Page 74 of Walk Off

The private airstrip the Strikers flew out of was only about ten minutes from Allana and Shane’s house. He could be there any minute. She looked down at the outfit she wore. “I look horrible.” She’d come in her sweats with her hair piled up on her head after a long day at work after what was a night of no sleep.

“He doesn’t care about that,” Ruby said. “He cares about you.”

The doorbell rang and Celia froze.

“That’s our cue,” Cassidy said. “We’ll be downstairs and won’t come up until you tell us to.” She gave Celia a hug, whispering, “Take the chance,” in her ear.

As they all walked out of the room, Ruby also hugged her. “Don’t let someone who never loved you shape your future.” She pulled back. “You are the best mom I know. Finding love and grabbing it with both hands won’t change that. If anything, it'll make you stronger.”

Celia dashed a tear away from her eye as she watched Ruby walk away toward the basement.

The doorbell rang again and then there was frantic pounding.

She smiled at the thought of Kyle out there, hectic to get to her. He really did love her.

She rushed to the door, opening it quickly, his arm poised in a fist ready to pound against the door again.

“Celia.” His breath caught as they stared at each other.

Wasting no time, she went all in. “I love you.” Just saying the words gave her strength.

“Thank fuck.” He pulled her into his arms, his lips taking hers in a desperate kiss.

They kissed right there in the open doorway for what felt like forever. She never wanted to be apart from him, so when they came up for air, she held onto him.

“I love you so much,” he said, completely breathless from their kiss. “I have all these things I want to tell you, but that has to be first.” He cupped her cheeks in his hands. “I love you. It’s not the same love from when we first met, although that’s still there. This is different. It’s grown in a way that I never knew it could.”

“It’s the same for me. I thought I loved you all these years, but what I loved was the version of you, of us, when we first met. This version of you is something I never dared dream of. You should hate me, but somehow, you chose to forgive me. How can I not love that about you?”

He grabbed her hand, pulling her inside the house and shutting the door. Without speaking, he moved them to the couch where he sat and placed her on his lap. “You were right.” He shook his head as he held her gaze. “I’m not sure I would have handled us having a baby well if you’d have told me. I mean I would have loved her and you, but it would have been hard with how much I was focused on baseball. I wasn’t the person then that I am now. I hadn’t let go of the hate I had for my parents, and that affected who I was.” He dropped his forehead to hers. “You knew me before I did. You saw inside my heart, inside my mind, and saved us both from a future of hating each other. Thanks to that, now we get to love each other forever.”

Tears fell down her cheek and he wiped them away. “I hated keeping Jasmine from you. Everyday, I saw you in her and cried myself to sleep at night over the decision I made. You might not have been there, but you were a part of our lives always.”

“There’s no need to keep hashing it out.” He pressed his lips against hers in a sweet kiss. “There’s no grudge to hold. You have my love and I know I have yours. That’s all we need.”

She closed her eyes and took in the words he was saying and the love he was freely giving her. It washed over her body and cleansed her soul, freeing her from the pain and anguish she’d let overtake her life the last eight years.

His lips feathered over her cheek and then trailed down to her neck, where he nuzzled against her. “I need you.” Those words had her pressing her legs together to stop some of the ache in her body.

She opened her eyes to watch him. “How much time do you have?” She was desperate to have him against her, their bodies naked and writhing against each other.

“The plane leaves in the morning at nine.” His eyes were full of heat and it was all for her.

If they didn’t get out of there soon, Allana and Shane were going to need to buy a new couch. She slipped off his lap, standing and reaching out a hand for him. “My place is empty.”

She bit her lip, never more thankful for her sister. “Jasmine is with Dallas, and Ruby offered to have her stay over and take her to school in the morning.” It finally made sense why Ruby had suggested that earlier in the day.

Kyle stood, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her into his body. “We’ll be alone?”

She nodded. “For the whole night.”

A smile tilted his lips up. “Then what the hell are we doing here?” He practically dragged her to the door.

“Wait, I need to tell everyone we’re leaving.”

“Go!” several muffled voices yelled, making her laugh.

“Seems like they heard,” Kyle said, laughing as he flung open the door and pulled her through.

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