Page 71 of Renegade Rift

“I haven’t lived in California for years.” He takes another bite and lets out a soft moan of delight that is music to my ears. It’s the sound every chef gets off on.

I’ve heard him make that sound more than once as a result of my cooking after a long reorganizing session. But this time it’s different. This time my eyes zero in on the way his mouth wraps around the fork. The way his eyes close, and he sinks into his chair as he savors the taste on his tongue.

The moment shouldn’t be erotic, but damn if my cheeks aren’t flush and my heart isn’t thundering in my chest.

I need to say something.

Anything to stop myself from following this path that leads to me wondering what else could cause Ford to make that sound.

“Do you miss it?” The words rush out high pitched and breathy.

Come on, get it together Julietta.

“What?”

“California. Do you miss living there?”

He sets his fork down and chews his lower lip. Something I’ve noticed he does when he’s thinking. “I’ve never really thought about it. I’d maybe consider moving back for the weather and the ocean. There’s something about being near the water that calls to me. And while the East River is beautiful at sunset, it just isn’t the same. But honestly, I don’t see myself being ready to leave the Renegades anytime soon.”

“Really?” That surprises me. “Even though you only have a year contract.”

“Ah-ha.” He points a finger at me and gives me a wide toothy grin. “So youwerelistening even though you told me baseball information bores you.”

I stifle a laugh. “Baseball does bore me. But that’s a part of your life. Your future. That’s not boring.”

“Hmmm,” he muses, bobbing his head from side to side. “So as long as it has to do with me you’ll listen to any and all of my baseball stories?”

“Within reason. Start spouting anything about averages and stats and I’m out.”

“Noted.”

Every time he says that I imagine him pushing a pin into a corkboard like he’s actually making a note to come back to it later.

At that moment the server slides up to the table and asks if she can take our plates. We both nod and Ford leans back in the booth to make room, his button up shirt pulling taught under his suit in a way that is more than a little distracting. But it would be to anyone. Right? Even the waiter, an older woman most likely in her forties, allows her eyes to drift over him as she replaces our dishes with a sorbet dessert that no doubt is divine.

“But to answer your question,” he continues. “Just like there’s something about the ocean, there’s something about this team that has me wanting to stick around and see what we can do together.”

“I don’t remember you being this optimistic. Cocky, yes, but not forever hopeful.”

“That’s because back then I only believed in hard work.” A knowing smile stretches across his lips, and he gets a goofy glint in his eye. “But also, I’d like to point out, you didn’t really get to know me back then.”

I wince, not expecting to be called out like that. Then again, I shouldn’t be surprised when it comes to Ford. He calls it how he sees it, even when it’s uncomfortable.

And he’s right. I really didn’t know him at all. Aside from the few interactions we had in chemistry class and in passing at baseball games, we didn’t really have any reason to talk. Tyler hated him and so by default I didn’t really talk to him. That doesn’t mean I didn’t notice him. Every girl in school noticed him. He was the quintessential California boy next door. The whole package—hot jock, complete with the tan and surfboard in the back of his jeep.

“But you knew me. Didn’t you?” My breath catches as I stare into his disarming eyes, and a pang of guilt rattles through me. “You remembered the crystals.”

“Fuck.” The curse comes out as an exasperated chuckle. It’s self-conscious. Something I rarely hear from the unflappable baseball player. He scrubs his hand across the back of his neck and gives me a sideways glance. “Yeah, Paige mentioned you ran into Jo and she let you in on that tiny little habit.”

“Did you really collect them for me?” It’s something I’ve wondered ever since that day but was never brave enough to ask.

“It wasn’t so muchforyou as it was something to keep me going.” His eyes slide to the bowl in front of him where he’s taken up pushing around the bright green sorbet with his spoon. “There was a long time where I didn’t know if I was going to find you. My mind came up with the worst scenarios and I thought…”

His throat bobs. Once. Then twice.

I reach out, placing my hand on his, and immediately he threads his fingers through mine. “You thought I was dead?”

He lifts his shoulders in the saddest shrug. “I didn’t know what to think. You just disappeared. And I didn’t really have anyone. I didn’t know the guys on the team well yet. My mom was gone. Mercer had been banned from baseball and I just—I needed something to hold onto. Those crystals were the only tangible thingI could remember about you that wasn’t the color of your eyes or the way you used to braid your hair every day because you hated when it fell in your face.”

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