Page 102 of Fake Love

A booming laugh leaves Maddox’s mouth. “Of course, that’s the thing you will hold onto. They are bright red.”

“They’re hot Cheetos as they are delicious with some lemon and a little bit of Tapatio.” I argue. Anything to give me more time to come up with an answer to his proposition.

“They’re already spicy, why add more?” He’s looking at me like I’m crazy, and maybe I am, but I will defend my choice of snack until the day I die.

“Because it adds flavor, I do the same thing with the regular ones. Do not judge me, Bauer.”

“I’m not.” He pauses for a few seconds, before he starts speaking again. “What if I promise to keep the pantry filled with your horrible snacks at all times, will you move in with me then?”

Now its me that is pausing.

I don’t know why I’m holding back in saying yes.

Living with Maddox would mean spending more time with him, learning more about him and his mannerism. Moving in together, could also mean more possibilities of a future together.

A future that I want with him and him alone.

I was never one to picture a wedding, marriage, family or kids, but ever since I’ve gotten with Maddox, the pictures started to come.

Images of him playing years from now and me in the stands cheering him on with a little boy on my lap wanting to be just like his dad.

Images of a destination wedding on the sand.

So many images and I want every single one of them.

“You draw a hard bargain, Bauer.” I say, a smile fighting to come out.

I see him shrug through the screen. “Anything to have you say yes.”

Anything to have you say yes.

I give the man, the one I have a possibility of building a future with, a smile.

Do I think that we shouldn’t rush this and wait a little longer to move together? Yeah, but this could be a good thing and if I’m being honest with myself, I want it.

I want it so damn much, but I need to know one thing.

“What happens when it’s the off season and you go back to Chicago? Do I go with you? Or is us living together only count during the season? What happens if you go to another team?”

Do we end things? Or do I get pushed to the side while he lives his life in another city?

“The way I see it, wherever I live, you live. I move, you move. So I’ll throw a question back to you, are you willing to move with me? Leave San Francisco or California and go wherever I might go.”

Yes.

The way that answer formed in my mind was so quick that it even takes me by surprise.

I take a second to really think about it.

Am I willing to do those things?

I have Selena and my parents here, I can’t just move and not see them for months at a time.

The more I think about not being able to, the more a few holes appear.

As for Selena, she’s only in San Francisco because of Hunter. If he gets traded, she will move with him wherever he lands. She can be here now but next year she can be across the country.

My parents already live in a different city a three hour drive away and I see them at the very least once a month. There are some months, I don’t see them at all.

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