Page 129 of Passed Ball

"Before we go further, I need to tell you something."

I promised Tenley I'd let her tell him on her own terms tomorrow, but now it feels wrong. She might be mad at me, but she'll have to deal.

"Um, okay."

"Tenley is leaving for a study abroad in Spain. It starts in January. She's going to tell you herself tomorrow, and she's got a friend that's interested in helping with Holland while she's gone."

He looks at the door where his daughter sleeps on the other side, but when his eyes find mine again, they're filled with quiet compassion for me. "Are you okay?"

"I'm not sad she's leaving." I wipe my face expecting tears, but they come away dry. "Well, that's not entirely true. Obviously, I'll miss her, but I want her to go--to experience another culture. To learn, to grow, to flourish. I want all those things for her and she almost didn't go because she was afraid of how it would affect me."

"Oh." He sits back on his heels, still on top of me but giving me space.

Space I don't want.

"I should have told you when I came over earlier, but I was afraid it would ruin our night, but I . . . I needed to tell you. This whole 'being open' thing is new and I'm not sure exactly how it's supposed to work, but I listened to my gut."

"That's pretty much it." He pushes a head through his hair. "I'm really proud of you. Two months ago, that would have made you spiral and run. You would have self-destructed over it."

"Probably."

He lifts off of me and I grab hold of his shirt, fisting it and pulling him back. "Where are you going?"

"I'm not sure. I thought you might want a second."

"All I want is you."

He doesn't waste any more time. His lips meet mine in an urgent kiss. I claw at his shirt, tugging at the buttons, fighting to free them. When that fails, I pull the shirt free from his waistband, slipping underneath the white button down to find hot skin stretched over his toned stomach.

With more restraint than I can muster, Xavier undoes the top few buttons before pulling it over his head. Then he's dropping to his knees and slipping my heels off one by one. His hands brush under my dress, lifting it to my waist in one hurried tug.

I lift my hips and let him pull the dress over my head. Goosebumps prickle my skin as they bloom across it. Xavier steps back, my dress in his hand, wearing nothing but his black dress pants.

This moment is big and I want to memorize every detail--the hard lines of his chest, the way his free hand rakes through his red hair, leaving it deliciously disheveled. His expression mirrors my own, a mix of awe and something unspoken, something that steals the breath from my lungs.

"Show me," I say, my voice trembling, hoping he understands the plea buried between the lines.

You have to leave again, so show me what I'm missing when you're

gone.

Chapter 55

Vivienne

The silence of my office after hours is broken by the sound of my phone vibrating on the corner of my desk. I almost ignore it because I'm fucking exhausted. Xavier came home from New York yesterday after the Bandits won their division. I waited up for him because he's only home for forty-eight hours before they leave again to face the Comets, and today I'm paying the price. I glance down at the screen before I send it to voicemail and see Tenley's name lighting up the screen.

The last time Tenley called me was when she got food poisoning and needed help with Holland. A pang of longing hits me at the memory of how that call changed my life. I pick up without another second of hesitation.

"Hey, Tenley. What's up?"

She pauses before she speaks, her voice hesitant. "Hey . . . um, I know this might be weird, but could you meet me at the house?"

My niece isn't timid, and hearing her sound so unsure sends a wave of concern through me.

"You know I will, but is everything okay?"

"I'm not really sure."

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