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“Valedictorian, remember?”
“You need to quit living in the past.” I take a bite of the veggie omelet he’s prepared. It’s delicious. Pretty sure my eyes are closed, it’s so good. His hand circles my wrist. He’s being extra gentle, so I give him a quick peck.
He sits on the stool, caressing my wrist with his thumb. “Diamonds are harder and smoother than steel. Diamonds take a tremendous amount of force to break. Diamonds can even be bulletproof.”
“Is that right?” I ask.
He nods and removes a navy-blue box from his athletic shorts and pops it open with one hand. Grinning, he gets down on one knee and looks into my eyes. “When I hear you laugh, my smile widens. When I see you, especially after a road trip, my stomach does back flips in anticipation. When I see you playing with kids, I’m a goner. You’re giving, loving, silly, sassy, and every day, you show me another reason to love you more. Will you marry me?”
My hands fly to his face, and before I know it I’ve fallen to my knees to meet his eye level. “Yes,” I choke out. Our lips overlap over and over as tears stream down my face. How in the world did I end up with the sweetest, funniest, smartest baseball player that ever existed?
He pulls me onto his knee as he slides the canary yellow diamond on my finger.
“It’s gorgeous. Thank you.” I finger the diamond and twist it before asking, “Why yellow?”
“Because the Sharks brought us together, so no matter where I play, the most meaningful place will be the Sarasota Sharks—navy box, yellow diamond.”
Tackett reaches into his pocket once more and pulls out a pocket watch. “Oscar told me when I found the girl whose smile made the sun rise to put her picture in here. I’ve known for a long time.” He opens it showing me the inside. “I put your picture in here the first week we got together.”
“I love you, Tackett Towles. Planning a wedding will keep me busy.”
“We only have two months left and then we can head back to Sarasota for a month or two.”
My arms tighten around his neck as I bury my nose in the neck and inhale his clean fresh scent. “Thank you. But I decided, I want to donate my time to the 23 Trauma Center when you’re out of town.”
“Baby, I would love that. Do you want me to talk to Wilson and Kenni?”
“No, I’ve spoken to both of them. I asked them not to say anything until I talked with you. I wanted to make sure it was an option.”
“Whatever it takes.”
TWO YEARS LATER
TACKETT - CHICAGO
“Dreams do come true. Actually, I never imagined being this happy.”
“I know, I can’t believe we’re living in Kodiak Kove,” Talynn says as shepretzel wrapsme. We gave it a name because I love her legs surrounding my body.
Megan resigned as President of the Sharks when Archer’s dad retired from the Chicago Kodiaks. So now, Archer is back to being my boss. The first thing he did as President was acquire me in a trade. They paid a lot, and I hope to make a better second impression on the Kodiak fans than I did the first time.
The most exciting thing is Talynn and I are living beside Archer and Megan. Soon we’re going to have a niece and nephew to cuddle. Archer and Megan are having twins.
Patrick and Avery already have a little girl that none of us can get enough of with her white-blonde hair, green eyes, and the sloppiest kisses ever. Jackson is in middle school and still playing pranks.
Wilson and Kenni married last year. Fucking wedding of the century. I’m sure everyone read about it.
“When Archer asked me to pick you up at the airport, I was glad to do him a favor. What I didn’t know is how it would change my life. When you think about it, that one day changed both of our lives.”
She has scissors in her hands. “Screw unpacking. You wanna play a game?” She winks at me with the mischief in her eyes and moves toward me like a cat who is seducing a mouse.
“Scissors down, please.” I pepper her with wet, wanting kisses. “What do you have in mind? Cards? Trivia?”
“Sausage, definitely sausage.”
I hope you enjoyed reading Tackett and Talynn’s love story as much as I did writing it. I wanted to end this series on a light note. If you want to help other readers find Tackett and Talynn’s story, please consider leaving a review. Review Swinging for Love here.
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