Page 67 of Wild Pitch
You wouldn’t know it, though.
I could live with never getting married. But I could never forget when he said, “This will never be permanent.”
Looking back, I should have told myself to run. But now it was too late. Either way, I was going to be hurt.
When Luc set his hand on the seats between us, I ignored it for as long as I could and then caved. I craved his touch to my detriment.
The flight from Logan to the first island was less than four hours, and once we arrived, the chaos erupted. Between our family, Sam’s family, and other guests, we had descended upon the airport. The baggage claim remained immobile as we waited patiently for it to turn.
Sam’s personal assistant, Monica, did her best to herd the group and explain that we were now onisland time.Once I realized we weren’t getting our luggage any time soon, I accepted the liquor samples that were being handed out and purchased a bottle of rum for the week.
Luc and I did our best to avoid contact, or at least appear normal as casual strangers who met on an airplane and who happened to be attending the same destination wedding.
Ha. Whatever that looked like.
What I hadn’t expected was how many women appraised him when he wasn’t holding my hand. Let’s add jealousy to the list of bitter emotions that warred within my battered little heart. Inside, I wanted to scream, but I fixed an unbothered expression on my face and pretended.
“Hey, can you hold Crew for a second?” Kelsey asked. She and Sam were at the rental car booth and needed to sign some forms. Crew had chosen that time to get fidgety.
Crew jumped into my arms, and I whispered to him while he looked into my eyes and giggled. I burrowed my face into his neck and blew raspberries, eliciting more shouts and belly laughs from him.
Man, I loved this little boy. At nine months old, he was a handful, still unable to walk, even though he would be soon.
A quick peek revealed Luc was indeed watching every move I made. While I prided myself on predicting his emotions and knew what was going through his mind most of the time, his expression was inscrutable. He confused me even more when he approached me and held his arms out to hold Crew so that I could carry my carry-on bag.
Even more surprising, he was good with Crew.
Mindfuck.
I wanted to pull my nephew from his arms and scream at Luc. “You don’t want kids. Don’t confuse me like this!”
Was I ready to have children? No! But it fucking killed me because I wanted everything with this man, and he would never give it to me.
I did my best to hide the mutinous stray tears, but I knew he saw them.
CHAPTER 32
LUC
When we finally made it to the villa, Kylie and I were both put in the same bedroom wing. Kylie’s parents had already claimed the guesthouse, but there was more than enough room for the rest of us.
The infinity pool overlooked Trunk Bay, and the breathtaking views made me want to head down to the beach. While I had visited the island before, we had stayed at a resort. I had forgotten how beautiful the island was, and as I watched Kylie see this for the first time, it made me want to expose her to more places and show her the world.
The realization that our relationship was causing her distress overshadowed my longing to be with Kylie. The tears at the airport were a wake-up call. She wasn’t just hiding the relationship, I was hurting her.
I wished I could make promises to Kylie, but I refused to trap her in a future that would never fulfill her.
I unpacked my bag and then joined the group in the family room. The kitchen had been stocked, and the chef they hired was already busy preparing dinner.
When I realized Kylie had volunteered to bring Crew to the beach, I jumped in and offered to go with her.
“I’ll drive. Driving on the other side of the road can be intimidating.”
Crew babbled in the back of the Jeep, and Kylie avoided eye contact by checking on him every fifteen seconds. The short ride to Trunk Bay only highlighted the tension between us.
“I’m going to rent a clear-bottomed kayak. What size life jacket do you need?”
“A small should be good for me. But I’ll need to bring Crew to try on the baby one.”
