Page 120 of Home Run

Standing here behind the dugout where I’d stood many,manytimes this season, and watching him hit the ball into the outfield just like he’d done, the same butterflies fluttered in my belly like they always did.

And I wondered if perhaps I’d been a little bit in love with Tanner for much longer than I realized, because now I had, everything seemed so much clearer. Like wearing a pair of eyeglasses after struggling to see what was right in front of you.

An hour later and game one was over—the Lions victorious. The roar of the crowds was louder than I’d ever heard it, and the moment time was called on the game, Tanner rushed out of the dugout and vaulted over the roof.

“Tanner, man, awesome game. Awesome. This week is going to be incredible,” cried Matty, pushing out of the seats before I could.

“Thanks, dude, we got the first one down. Three more to go.”

“You’ll do it. I know it.”

“Yeah, we will.” Tanner grinned back at him before turning to me. “Because we’ve got some magic, right, Mills?”

I wrapped my arms around him as tightly as possible.

“I’m so proud of you. You played amazingly, you all did. I’m so proud, and baby is so proud,” I said, pulling back to kiss him as hard and as long possible while also keeping it chaste in front of my mom, brothers, and the surrounding Lions fans.

It was harder than it sounded.

Hopefully they were too distracted by Radley and Lux, or Holiday, who’d rejoined us.

“I’m so proud of you,” I whispered again, trying to block out the sound of the exiting crowds around us and all those clamoring over the rails for autographs, selfies,anythingthey could keep as a memory of the first game. “You’ve been so strong this past month.”

His eyes scanned over me as his smile faltered a little, dropping to something more serious.

“It’syou. It’s having you here, wearing my shirt…” Running his fingers along the edges, he tugged me closer again. “Shit, it does something to me. I feel unstoppable. I can’t describe it.”

“SIMPSON. WESTON. LOCKER ROOM, NOW,” yelled a voice from the dugout, totally ruining any moment we were having.

Tanner’s lip curled in a smirk before quickly his mouth surrounded mine. “We need to go, babe, but call me before you get into bed.”

“I will.”

“Hey, Mills? Fall in love with me yet?”

My shoulder jerked up in response. “You know, I think I did.”

“About fucking time,” he cried, and took off after Lux.

Yeah. Aboutfuckingtime.

“Man, I can’t believe we’re in the same city and I’m having to wake up in a strange bed and miss this,” Tanner grumbled, plumping up the pillows behind his head.

“You’re not really missing anything,” I replied, squeezing out some toothpaste onto the brush and turning on the faucet.

“I’m missing the morning bump assessment. It’s hard to tell how much the baby has grown from this angle.”

Twisting to the side while I brushed my teeth, I stood in front of the phone for Tanner to see he was—in fact—missing nothing. Bump was still the same.

“See.”

“Hmm,” he replied as a twinge pinged down my right side. Something that had been happening since I woke up. “What’s that face for?”

“Oh nothing,” I said, trying my best to rub it away. “I woke up really achy, my side hurts today. I just slept funny I think.”

“Because I’m not next to you.”

“Yeah, that’s why. Nothing to do with this basketball growing inside me and pushing all my internal organs out of the way.”

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