Page 99 of Third Time Lucky

Epilogue

Elliot

I don’t know why I’m awake so early, but I have no desire to move yet. Maybe it’s because I had one of those dreams you want to hold onto for as long as you can. What made it better was waking up to realize it wasn’t a dream at all.

I can hear Joey in the bathroom, and his side of the bed is still warm. He spent the night again. The way he has every night this week. Since I snuck onto his balcony and we said those three words that meant everything.

Baseball used to mean everything to me. It was my freedom from an unhappy home life. It was my father’s approval. It was, in so many ways, the beginning and end of all that I knew. I still love the game. I love the feel of the ball in my hands, my fingers reading its seams like braille and the hush that falls one second before it’s safe in my catcher’s mitt and the crowd goes wild. But something is different now.

I think I was right that night at Finn’s. Knowing and loving only one thing makes for a narrow life. It doesn’t leave room for possibilities or potential. For fatherhood. For romance. For more.

I have more now than I dreamed possible.

Two days after I told Joey I loved him, I told the world. I convinced the host who’d come for a tour of my nearly completed facility that Joey had been respecting my wishes with his previous interview. That I wanted to come out to my fans in my own way. I made sure they knew what it cost him to do that for me. All because he was a good man who loved me.

He was holding Rue’s hand as I did it and staring at me like I was crazy. Like I was a superhero. Once it aired, the powers that be had held their collective breath over my contract, waiting for the inevitable outrage and dismay.

A low hum of distaste managed to trickle in, but more surprising, the real fans came out and shouted down all the naysayers. The journalist who reported the story is now one of my favorites.

“He’s not the first sports star in history to come out, but did this pitcher just change the game? Baseball fans seem to thinks so, and they’re letting team ownership know by the truckload. Fan mail and petitions supporting EJ Ransom’s recent introduction of his child, as well as his love for millionaire entrepreneur and nanny whisperer Joey Redmond, have been pouring in nonstop for a week. Some have taken to skywriting to proclaim their affection for the new power couple. Even Ransom’s own teammates have spoken to reporters to show their support and volunteered their time to his new nonprofit baseball facility, The Redmond-Ransom Training Academy. That’s R&R for short.

Are we all just craving good news at a time when it’s in such short supply? Did the Me Too movement and the election of several LGBTQ officials during the last cycle have that much of an effect on the landscape? Or is it possible that we all recognize love when we see it right in front of us? I know I do. I’m rooting for you, Flash. And I’m not alone when I say I hope to see more of your new family next season.”

The Redmond-Ransom Training Academy.

I wanted us to start as we mean to go on, together. And our names do look good on those business cards. Even if we aren’t opening a detective agency.

With George extending his deadline and adding a research trip to Hawaii, we might stick around for a while. And that’s fine with me. Rue loves living near the water. And Joey and I are big fans of the elevator. And Fourth, now that we know who she is.

We live in a building full of fascinating people and secret entrances. Joey couldn’t believe it when I filled him in.

I hear him approach the bed and can’t help but smile. I’m always smiling these days. The reason why is no mystery at all. Joey wants to see how things go, to get through next season, but I’d love to make it official before then. “G’morning.”

“Good morning, Elliot.”

I feel the sheet slipping down my naked body, the air hitting my lower back, before I open one eye. “What are you up to now?”

“Up is a good word. Appropriate to my situation.”

I snort into the pillow at the swiftness of my body’s reaction. “It’s starting to be appropriate to mine, thanks to you.”

“What can I say except you’re welcome?” he sings softly as he drops the top sheet on the floor, leaving me exposed.

“You ruined it. It’s gone now,” I inform him wryly. Then I grunt out a surprised breath when he straddles my thighs anyway. “You planning on letting me roll over?”

“First of all, that’s our song, so I didn’t ruin anything. And not until I’m done with your massage.”

My massage? Oil pools between my shoulder blades and then Joey’s hands are on my skin, his fingers digging in and instantly finding knots I didn’t know I had. “God damn, I love you. Tell me what I did to deserve this so I can do it again.”

“You’re you,” he says. “You never stop being you, which is not the easiest thing to live up to, to be honest. And I’m doing this to lower your defenses so I can play with your ass.”

My cheeks clench at his words, but I’m smiling again. “That honesty train is starting early.”

“Choo choo, baby. But it has to, because we won’t be alone for long. Adria spent the night, remember?”

How can I forget? She’s started fencing lessons now. My niece really likes the idea of having a sword in her hand. I’m crossing everything Rue doesn’t follow in her footsteps. I’m not sure my heart could take it.

Joey rubs my neck and shoulders, my back, until all those worries disappear and all my concentration is focused on his magical hands and his thighs rubbing against mine. “You’re too good at this.”

---