Page 93 of Pitcher Perfect

“I thought you were riding home with the guys to celebrate.” I needed to know I had time for our conversation.

Austin chuckled and looked down at his feet, scraping his Converse against the asphalt. “The guys told me I’m not allowed back at the house tonight.”

I licked my lips and took another step toward him. “Oh? Where are you supposed to stay?” I didn’t realize my heart could beat so fast without running.

He looked up at me, and I’d never seen his blue eyes brighter. “The B and B, I guess.” He shrugged, eyes crinkling with his teasing smile.

“Oh, god. Why do they have so many big, lacy coasters everywhere?”

Austin laughed. “The doilies?”

“Yes! There are so many. I was honestly shocked there wasn’t one over the toilet lid.”

“Don’t give the owner any ideas.”

Joking with Austin was one of my favorite things. It was so easy to flow in and out of. “I stayed there a couple of nights when I moved to town and my apartment wasn’t ready.”

“I’m so glad you moved to Dahlia Springs,” Austin said earnestly.

I stepped out of the truck so I was level with him. “Me too.” All the words I’d wanted to say to him the past two months swirled around in my mind. I just needed to pick a few of them and start.

Austin didn’t give me the chance. He grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers. “You’re different from any man I’ve ever known, Caleb. You make me feel understood and safe.” He looked down at our hands. “I don’t feel like I need to compartmentalize my life or that my job is something to feel guilty about when we’re together. You make me feel like my job is an important part of me that you appreciate.”

“It is. I do. Your passion for your craft is one of my favorite things about you. I would never make you choose between me and the brewery.”

Austin’s eyes held so many emotions. I was sure they mirrored my own.

“I want to be with you,” he said. “I want to be thereforyou and support you as you build the restaurant of your dreams. I want to go to your restaurant at lunch so you can save me from my tuna sandwiches.”

I laughed through the emotion choking my throat.

“I want to hang out in the evenings then fall asleep together, have travel adventures where we collect beer and food. I want to make plans with you.” Austin moved closer so only inches stood between us. “I want to hire an assistant brewer so I have more time off to spend together.”

I reached up and pressed my palm to his forehead. “Do you have a fever?”

He pinched my side. “Jerk.”

I moved my hand from his forehead to cup the back of his neck. “It will be tough if I get the restaurant. It’ll take a lot of hours while I set it up and get it off the ground, especially until I can afford to hire more people—assuming I even get the space.”

Austin wrapped his free hand around my waist and hooked his fingers in my back pocket. “If anyone understands, it’s me. That’s been my life this past year. I can help you with the restaurant and cook you dinner once in a while.” He smiled. “We can make this work. We already know we get along great.”

“In and out of the bedroom,” I said in a husky voice.

Austin’s neck flushed. “Definitely.” He licked his lips. “We can keep collaborating on food and beer when you get your catering off the ground.”

“You still going to get me that invite to the unofficial chamber group with the cool kids?”

“Absolutely.” Fear appeared in Austin’s eyes. “What if I fuck this up? Us. Stepping back from work a bit sounds great in theory, but what if me being a workaholic hasn’t been the issue with my past relationships? What if I just suck at them and can’t balance anything?”

I kissed the worry away. His lips were soft, pliable, delicious. “You’re good at it, babe.”

He flushed at the endearment. “How do you know?”

“You’ve been doing it for weeks. We’ve been hanging out, working a ton, fooling around, and happy as hell. Just because we didn’t have a label on it doesn’t mean it didn’t count.”

He blinked at me then looked into the middle distance over my shoulder. I stayed silent to let him process.

“You’re right.” He lit up like sunshine.

---