June pulls Rebecca away and holds her at arm’s length. “We want you both involved as much as possible. It takes a community to raise a child. Why not have a tight-knit one?”
The next hour is spent fawning over Hope, talking about the first few months of her life, and her little emerging personality traits. Our little band of June, Alex, Rebecca, Ethan, and me is an eclectic group of individuals with one common interest—giving Hope the best life possible. From the promises on everyone’s faces in this room, I know that’s exactly what’s going to happen.
A family, finally.
HOLLYN
“I need Cracker Jacks. I can’t do this without Cracker Jacks.”
“You do not want Cracker Jacks,” Amanda says, not letting me up from my seat. “They’re going to get stuck in your teeth, and it won’t be pretty.”
“Beer, then. Get me a beer.”
“No beer.” She shoves a water bottle in my direction. “Beer will lead to beer breath, which is just ripe and nasty, and no one wants that.”
“How is water supposed to calm my nerves?”
“Pretend it’s vodka. A little imagination can go a long way.” Amanda looks to the field and taps her foot. “God, what’s taking them so damn long? This is torture.”
“Torture? You’re not the one putting yourself out there. You’re just here for the ride.”
“True, but I have to watch it, and that’s just as nerve-wracking.”
“That’s not even close to being true.” I’m about to lecture her about the difference when the crowd erupts into cheers and the Miners start trickling out of the dugout.
“Oh my God, they’re coming, they’re coming,” Amanda shouts, lifting me out of my seat by the arm and jumping up and down.
“Can you not say they’re coming? It sounds like you’re saying the whole team is ejaculating together.”
“Gah, get your mind out of the gutter. Oh look, there he is.” She points at Jace who is using a rubber band to stretch his hamstrings on the outfield turf. “Look at those strong arms just holding the giant rubber band. Yowza. And you had sex with those arms.”
“Shut up.” I swat at Amanda. “Can you not say that out loud? I don’t need the entire stadium hearing about my sexual encounters.”
“Don’t call it sexual encounters.” Lifting her arm, she squeals, “Yoo-hoo, Jace.”
I quickly slap my hand over her mouth. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Prying my hand off her face, she answers, “Getting things going. Honestly, what did you think was going to happen when you brought me with you?”
“I don’t know, sit quietly and just offer moral support?”
She shakes her head at me and pats my cheek. “Oh, sweet Hollyn, when has that ever been my style? I’m a meddler.” With one more pat to the cheek, she shouts, “Hey, Jace. Look over here.”
We are sitting at field level, right along the low wall that borders the edge of the outfield and the infield on the first-base line. Seats are courtesy of Matt since it would have been impossible to score such seats for the season opener. One of the perks of being Amanda’s best friend. Probably the only perk right about now.
“Will you stop that?”
“Never. Jace! Jace Barnes. Yoo-hoo. Stop stretching and look over here.”
“Oh my God.” A rapid burn hits my cheeks while my stomach flutters and rolls with each catcall she lets out. “This is so humiliating.”
“God, what does a girl have to do to get a guy to turn around? Take off my top? Matt would not be happy about that.” She snaps her finger. “I got it.” Why do I feel like I’m not going to like what she says next? “Jace! Jace Barnes, Hollyn is here to talk to you.”
With my hand clasped over my face, now sitting in my seat, I peek through my eyes to see Jace snap his head around from the mention of my name. When he sees me, he drops the rubber band and stands abruptly. His trainer asks him something but Jace shakes him off and pats him on the shoulder as he walks toward us.
“Stand up, stand up.” Amanda aggressively yanks on me, trying to pull me out of my chair.
Reluctantly I stand, wishing this was on my own terms, but it seems like Amanda has different plans. I should have known better.
Although, I am loving the sight in front of me: Jace walking toward me, his broad and tall body of perfection swaggering my way, power in each and every one of his steps. His hat is tipped low, just how he likes it. A light scruff caresses his jaw, framing its strength. And that uniform . . . It’s tailored perfectly to his body, showing off the narrow V of his waist and the muscular shape of his legs in all the right places. God, he is so sexy.
Yanking on his bill, he smiles at me, filling in the last of the space between us. The crowd goes crazy with how close he is, but I block it all out, only focusing on him.
“Hey.” He smirks, a new smile stealing my heart. “What are you doing here?”
I’ve practiced this moment, I’ve rehearsed it, but now that I’m in the actual moment, I’m tongue-tied, unsure of what to say.
“Ugh, you’re so infuriating,” Amanda says next to me as I fiddle with my hands. “She came to announce her love for you.”
Okay, so not how this was supposed to go. Jace raises an eyebrow at me in question and I turn to Amanda who is beaming with pride. With a gentle nudge, I push her back down in her seat so she can no longer be a part of this conversation.
“Care to explain what she means by that?” The smile on Jace’s face is so damn infectious. How do I even begin to tell him what I’ve done, what I’ve accomplished? Why did I think this was a good idea to do here? Well . . . grand gestures are always nice. “Hollyn, we’re on borrowed time.”
“Yeah, okay.” Reaching out to him, I link our hands together, hoping only the people around us notice. “Remember when you said we were toxic for each other?” He nods. “I don’t think that’s true. I actually think we were brought together for a reason, like it was kismet. I needed someone to help push me through the dark hole I was burying myself in, and you needed a shoulder to lean on. I was blind at first, not truly accepting what we had because I was scared, guilty, and truly unsure if I was allowed to love again. But when you walked away, I knew at that moment, I was losing another love of my life, but that time, I was making the decision to let you go.” His hands squeeze mine, reassuring me to continue. “That was a pivotal moment for me, Jace, because I knew I wanted you, I needed you, but I had to move on from my past first in order to fully be with you. To live. If I was going to let my heart fall for another man, I was not going to half-ass it. I wanted to be all in.”
Looking down at me from under his bill, he asks, “And are you, are you all in?”
Matching his bright smile, I nod. “I’m all in, Jace.” My hands reach up to his face, while his wrap around my waist and pull me into his body. “I love you, Jace, with everything in me. I love you.”
“Music to my fucking ears.” Pressing his lips against mine, we kiss. Naturally, the crowd around us cheers, and a few groupies boo, but I’ll take that as a compliment. When he pulls away, he asks, “You know what you just did, right? You just made us the news for the next few weeks.”