Page 86 of Relief Pitcher

I pretended to peek around him. “Do you have a weapon?” He didn’t laugh at my attempt to make him smile. Seeing Ty so shaken unnerved me, but the fact he was so worried about hurting me made me want to pull him into my arms and never let go. “Ty, you don’t know that.”

He scoffed. “My dating life, or lack thereof, was the joke of the night. How can a perfect married couple raise a kid who’s romantically stunted? I actually overheard people talking about it, Coop. With my ears.” He pointed to the side of his head, then crossed his arms over his chest as his face crumpled into a grumpy pout.

I pulled him into a hug and felt him instantaneously relax as he loosened his arms and wrapped them around me.

“I’ll mess it up, and I don’t want to be the one to hurt you. I don’t want to be the person to cause you pain again.” He squeezed me tight before pulling back and scratching his beard.

“The fact that you’re worried about hurting me makes me not worried at all.” Tyler talking about an us at all made me want to jump on the tables and dance.

Ty frowned. It was adorable. He looked like a GIF of someone trying to solve a complex math equation.

I cupped his cheek. “I sure as hell learned the hard way that we can’t guarantee anything, but I want to try. I care about you a lot, Ty.” I swallowed the lump in my throat.

Ty looked outside the barn for several long moments as I held my breath.

He squeezed his eyes closed. “Is this what romantic emotions are like? Jesus, why do people do this to themselves over and over again?”

I barked out a laugh. That was such a Ty thing to say and one of the many reasons I was falling in love with him. Didn’t he realize that by being so worried about hurting me, he was showing me he was the safest person to give my heart to?

“I care about you too. More than I ever thought possible, but I don’t know how to stop worrying that I’m going to hurt you.”

This sweet, sweet man.“Aren’t you worried that I’ll hurt you?”

Ty shook his head.

“I’m terrified I’ll hurt you too. That’s all part of that messy romantic feelings shit. When we care about people, we don’t want to cause them pain.”

We hadn’t talked about being exclusive or even acknowledged what was happening between us, but the pain in his eyes broke my heart. The affection I felt from him,for him, consumed me like a tidal wave.

“How do I stop worrying about this?”

“How do you stop the rain from falling? It just is. I imagine it’s not that different from things you probably worry about with your brewery. There are problems we can try to avoid and things we can’t plan for, but shit still happens. It’s still worth the risk. You decide to deal with the unknown and the stress it brings because everything else makes it worth it.”

Ty groaned and buried his face in my chest. “I need to sort my shit out.”

I wrapped my arm around his shoulders and pressed my cheek to the top of his head. “I’m not going anywhere. Figure out whatever you’ve got to figure out, and I’ll be here. This isn’t something you have to do alone.”

He nodded, then pressed his lips softly against mine.

I could see in his eyes that he needed to move on to something else. “Well, looks like that’s it for the chairs. What else can I help with?”

Ty shook his head. “You’ve done more than enough. Thank you for everything you did for my family today. And that gift is incredible. God, you’re so talented.” He smiled, and it reached his eyes that time. “I’m going to grab Gavin and head home. I’ll text you, okay?”

The determination in his eyes soothed the anxiety creeping through my veins.

“Don’t forget to bring maple bars for Danita on Monday. She can’t say no to you if you bring her favorite form of sugar.”

Ty laughed. “Already placed an order with her favorite place. I still can’t believe she’s not making me wait until after the championship for the pitch.”

“When she’s ready for her next season planning, she doesn’t fuck around. I know you don’t need it, but good luck.”

“Thanks, Coop. For everything. Drive safe.”

I looked at him once more on my way out of the barn and waved. Several people stopped me on my way to my car to tell me how much they loved the piece I’d made. Seth had even pulled me into a hug and whispered his thanks.

As I put more distance between Ty and me, a sour feeling rolled through my gut. I was scared too. Scared that I was damaged goods after losing my husband. What if things got really serious with Ty and I freaked out if he got sick? Could I really be there for him if I was consumed with worry that I’d lose him too? But then imagining Ty ever being sick and me not being by his side to take care of him hurt more than anything.

I might be terrified, but I had to see it through. I’d had true love once, and I knew how incredible it was. I wanted it again. I wanted that with Ty. I wanted the opportunity to show him hecouldbe in a relationship with someone and it would be incredible. I would put in the work.

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