Page 38 of Go Away, Darling

I didn’t think. I just kissed. And kissed and kissed and kissed. It was natural to get so swept up in kissing Chris that I forgot about everything else. We bumped into walls and banged against a table or counter or both, before I caught a corner on my hip and jumped away in surprise and a little bit of pain.

“Ow!”

Chris reached out and steadied me. “Are you okay?”

I rubbed the bruised spot. “Fine. I’m fine. I just took a sharp angle to the hip.”

He pressed his hand over the spot. “Better?” His voice dropped to a low, protective vibration that made me shiver.

“Yes.” Then I looked up and got caught in the tractor beam of his slightly drunken gaze. “Congratulations.”

He blushed a little. It was one of the things I adored about him. “Thanks.”

“How does it feel to be Most Valuable Player in a World Series Championship?” Even though he was my Chris I couldn’t help looking at him with a little bit of awe. He was, essentially, the best pitcher in the universe.

He blushed again and raked his hand through his wet hair. “It’s a dream come true. Every kid who picks up a baseball dreams of winning a World Series. I used to stand out on the mound and pretend I was pitching a perfect game to win a World Series.” He stopped and stared at me, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open a little.

He was truly shocked to be that guy—the man who everyone dreamed of being.

“Well...you didn’t pitch aperfectgame. But you pitched seven scoreless innings with only three hits. For a World Series final game, that’s as close to perfect as anyone can hope for.”

He shook his head a little like he didn’t believe me. “I know I was there. I know I’m the guy who threw all those balls, but I swear, Liv, it doesn’t feel real. I’m going to wake up and this will all have been a dream and I’ll still have to go and pitch.”

I moved back to him, put my arms around his neck and pressed my body against his. “You’re not asleep. The game is over and you won it.” Then I pressed up onto my tiptoes so I could reach his lips. I kissed him slow and deep until my entire body tingled from head to toe. “How do you feel now?”

His eyes were still closed. “Like I have enough adrenaline to run a few miles. Maybe compete in a log toss?”

I laughed because even from the sidelines I was amped up, so I could only imagine the energy coursing through Chris’s veins. “I don’t know of any log tossing competitions nearby.”

His arms tightened around me. “Well then I guess kissing will just have to do.”

All the restraint we carefully applied to our kisses over the last few weeks disappeared. We caught fire. Suddenly kissing wasn’t nearly enough.

“Don’t go to Beau’s,” he pleaded, his hands roaming my waist and finding skin. “Come back with me. I don’t want to be alone.” He pulled away, pressing his forehead to mine, eyes screwed shut. “I hate myself for asking you this, by the way.”

“Don’t hate yourself.” Did I want to go? Was I ready to be alone with him when we were so adamant things stay friendly in public? Could I cross these lines back and forth as we danced with the future?

That was what scared me most. I knew what I felt with Chris was impossible to ignore. That I wanted to get swept away in it all.

But I didn’t know if I could go back. Tomorrow, when the dust settled and reality set back in, would I be able to navigate the minefield of feelings that involved a relationship with a professional athlete while being a protective mother?

“Don’t say yes.” He kissed me again. “Be stronger than me.”

His hand slid along the small of my back and I sizzledeverywhere.“Oh…”

“Nope. Don’t do that,” he growled.

“You’re the one who keeps kissing me.” And I was the one who’d lived on a shelf for far too long. Chris was the first guy I’d reallykissedin ages, let alone anything more. My body screamed to be allowed to feel and to react.

Itwanted.

Iwanted.

“It’s the adrenaline. And the fact that you’re the vision of a wet t-shirt contest.” His hand grazed up my side, then moved away from touching my breast and instead moved to cup my face. “I’m really glad you were here to see this.”

My insides flipped and turned as he paced away from me once again, breathing heavy.

“Where are you going?” I felt more than empty when he walked away. Like someone filled me up to overflowing, then flipped open a trap door and everything rushed out.

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