Page 31 of How We Fooled

“You two sure have been spending a lot of time together. Seems like you really like this guy.”

I sit down on my bed with a gleeful sigh. “I really do. Everything is so peaceful when I’m with him. I don’t know how to explain it.”

She comes and sits down next to me. “That’s when you know it’s real. When you don’t have to question anything.”

“Exactly,” I respond with too much enthusiasm because she truly hit the nail on the head when it comes to how I feel. “I really don’t question anything when I’m with him. With other guys I dated, there was always these lingering questions of where it was going, what he was doing. It’s not that way with Eli. We have just as much fun talking on the phone as we do when we just hang out with each other.”

“That’s how your uncle and I are. When it clicks, it clicks.” She places her hand on my thigh in a motherly way. “You two have fun.”

I grin, and we stand up. I pick up my backpack and head out of my room to the living room, where I see Eli pulling up in front of the house. Just seeing he’s here fills me with a joy I didn’t know was possible.

For six days, he was in Georgia, playing, and I couldn’t wait for him to come back. We were only able to talk and FaceTime a few times due to him always being with his teammates, but we texted as often as he could. He has three days off before he leaves again, and we plan on taking full advantage of our time together.

I watch as he hops out of his truck and walks toward the house.

I didn’t realize Aunt Heidi was watching me until she pats my shoulder with a slight chuckle. “It’s great, seeing you so happy.”

I grin in her direction, then open the door and run out to meet him. He instantly picks me up and crashes his lips to mine. I wrap my legs around him, and he holds me with ease as we kiss hello.

“God, I missed you,” he whispers as I slide down his body, back to my feet.

“I missed you too. It was fun, being able to watch the games though!”

He set up their live feed so I was able to stream it to my phone. It was the coolest thing when my uncle showed me how to send it to the big TV so we all could watch together.

I’ve never been a huge sports fan, but I’m starting to understand it now. The excitement I got when he hit the ball, bringing in the go-ahead run, was exhilarating. They won two games and lost two games, but even the ones they lost were down to the wire and super close.

I honestly didn’t think I could feel that much anxiety over a baseball game!

“Are you ready to go?” he asks.

“Yep! My bag is inside. Let me grab it.”

He follows me in to say hello to my aunt. “Morning, Mrs. Samson.”

“Morning, Eli. It sure was fun, getting to watch you play,” she responds.

“Thank you for watching. Bummed we lost those two games, but that’s baseball.”

“It sure is. We’ve learned a lot from Matthew, Tucker’s son, over the last few years. Only having Justine, we never got into the Little League baseball world around here. He’s teaching Emily to play though, and I bet she’ll be keeping us busy here very soon.”

Eli gives her a big smile. “That she will. It really is the best game!”

I wrap my arm around his waist. “So, you’re thinking it’s your favorite now?”

He nods slowly. “I am. I think baseball is going to be the direction for me.”

“Well, after watching you play, I can see why,” Aunt Heidi says.

“Okay, let’s hit the road.” I grab my bag off the floor, wanting to change the topic of conversation.

We haven’t discussed what next year will look like, and honestly, I’ve been avoiding the topic because I want to live in my lust-filled summer bubble for as long as possible. I don’t want to think about what will happen when he goes back to school. I have no idea if he’ll even be able to come back to Leighton River often, but right now, I don’t want to know. I want to act like we’ll stay in this summer forever and reality will never come.

We say our goodbyes and head toward the truck that I can see is packed to the brim.

“Did you bring enough stuff?” I tease.

“I don’t mess around with camping. You’ll see.” He kisses the top of my head before opening the truck door for me to climb in.

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