Page 101 of Home Field Advantage
“Don’t cry.” She jogs to me, wrapping her tiny arms around my waist. My hand cups the back of her head, and I hold her to me. I never knew how much I needed this, until this moment. Which makes me hate myself that much more. “I love you so much.”
“I love you, too, Sage. So much.” I hold her shoulders, separating us just for a moment so I can crouch down to her level. “Your mom was right, and I was trying to live out my dream, and working hard can help you reach your goals. The tears in my eyes are because I’m so upset with myself for not making time for that movie night. Not making more time for you.”
“But we are now.”
I nod.
No more strikeouts, only home runs.
She skips off to the couch. She pulls the blanket from the back and drapes it over her legs.
“I have one more ask,” she says.
“Anything for you. You should already know the answer willbe yes. Unless it’s candy. We don’t have any, and I’m certain the general store is closed.”
She giggles behind her hand.
There’s no evidence of the somewhat deep conversation we just had. I’m glad we had it, and I’m glad it’s ending with a night on the couch with her.
“Do you think you can ask Poppy to come over and watchAir Budwith us?” My body stills, frozen in place. “If that’s okay with you,” she adds with a shrug.
Is it okay with me?
Hell, after showing up at her house the other night and watching her come undone for me, I’d do anything to spend more time with her at this point. As if I wasn’t already thinking about her all hours of the day, she’s now permanently ingrained in my brain. A tattoo etched into my skin that I can’t wipe off even if I wanted to.
Her admitting to me that she’s a virgin should have scared me off. Thinking about it later that night, itwould havescared me off if Poppy were someone back in San Francisco. I told her I wasn’t like other guys, and I’m not. I didn’t lie about that, but it’s because this place, this town, is changing me.
Sheis changing me.
Now I want to learn every inch of her skin. I want to know what brings her pleasure. I want to be the fucking first to do it all.
“I can text her and see if she wants to come over,” I tell Sage.
“Okay!”
Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I hover over her contact. I’m hesitant, even though Sage and I both want her here, but only because the last thing I want to do tonight is derail whatever plans she has.
Hey, what are you up to tonight?
The bubble indicating that she’s replying lights up our textthread, then disappears. It repeats for another minute or two before my phone buzzes in my hand.
Poppy
Just doing a puzzle.
Yeah? Which one are you doing?
Poppy
This guy dropped one off to me the other day. It’s a baseball one, so I thought I would do that one next.
I’m smiling so hard, staring down at my phone.
I’ve been flirting with Poppy since the moment she turned around at Cozy Cup the day I got here. Even if she’s not doing it intentionally, her reply back to me has my insides swirling with rainbows—as Sage would say.
Oh yeah? Sounds like a nice guy.
Poppy
