Page 110 of Pitcher Perfect
At this time of the morning, the air had a distinct chill, making her grateful for the Bearcats sweatshirt. Wind whipped the tree branches overhead and untucked hairs from her ponytail as she found a hiking path and took it west, using her iPhone flashlight to illuminate the way, until she reached a wooden sign that pointed her in the direction of the cliff overlook. She broke into a jog; the closer she came to the cliff, the heavier the wind, and the more her stomach muscles started to tighten.
It took her fifteen minutes to reach the cliff.
And less than ten seconds to lose her courage.
In her mind’s eye, the cliff and the beach below had rendered itself almost like a drawing. The reality was so much more intimidating. The sun was halfway risen over the Atlantic now, as if wanting to illuminate exactly how foolish she’d been to believe she could attempt this retrieval. The cliff washigh. Very high. It took her a good five minutes to pinpoint where the kite was stuck and when she saw it, a hysterical laugh bubbled in her throat, carried off by the wind.
Nope. Not a chance. She’d either need a crane... or she’d have to shimmy her way out along a single medium-sized branch that didn’t look like it could hold her weight, simply hoping it wouldn’t snap and send her crashing to the rocks below. The kite was too far out to grasp with any kind of instrument from her position on the cliff, even if she had something that would do the trick, which she didn’t. It had quite possibly picked the most unreachable spot in this preserve to make its final resting place.
Skylar sat heavily on the ground, gathering her knees to her chest, and watched the rest of the sun creep into the sky, though the gray clouds kept the breeze heavy, the water choppy. She took out her phone, intending to call Robbie to let him know she’d aborted the mission and he could stop worrying. There was no reception and the call didn’t go through, however, so she stood and started walking back the direction she came—
“Skylar.”
Robbie’s voice stopped her progress, her heart taking over, seemingly going from dormant to hammering within seconds. “Robbie,” she called, but the rustling tree branches drowned her out, so she tried again. “Robbie.”
“Skylar.” He came into view the way a warlord might charge over a hill into battle, his visible relief when he saw her causing him to stumble. “Don’t fucking move,” he wheezed. “Don’t.”
“I’m not. I won’t.”
“Don’t youdaretry to get that kite. Back away from the tree.”
Skylar put her hands up, feeling weary and overwhelmed and bolstered and elated by the sight of him, all at once. “Okay. I’m not going to do it. I can’t. It’s impossible.”
“No kidding.” Robbie reached her then—and she wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting, but it wasn’t to be pulled into his embrace, his mouth stamping furious kisses all over her forehead and cheeks and hair. “What the hell am I going to do with you, Skylar?”
“I was just hoping you’d keep me,” she whispered, accepting more kisses to her hairline, her neck and chin. “The kite is a lost cause, but we’re not.We’renot, right?”
Robbie went from kissing her to shaking her. “No.No, we’re not a lost cause. How could you think that for a second? Do you think I could walk away when I love you so much?” Haunted eyes ran circles around her face, his thumbs fanning up and down her cheekbones. “I’m done being mad. I’m done being without you. I’mdone.”
A lump expanded in her throat. “Robbie.”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.” She sucked in an awkward breath. “And you’re the first man I’ve loved. I didn’t know what this... this beautiful weight felt like until you.”
He choked on a cough. Closed his eyes. “You know, you could have just said that, instead of giving me a lifetime of nightmares,” he rasped, kissing her mouth hard. “You’ll be lying beside me at night when I have them. That’s the silver lining.”
She was already nodding, but couldn’t speak just yet, the confession having taken so much of her on the way out. It felt as though she’d literally handed over her heart.
“I should have called you sooner. I just wanted to get this newapartment. Show you how serious I am. And then I saw you with my mother last night and I realized I’ve barely been breathing since the last time we were together.” Robbie rolled their foreheads together. “I don’t want to fight ever again, all right?”
Skylar’s laugh was watery. “We’re definitely going to fight, Redbeard.”
“No.” He slanted his mouth over hers, both of them moaning at the contact. “No. And I get to win this argument, because I just drove five hours thinking you’d be dangling over a cliff when I got here.”
“I’m sorry for being dramatic. I’m dramatic over you.”
“Fine. You win the argument.” He shook her a little. “God, I love you.”
“Robbie, I love you so much.”
He searched her eyes. “Enough to move in with me?”
“Already?That’s... that’s crazy...”
A low grunt of frustration. “How about your own set of keys and a giant-ass closet?”
“Still crazy.” A blissful laugh burst out of her. “But I’ll make a pro-con list in my planner.”
