Page 56 of Pitcher Us
“Cause she’s nicer than you!” Stevie yells the final blow.
Will doesn’t pile on and while I know that’s for the best, it just reminds me how much this whole sneaking around is going to suck.
Making it back to their house, we start to unload. Before Adam can even offer to stay at a hotel, Jett insists we stay with them. Based on the nonstop word-faucet that their four-year-old is, I’m guessing our stay is more for them than anything.
The moment my feet hit the cement Stevie is pulling me to the door to meet her dog, Poppy, and then dragging me upstairs to her room to see her canopy bed. Not that I mind too much. I love the sassy britches, but I feel bad leaving everyone to carry in my stuff.
She launches off her bed and bounces back to me. “Come on, now let’s go look at my swing set.”
She yanks my hand trying to breeze past me, but I tug her gently back and kneel next to her. “Stevie Bug, I promise I want to see all of the things, but let me go get my stuff out of the car, okay?”
Her lip hangs so low it hurts my heart. “Okay,” she mumbles.
“Hey, we’re going to have so much fun over these next few days. I promise.”
I squeeze her hand and give her a big smile. I feel a little better when her lip goes back in and she nods eagerly.
“I’m gonna go find Mommy, and then you can meet us at the swing set.”
“Sounds great,” I say and she bolts down the stairs. “Slow down, Bug.”
I chuckle as I watch her stop then reach for the handrail before going the rest of the way down. Shaking my head, I go to follow her down but then someone grabs my hand.
Jumping, I almost yelp but swallow it down when I realize Will’s pulling me into a small bedroom.
“Calm down, woman, it’s just me.”
“Oh, because I’m supposed to know that?”
Will pulls me flush to him the moment I move to hit his shoulder with my free hand, not letting the hit land like I wanted. I try to push away but then he’s kissing me and suddenly I don’t even remember why I was irritated at him to begin with.
A small hum of approval comes out of me when his tongue glides in my mouth. When he pulls back I want to protest, but he sighs. “As much as I’d like to keep you up here, I know they’ll start looking for us.”
I nod, stepping back. “I need to go get my stuff anyway.”
“I got ‘em.” Hooking his thumb over his shoulder, Will points to all of my bags on the bed. “Think I’m going to let my girl carry her own bags?”
“Don’t make this harder than it already is, Will. I already want to add another mental picture to your gallery.”
“Can I make a pose request?”
I chuckle. “We’ll see.”
“Come on, let’s head back down,” Will says with light taps to my ass.
“You go ahead. I’ll give it a minute then follow.”
He shakes his head but smiles before kissing my forehead. I wholeheartedly check him out as he walks out the door. In order to maintain my positivity about this secret relationship I keep focusing on the moments that I get with Will. This past weekend it was easy to do that. Other than the interruption from Adamand practice, we practically spent every second wrapped around each other.
Those moments were fun and easy, but we’re officially starting the season and with the schedule we have we’ll basically be just coexisting around each other for most of the day. I’m not exactly sure how I’ll handle that. I have big emotions and I like to feel them. I’m all for cleat chasers shooting their shots with the single players, but Will’s mine…even though I’m not allowed to show it.
Ugh, calling us quits should be the decision. It’s the smart one, but it’s also the one that makes me feel like I’m going to throw up and have heart palpitations.
Taking a deep breath, I try to keep the thoughts in my brain under control. One day at a time. One hour at a time honestly feels more manageable to me at this second and when I can’t do that anymore then I’ll walk away.
Finally making my way downstairs, I can hear the negotiations happening from the living room.
“But, Mommy, why can’t we go outside?”
