ve been in love with you since the day you yelled at me for taking my sling off. You’re the one for me.”
“You’re in love with me?”
“More than I thought possible. Our friendship allowed me to get to know you without the physical aspect and as hard as it was.”
“Pun intended.”
“Definitely.” Trip pressed his erection into my stomach to prove his point, and the length of it made my mouth water.
“Even though it was torture staying away from you it let me fall deeper in love with you.”
“It’s my vast knowledge of all things odd. It’s a curse. Men just can’t help falling in love with me.”
The side of Trip’s lip went up as he continued to stare me down. When I didn’t say anything more he raised his eyebrows. I opened my eyes wide and shrugged my shoulders, trying to figure out what he wanted.
“You would make this hard for me. Now I’m not pressuring you, and if you aren’t ready to say it back I’m okay with that.”
