Every plane of reality. He’s waiting for me to sign this ball right now, and he’s also waiting for me to grow the hell up.
He says he wants to stay here, and I wanted to give him an out in case he was settling.
The fact he flew here, probably on a horrible red-eye flight like the one I took from Boston, says everything I need to hear.
I knew he liked me. I knew he missed me. I just didn’t know I deserved any of it.
“Holy fucking shit,” I eke out, because those are the first words that come to mind.
Solomon drives a hand onto my back, waking me up. “Thatisn’t how you greet your man, Russell,” he says, chuckling and shaking me before turning away.
Right. Yeah. I should thank the guy who’s probably balls-deep in finals for visiting me,the day afterI made him think I wanted tobreak up.
“You came,” I get out. “You’re here. Thank you.”
Dean smirks, nodding at the marker in my right hand. “I did. I don’t have anything signed by a pro athlete, so if you could get to it, I’d appreciate that.”
I scoff weakly, scrawling my signature onto the baseball before throwing it back. “Wow, you’re so demanding. Coming all the way here to make me do work.”
He catches the ball with a clean sweep of his hand, and it lands with a satisfying thwack. “Awesome. Thanks!”
Then he turns away, grinning.
Not on my watch.There’s so much I need to say, and to apologize for. I reach up and grab his departing ankle, giving it a pull and making him turn around. Seizing my chance, I step on the bench and scale up the fencing, balancing myself on the thin strip of concrete so I’m face to face with Dean.
“Is there something else?” he asks, leaning toward me.
I let out a deep breath. “Yeah, fuck. I’m sorry. I needed to get a grip, and I didn’t.”
He nods once, his expression soft, and he reaches out to place a hand on mine. “It’s okay, Nick. I know you think you don’t deserve to be happy or whatever, but you do. I need you to know that.” The thumb he’s running along the top of my hand sends tingles up and down my spine. “And if I can prove it, I will. You’re so important to me.”
Aw, hell. He’s gonna make me bawl my eyes out in front of my teammates. And maybe…I don’t care that much.
If I say anything, the waterworks are gonna start, so instead, I bend my body forward to plant a kiss on his lips. The instant our mouths brush, every ounce of achy solitude, every second I spent missing him, and every last scrap of nervous apprehension leavesmy body in a needy groan that spills out of my throat. I’m well aware we’re in public, in full view of my teammates, but a little kissing never killed anyone. A bunch of the guys brought their partners to training, and now mine is here, too.
“How long are you in town for?” I ask.
“For the week.”
His confession gets me to throw my arms around him. He’s here for aweek.
“My god, Dean,” I murmur, my voice catching. “I love you.”
“Nick.” He tightens around my shoulders and pulls back a little, before pressing his forehead to mine. “I love you too. So fucking much.”
“Aww, isn’t that just adorable?” someone below calls out.
I turn my head to find out it’s Jax. The shy little fucker’s apparently found his voice in time to rib me.
What I also see is every last one of my teammates looking at me and Dean with identical subtly interested smiles.
“Stop staring!” I yell, grinning back down, hoping the elated tears pricking my eyes don’t show.
“Why? Y’all are cute,” Solomon says back. I can’t argue, so I turn around to face Dean again, lifting his shades so I can see all of him.
He squints while snickering at me. “Ow. It’s so bright here.”
“Deal with it. I wanna see every part of your smile.”
