Page 180 of The Home Game

Matty’s jaw dropped. “Antoni …”

He looked up, his eyes wide and earnest. “I love you, Matty. I love every single thing about you. Your kindness. Your goodness. Your big heart.”

“And my big ass?”

Antoni chuckled. “Well, that doesn’t hurt. But ass or no ass, I love you. I didn’t think it was possible for me to feel this way about someone. But I do, because you are the most amazing person I’ve ever met. You are everything good in this world and I want to spend the rest of my life loving you if you’ll have me.”

“Oh, Antoni …” Matty cupped his cheek and it was cool against his palm. “I love you too.”

“Yeah?” Antoni’s look was so hopeful.

“Yes. God, I was … I was just waiting for the right time to tell you how I felt.”

“I keep thinking about our rings,” Antoni whispered. “About what’s inscribed in them and I … it’s true. I didn’t know what it meant at first but I think it means that when you know you’ve found the right person, it becomes this unshakable feeling of certainty deep inside you.”

“I’m the right person for you?” Matty asked, his heart beating faster.

“You’re the only person,” Antoni said. “I don’t think there’s a single other human in the world I would have trusted with the kids the way I trust you. Or anyone else I would have trusted with my heart.”

“Wow. Well, I’ll do my best to live up to that.”

“I’m not worried. You don’t need to do anything but keep being yourself.”

And Matty had to pull Antoni close and squeeze him tight because it felt so good to hear that. He pressed his cheek against the side of Antoni’s hair and held on, his heart so full of happiness and love it ached. Because he’d spent his whole damn life looking for this.

He’d wanted nothing more than to find someone who loved him this way and he had it and fuck anyone who thought they could take that away from him.

He was going to do whatever it took to keep Antoni and the kids in his life.

“As long as I’m alive, I’ll keep you and the kids safe,” Matty promised, pulling away to look Antoni in the eye.

“Somehow, I don’t think even death would stop you,” Antoni said, sniffling.

“Probably not,” Matty agreed, wiping away a tear. “But if it’s okay, I think I’d rather stay alive and raise the kids with you. Watch them grow up and have families of their own. Grow old together.”

More tears spilled down Antoni’s cheeks. “That sounds perfect to me.”

“Good. Then that’s what we’ll do.”

Antoni laughed wetly. “Just like that?”

Matty kissed his forehead. “Yep. Just like that.”

Because for the first time in his life, love and relationships seemed simple.

Not easy.

No, they both required hard work. But with Antoni, everything felt easy and natural.

Like it was meant to be.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

“Huh, that’s strange,” Matty said as a notification popped up on his phone following his post-practice lunch the following day.

“What’s that?” Dustin asked, glancing up from his plate.

“Oh, I got an alert from the bank. I have it set up to let me know about any large amounts of money coming in or out. And this is a decent-sized chunk of money. There was another one a few weeks ago,” he said with a frown. “I forgot to check the details on it because life got kinda crazy. Guess I should now, huh?”

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