Page 125 of Force Play

“You two know I’m right here,” Indie huffs.

“You’d never let us forget,” her dad teases, reaching across the table to squeeze her hand.

“Don’t you have a curfew?” My father-in-law glances down at the watch on his wrist and gives me a knowing smirk. “You better get going if you want to make it back in time.”

Indie pouts, and it’s so fucking cute it hurts. My wild card of a wife hardly ever pouts, not even when I was giving her shots or she was rocking that boot after hurting her ankle. “I’ll come by the house tomorrow morning for a little while before the game. We can go see Mom together.” She meets him halfway around the table, letting him wrap her up in a bear hug.

Following behind her I clap Samuel on the back, pulling him into a hug as if this is the first time we are meeting. It’s not, but my wife doesn’t know that. At my request, my father-in-law met me for breakfast this morning so that I could fix something that’s been bothering me for the last three weeks.

“Text me when you’re home safe,” Indie says, making her dad scoff.

“Isn’t that my line?”

“Yeah, well, I’ve got this one to walk me the two blocks back to our hotel. You, on the other hand, have to drive an hour home alone. So let me fret, old man.” His response is a grumbled reply I don’t quite catch, but I’m almost certain it’s lamenting how he ended up with such a sassy daughter.

There’s another round of hugs before we go our separate ways. Indie’s arm is looped through mine as we walk down the sidewalk, heading back towards our hotel.

Confidence is never something I’ve lacked, yet an inexplicable wave of anxiety washes over me as we approach the park near the hotel. It’s the perfect place for what I have planned.

“Let’s walk through the park.” Pulling Indie along with me, I have to focus on the effort not to walk too fast and blow this whole thing, ruining all the planning it took to make this perfect for my wife. The wife I know loves me, I silently reassure myself as we get closer to the spot I picked out.

“Look, there’s a little trail there,” Indie says, pointing to the opening in the trees just like I knew she would.

I stop us in the middle of the path, pulling her into my arms so that we’re face to face. “Want to go on an adventure with me?”

“Always.” The simple response comes without an ounce of hesitation and tamps down my nerves.

It’s a short walk to the small clearing. In the center of the open space, there’s a deserted pond and a wooden dock for fishing. With the sun dipping low in the sky, it casts her in the most stunning glow. Other than the swan couple on the pond, it’s just the two of us, and it feels poetic, because for the last three months it’s been us against the world.

Taking both her hands in mind I drop to one knee, only slightly concerned that I might end up with bird shit on my knee. But even knowing that risk, it’s worth it.

“Indie Jane, we may already be married, but you and I have never done much according to convention. But I want to fix that because I want it all with you, without skipping any of the steps. Baby, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I couldn’t go one more day without seeing this ring on your finger, where it belongs, right next to the one from our wedding.”

I release Indie’s right hand and fish out the tattered velvet box her dad passed on to me this morning with tears in his eyes. This ring means more to Indie than anything I could buy her on Michigan Ave.

Tears are streaming down her face when I open the box and she drops to her knees in front of me. With the box in hand, I cup her cheeks, wiping away the salty tears the best I can. “I love you, Indie, now and always. You didn’t get the proposal you deserved, one worthy of our love, and I’m sorry for that. I hope this makes up for that, but just in case it doesn’t, I promise to tell you every day all the reasons I choose you as my wife.”

She nods through her tears and I take her hand between us, slipping her mom’s ring on her finger. “Perfect.”

“I love you, Dom Duran. I would marry you all over again every day for the rest of my life, with or without a proposal. But this ring, carrying my mom with me all the time as a symbol of our love, is more than I could have ever asked for. Thank you.”

Our lips meet and I lose track of everything but the feeling of her in my arms. We cling to this moment, to each other, to our future. Each caress of her lips against mine feels like that first kiss, filled with a lifetime of possibility.

After everything we’ve been through in the short time since we got together this summer, you’d think it would make us jaded about life, but it hasn’t. Now Indie runs to me instead of running scared. She helps keep me grounded and I like to think I make the hard stuff a little easier on her.

When we break apart, the sun is below the tree line and I’m cutting it close to the very curfew her father mentioned and even if I wasn’t, my wife is still wearing our last name on her back, my rings on her finger and I want nothing more than to get her alone.

Is pairs speed walking an Olympic sport? Because I think we might have just earned a gold medal. Not even five minutes after leaving the park, I have Indie pressed against the cool metal wall of the elevator.

My mouth works down the column of her throat, devouring her like a starved man. Let me say, on record, that I’m not complaining, but I haven’t been able to properly fuck my wife since we’ve been married. And right now, with her in my jersey after re-proposing, my dick is about to rip through my pants to get to her. Couple that with the incentive she gave me if I hit a home run and I’m a fucking goner.

With each ding of the elevator climbing a floor, it gets harder not to hit that red button and slide inside her, here and now. That last chime echoes like a bullet going off and I lift her by her waist, her legs winding around me as we make our way to our room. Her hands are in my hair and her lips find my neck.

Fumbling my key over the sensor it slips from my hand but by some miracle the light turns green. I push through the door, kicking the key inside and letting the door slam shut.

There’s a thud as Indie’s back hits the wall but my wife just groans when I press her against the wall with my pelvis. “I’ve been thinking about all the different ways you could have me tonight since that homer hours ago.”

“That must have made for a very long night. Especially since I still haven’t decided how I want you.” I pop the button on her jeans, dragging the zipper down slowly as I kiss her neck. Lowering her to the floor I peel the jeans down her long legs as she helpfully toes off her white sneakers.

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