Page 117 of Home Run

Smiling and sayingnothing.

It would probably be frowned upon if I shook her, but her silence was slowly killing me and a direct correlation to the panic flushing through my veins. This was worse than last night when she glared at me.

At least I’d known what was happening then.

I was still kneeling in front of her when she cupped my cheeks and gently but briefly pressed her lips to mine.

“I love you,” she said.

Maybe it was me who was stoned. “What?”

“I love you.”

Sticking my finger in my ear, I waggled it around a little. “Say again.”

“Tanner.” She smiled her big, beautiful, heart-stopping smile. “I love you.”

“You love me?”

“Yes.” Her eyes roamed my face, taking in my confusion and need for more explanation, because honestly, I was in a little shock. “You were gone when I woke up…and I’ve been so stupid. I wanted to say it earlier, but our call got cut off…You were right, Tan, I was scared. I stillam, but I need you to know I’ve never felt like this about anyone before…I don’tjustlike you a lot.”

“Mills—”

She held her hand up to silence me. “No, wait, please.Let me finish. I’m sorry for being so snappy with you, and impatient, when you’ve been nothing but incredible. I want you to know that our baby is so lucky to have you as their daddy…”

I coughed loudly, trying to stop the thickening in my throat. It wouldn’t work if we were both crying, though for once Millie’s eyes seemed totally dry.

“I found the recordings…”

Fuck.

This wasn’t how I wanted her to find out. I mean, I was going to share them with her, obviously, but I hadn’t expected her to find them by herself—not that I’d hidden them or anything.

Though I don’t know why I was surprised, this was Millie we were talking about. She did everything on her own terms.

“You listened to them?”

“Yes. But that’s not why I’m here…I mean, it is why I’m here, but it’s not why I’m telling you I love you. I was going to do that anyway…I’d realized it already…” Her face dropped in her hands. “Sorry, I’m terrible at this.”

“You’re doing fine.”

When she lifted her head, there was so much emotion in her eyes it was enough to knock me on my ass if I wasn’t already on it.

“You went to see my dad?”

I nodded, slowly. “I did, last month when we played the Nats.”

Her teeth sank into her lip. “You don’t know what that means to me…I can’t explain…that you went to see him. Thank you. Thank you so much, Tan.”

Placing my hands on either side of her belly, I looked up at her. “I did it for me, too, Mills. I needed him to see that I would take care of you, that I would be there for you and the baby. For our little family.”

Her lips rolled in, and her eyes scoured my face. “Our family, I like the sound of that.”

“Me too.”

Leaning forward, she pressed her soft mouth to mine. I could taste faint hints of toothpaste as her tongue slipped past my lips, and the gentle moan she let out had me seriously questioning how I could get her upstairs without being caught by Coach.

“Tan,” she started, pulling back. “What was the question you asked him?”

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