Page 29 of Go Away, Darling

He smiled with his eyes still closed. “Tired but good.”

“You were kind of amazing.”

His eyes opened and found mine. “Only kind of? I’ll have to be even better next time.”

“Chris.”

“What? I want to impress you. I want you to gush that I’mamazingfull stop.”

The things he made me feel were amazing. I felt young and alive. I felt the stirrings of ideas and dreams again. Not just about us, but in general. My creative mind had been asleep and with the cajoling of my sister and the rousing of my body thanks to this man, I was awakening.

This was special.Wewere special.

I massaged his neck as I kissed him, feeling his body relax and drift into mine. “Go get some sleep.”

He pressed a kiss to my forehead, then my cheek, then my lips. “I hate hiding. Kisses in the shadows aren’t nearly enough.” Then his lips dragged down my jaw and neck, stopping at my shoulder where he took a shuddering breath and stepped back. “Good night, Liv.”

“Good night, Chris.”

He waited, watching me until I waved from the door. I shut it and slid the deadbolt into place before going about my usual evening routine of checking doors and windows, turning off some lights and dimming others, until the house glowed.

I didn’t like hiding anymore than he did, especially considering how different he made me feel. But as I stopped in Linc’s room to adjust his blankets and remove the book from his hands, I was reminded that there was a very good reason for patience and caution. I could get to know Chris without putting myself back on the shelf. For now, midnight kisses in the dark would have to do.

10

No one shares in this house?

Chris

When I got home for my next off day, I filled all the empty pockets of Scott’s carry-on luggage with sunflower seeds. He was going to have a lot of fun trying to get through security at the airport.

And honestly? I needed the distraction. The Mantas were now officially in the playoffs and favored to win, and a huge part of that was because of me. I was proud, focused, and stressed as all hell. I spent a lot of time listening to music and ignoring televisions, social media, and newspapers.

Newspapers were the bane of my existence.

Championship Sits on Young Pitcher’s Shoulders.

Fuck that. Baseball was a team sport. I didn’t pitch every game. This wasn’t all on me. We were where we were because we all showed up and put in the time. Wes ran the field like the captain of a ship and called pitches brilliantly. He knew every pitcher and their preferences. Erik was solid, consistent, and steady at second base. Seth rocked home run after home run, all while holding down left field. Even Yates pulled out of his pitching slump and was a solid mid-reliever after I had to save his ass.

Whether we won or lost wasn’t my burden alone to bear, but I was a key factor. The fact that most teams couldn’t even get a bat on my pitches this year made me deadly and it intimidated the heck out of our rivals. I would start game one and the intention was to solidly put us first in the series.

So it was a lot.

And selfishly, one of the things that bothered me most was that I couldn’t tell everyone I was dating Olivia. I wanted her by my side. And, truth be told, I wanted to lean on her. It would be a lot easier to stay distracted if I could kiss her without hiding.

So, selfish bastard that I was, I showed up on my final off day with a plan. An ill-advised plan I wish I could take back. In retrospect I could see that it was incredibly unfair and probably, ultimately, set up my downfall.

I had a bouquet of pink and purple flowers, chocolate from Dawkins Chocolate Shop, and ice cream from Rosie’s for Linc. Also, I was wearing the worn jeans Olivia loved and a white t-shirt that I was once told by a public relations person “made me look like sex.”

So now I was nervously standing on Olivia’s doorstep trying to figure out how to knock on her door. I ended up setting the flowers down, knocking, and then picking them back up. Inside I heard Linc yelling and Olivia threatening him with no video games if he opened the door. Their banter made me smile. Also, I kind of wanted to play video games with Linc.

Two beats went by before the door opened. “Hey.” Her eyes dropped to the flowers, then darted to the ice cream and chocolates.

“Hey.” I held up my prizes. “These are for you.”

She stared at the flowers as I passed them to her. “And the ice cream?”

“Sorry, that’s for Linc.”

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