Page 106 of Pitcher Perfect
Heart elevating, she made a choked sound into his neck. “I miss you so much.”
“God, I miss you, too. Every fucking second.”
Tell him you love him.
Skylar needed to say those words, but they wouldn’t come out. They remained locked in her most stubborn of recesses, refusing to be uttered until she earned the right to say them. When she did, when she allowed herself to make that declaration in return, he needed to know she meant them with her entire heart. Right now, he still doubted her, the way she’d doubted him—and the turnabout sucked, but there it was.
There they were.
Robbie set her down with palpable reluctance, holding her against his body, his breath accelerating against her temple when she shifted against him, lifting on her toes and letting him feel her breasts and belly and the gap between her legs, trapping a moan when he braced a forearm against her butt and rocked her closer, his mouth finding hers in a groaning kiss, a melting,hungry one that at once satisfied and starved her even more. The kind of kiss someone gave their partner before sending them off to war, but it was coming from both sides, so much passion in the single melding of tongues and lips, she grew dizzier and dizzier in the sunlight. Gloves and ball were dropped in favor of his fingers digging into her hair, while Skylar traced the grooves of his ears, his neck, his shoulders, simply needing to reacquaint and memorize.
A car door slammed a few yards away and they still couldn’t stop kissing, not right away. It was more of a gradual slowing down out of necessity, both of them pulling back, dazed while trying to catch their breath.
“There is no one in this world for me except you,” he said, looking her in the eye. “Go in there and pitch the lights out. I’ll be there. I’ve got your back.”
Skylar’s heart rapped wildly in her chest. “I know.”
He swallowed hard as he backed away. “Good.”
That was the last time she saw Robbie until he was sitting in the stands, wedged in between Elton and her father. Eating a foot long chili dog. Obviously.
Everything was going to be all right. That belief was unwavering.
Robbie had made himself clear by showing up. Declaring himself so lovingly.
Now she had to find a way to do the same.
To give him the same faith and security he’d given her.
A grand gesture.
An idea would come to her... but would it be a good enough one?
That was a different story.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Robbie knew the exact moment he wasn’t mad anymore.
Skylar sat down beside his mother in the stands on Thursday night wearing a Bearcats hoodie and he almost jumped through the glass to get to her. Thing was, Skylar didn’t evenknowthose were his parents. But his parents knew damn well she was Skylar because he’d told them everything over dinner last night when they landed in Boston and now, he could barely focus on his stretching routine, he was so riveted by that first interaction.
His mother snuck a peek at the girl beside her and smiled like a cat who’d got the canary, giving Robbie a covert double thumbs-up. Skylar didn’t notice, because she was observing a trio of bare-chested fans with furry cat ears screaming, “Bearcat Nation yeahhhh,” into a live television camera several feet away.
Robbie watched without breathing as his parents introduced themselves and Skylar froze, before leaning forward and hugging his mother, making her smile like he’d never seen before, not even when everyone complimented her shepherd’s pie. Yeah. He stopped being mad at Skylar probably forever in that moment—and became well and truly pissed at himself. How had three fucking days passed since he’d kissed her in the parking lot before her Monday night game? How had he stayed away?
How?
For one, he’d been traveling for the first two games of the series and had been in and out of team meetings, media sessions,and workouts. On top of that, he’d been on the phone with a real estate lawyer trying to put a down payment on a condo in Brookline that had been easy to find because it was owned and advertised by the same management company that owned his current building. Still, he could have called Skylar. No, heshouldhave called, except his heart had still felt raw and beat-up. Until now. Now it was bleeding for a different reason. He needed his girl. It was bullshit that he didn’t have her.
She’d hugged his mother.
“Hey,” Sir Savage barked, knee-deep in his back stretches beside Robbie. “Series is tied. Head in the game.” The soon-to-retire team captain coughed. “That does make a nice picture, though. Is that their first time meeting?”
“Yes,” Robbie managed, feeling ridiculously winded over having his idol acknowledge the important moment out loud. “I probably should have warned Skylar that she’d be sitting next to my parents, but I didn’t want to spook her.”
“So you blindsided her, instead,” Sig said, grinning on the other side of Robbie. “Good call.”
“Looks like it’s working out fine, doesn’t it?” Robbie shot back.
