Page 60 of Falling Together

April stopped to lean against the side of her car and sighed. “Well, you better figure that out because a girl like Blair isn’t going to wait around forever.”

“You’re right. And she shouldn’t. I’m not worth it.”

“You’re more than worth it, but until you realize that, nothing is ever going to work.”

Erin knew her sister was right, but she also didn’t know what to do about it. She couldn’t silence the voices in her head telling her no one would ever stay. “I know. I just… I think I’m broken.”

“You know the best part about things that are broken?” When Erin shook her head, her sister poked her in the chest. “They can be fixed.”

April grabbed the water bottle out of her car and a comfortable silence settled between the two of them as they walked back toward the softball field.Thank god.Erin wasn’t in the mood for any more lectures, even if they were completely warranted.

As they got closer to the bleachers, Erin spotted Blair at the exact moment Blair noticed her. Blair’s face lit up as she held two plastic bags in the air. “Guess what I got?”

Seeing as how they were at a softball tournament and not the mall, Erin had literally no idea. “A bunch of hot dogs?”

“Nope.” Blair pulled three T-shirts out of one of the bags, one by one. “Tournament T-shirts. They have all the players’ names listed on the back! How cool is that? Also,” she pulled a hat out of the other bag and put it on her head, then pointed to it proudly. “I got hats for you and I that Sydney’s team was selling.”

“Wow. That’s awesome,” Erin said, trying to muster up as much excitement as possible. She could see Blair was clearly very proud of herself. The shirts and hats might not have been anything special, but Blair being this excited over them was fucking adorable.

“I know, right?” Blair picked up Nolan and rested his body against her hip. “I’m going to take Nolan to the bathroom so we can change into these. Feel free to join us if you want to put yours on too.” Blair pretty much skipped away before Erin could answer.

“Okay, that’s it,” April whispered in her ear as they both watched Blair go. “If you don’t date that girl, I might.”

***

After a day full of softball and Nolan asking when they were leaving, they were finally back in the car. “So, anything I need to know about your hometown before we get there?” Blair asked, sounding just as excited as she had been hours before.

Does this girl ever get tired?Erin shook her head. “Not really. It’s exactly what you’d expect from a small town in the middle of Pennsylvania. Not much to it.”

“Awesome. Can’t wait,” Blair said, bouncing in her seat as if she was going to Disney World for the first time.

Erin couldn’t help but laugh at her. “Why are yousoexcited? I just told you there was nothing to it.”

Blair shrugged. “It’s where you grew up. Part of what made youyou.I think that’s really cool and can’t wait to learn more about this part of your life.”

Every time Erin thought Blair couldn’t possibly get any sweeter, she proved her wrong. She wasn’t sure what to say, so she reached over and squeezed Blair’s hand. Just one touch of Blair’s fingers against hers made her want to hold Blair’s hand for the rest of their drive, but she also didn’t want to give her the wrong idea, so she forced herself to let go.

As soon as they arrived at the small, single-family home where Erin grew up, which wasn’t much bigger than the townhouse she shared with Nolan, she saw Nolan in the rearview mirror throwing his hands in the air. “Yay! Grandma’s house! I love grandma’s house!”

“So, there are two guest rooms,” Erin explained to Blair. “One has a twin-size bed and the other has a queen.”

She was about to say that she and Nolan could squeeze into the twin-size bed when Blair raised her hand. “I’ll take the twin.”

“Are you sure?” Erin asked. She knew it wasn’t the most comfortable bed. It washersgrowing up, after all.

“Of course. I’m used to small beds from college.” She pointed a thumb back at Nolan. “Plus, I just shared a bed with that kid for the past week. I know how much space he takes up. I’m not making you squeeze into a small-ass bed with him.”

Erin laughed. “I really appreciate that.”

“Let’s go see grandma!” Nolan shouted from the backseat, clearly losing his patience.

Blair turned around and put her hand up for a high five. “Let’s do it.”

She jumped out of the car before Erin had a chance to unbuckle, and immediately opened Nolan’s door and helped him out of his car seat. By the time Erin got out of the car, Nolan and Blair were already walking toward the house hand in hand. She stood by the car and took a moment to appreciate the scene in front of her. Seeing Nolan and Blair together made Erin’s heart dance. It almost made her forget why she couldn’t just jump into things with Blair. Somehow, it simultaneously reminded her why she couldn’t. Nolan was so attached to Blair. If Erin did something to make her walk away, she could never forgive herself for how much that would hurt Nolan.

God, my emotions are all over the place.

The front door opened, and Erin’s mom walked out with her arms outstretched. “There’s my favorite little boy.”

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