Page 110 of The Future Play

She digs it out of her bag and puts it to her ear while apologizing. “Amanda Hamilton.”

I watch raptly as she switches into business mode. It’s ridiculously hot.

“Yes. I’d love to. Tuesday morning—yes. I can do that. Are you sure you don’t need to see—oh. Well, that sounds great. I’ll see you then. Take care. Bye.” She stares down at her phone with wide eyes. “Wow.”

“What?”

She turns to me, eyes alight with excitement. “When I had lunch with Mark, he mentioned one of his teammates needed help with some event coming up that the previous planner had to back out of for health reasons. He didn’t mention it was for Wendell and Alannah Pierce.”

My eyes fly wide. Wendell is one of Mark’s teammates, and one of the first people to sign with the Bandits when the team started twelve years ago. It’s widely reported this season will be his last. His wife is a former model, and they had some epic love story years ago. Unlike a lot of people in those positions, they still seem really happy and they do a lot of good.

“I need more context,” Rae says. Unsurprising. Rae is a baseball girl through and through.

“It doesn’t really matter except that the foundation the gala is for istheirfoundation. The one they started in honor of theirdaughter when she came out as trans. It helps support trans youth and young adults, particularly the most at risk who may not have safe environments or home lives.” Amanda sucks in a deep breath. “So, no pressure,” she squeaks.

I wrap my arm around her and kiss the side of her head. “I’m so proud of you. You’re going to rock it.”

She lets out a shaky breath. “I hope so. Oh my gosh! I hoped I’d find a couple of events to work on down here, but I wasn’t expecting it to bethis.”

I grab my glass again and lift it. “To living our dreams.”

Amanda smiles up at me as everyone else toasts to that. Instead of tapping our glasses together, she leans up and kisses me.

A lot of good things are happening right now—the building blocks of our future in many ways—but none of it means as much as having her by my side through it all.

I don’t lovethis apartment. It’s never felt like home. It feels a little too sterile. Like a vacation rental. A place you stay temporarily, but never get cozy in.

Tonight, though, at least there’s enough space for Trevor and Chelsea and Aaron and Rae to stay the night and not have to shell out for a decent hotel here in the city.

Them being here tonight means a lot to me. They’re part of why I’m here right now—especially Aaron. If I’m ever lucky enough to win any kind of award someday, I’ll be thanking him. Seeing the pride in his eyes tonight was indescribable. I’m living a dream we all had at one point, and so far, I’m kicking ass at it.

Just like my girl is kicking ass at her dreams. The event she’s taking over is an entire charity gala. That’s huge. Especially because it’s not a small-town rich ladies’ gala, but a massive New York City gala with a lot of super rich folks attending. This could change everything for her.

“I’m proud of you,” I whisper as she crawls into bed. Sound carries like crazy in this apartment, and it drives me nuts, especially with people here.

She shrugs. “I got lucky.”

“You worked hard. Youhaveworked hard for years. And it shows.”

She climbs on top of me and runs her hands down my chest. “So have you.And it shows.”

Her lips brush mine, and I have to fight back the instinctive moan. Wrapping my arm around her waist, I flip her over.

“Can you be quiet?” I whisper against her lips.

I swear we can hear if someone is talking quietly two rooms over. So with Trevor and Chelsea in the guest room across the hall and Rae and Aaron on the sleeper sofa in the living room, we have to beveryquiet.

Slipping her underwear off, I push one finger inside her. She bites her lip as she arches beneath me.

“I don’t know,” she breathes. “Can you?”

Then she leans up and sucks on my neck just below my ear—the spot that makes me crazy.

“Only one way to find out.”

Stripping my shirt off, I lean back and shove my boxers down, then pull her barely-there underwear off. She shimmies out of her shirt, as I grab her hips, then thrust into herhard.

She slaps a hand over her mouth trying to cover her yelp.

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