Page 71 of Westward

Thatcher rolled his eyes. “I really don’t want to hear that.”

“I’m just saying. I’m going to keep Lizzie. I’m going to figure this out.”

“If you’re saying that I need to get laid, you don’t have to tell me that.” Thatcher ran his hand over his clean-shaven face. “But this isn’t about me. Lizzie’s not going to blame you for leaving. She didn’t before. She never once said a bad thing about you. Yes, she growled sometimes, but I think that’s just an Elizabeth thing.”

“You sure seem to know a lot about my woman,” I said, my eyes narrowed.

“Don’t get jealous on me. I know that’s all for Finnian.”

I flipped him off before sighing and looking towards Lizzie’s house. She’d had a phone call, one with the superintendent she couldn’t miss, and I knew we were both dreading this goodbye. She would come up to Portland for a game soon, and I would come home every time that I could. But I didn’t know if it was going to be enough.

“Go to her. Take these last moments. We’ll take care of your girl.”

I sighed, finished my goodbyes, and headed towards Lizzie.

No, she hadn’t blamed me for leaving. Not in that reality

At least, that’s how I felt we had ended things before.

Before I could knock on her door, she opened it and stepped onto the back porch. Though it was still hot as hell, she wore a loose-knit wrap around her shoulders and tiny shorts and a tank top. It was the hottest fucking thing. I wanted to take her back into that house and have my way with her, but she raised a brow.

“I don’t think so, mister. You had to get on the road like twenty minutes ago.”

“I wasn’t going to go without saying goodbye.”

I moved forward and then cupped her face. She slipped her fingers in my belt loops, and that familiar gesture nearly sent me over the edge.

“I love you,” I said softly.

“I know. And I love you too.” I crushed my mouth to hers, needing her more than air. When I ran my hands over the wrap and then under, so I could trap her, she groaned into me before pushing me away slightly.

“Go. If you’re late for training, your coach is going to yell at me.”

“He’ll kick my ass. You’ll be safe.”

“I don’t know about that. If you want me to come and hang out with the WAGs or whatever name they’re going to be changing their organization to soon, then you’re going to need to make sure that we don’t start off with a bad impression. Where I make you late to your flight because I’m keeping you here.”

“I don’t want to leave.”

She looked up at me then and patted my cheek. “Yes, you do. You need the ice. I’ve always known that, Atlas.”

“Come with me,” I blurted, my heart thudding. I didn’t want to go. Which made no sense because while on the road, it wasn’t like she would be coming with me anyway. I’d be leaving her alone in my high-rise apartment in Portland, feeling like shit. Other people made it work, and hell, most people my age in the league already had two or three children, and that’s just the way things were. You got married early, and you had babies.

But I’d waited.

“I love you,” I whispered when she didn’t say anything.

“I wanted to hear you say that before. That you wanted me with you. And I know us figuring out our lives separately was what was needed, even if it was terrible. But I love you. And you know that I’m going to visit. But I can’t leave the school in a lurch.”

“We’re going to make this work,” I vowed.

“You know it. Other people make this work for them, and so will we.”

“I don’t know if this is my last year,” I whispered. I thought so, but I didn’t know.

“Then we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. My leaving the school in the hands of that new hire and a superintendent who doesn’t really like us would hurt the students this year. But there are teaching jobs in Portland.”

My eyes widened. “Lizzie⁠—”