Page 80 of The Scout

Grabbing the present, I headed through our adjoining backyards and raised my hand to knock on his sliding glass door but was stopped midknock. Because a shirtless Cash was standing at the counter with his back to me. I took a moment to peruse my gorgeous boyfriend in basketball-style shorts that hung loosely on his narrow hips. The man could win a best-ass contest. Cash would say that about mine, but that was because he liked to squeeze it. He had the type you’d want to bite. Perfectly formed thanks to all his workouts.

Then there was his back, which was toned, defined, and had me licking my lips. That was the moment he turned around, and I smiled.

Shaking his head, he walked over to the door and slid it open. “Staring is very becoming on you.”

I put my hand on his chest and moved him aside. “Funny. I wasn’t staring. I just got here.”

“Sure. Okay.” He winked, and I shrugged. “This is all yours. Feel free to do with it what you want.”

“Maybe later. First, I have something for you.” I held up the glossy gold-and-white-striped gift bag stuffed with matching tissue paper.

“What’s this?”

“Happy belated Father’s Day. I know that you’re not my dad, but I wanted it to be special for you, and this gift wasn’t ready yet.”

“You can call me Daddy if you want.”

I crinkled my nose. “Oh my God. No! What’s wrong with you?”

He chuckled and pulled me in for a kiss. “Sorry, this is what I get for letting Cal pick the movie last night. Please don’t ask.”

“I don’t think I will.”

“Good call.” He reached out and accepted the gift, walked over to the counter, and set it down. My heart raced with anticipation. I’d been so excited about this that I almost told him about it before it was ready.

He pulled out the thin paper before pulling out a square box. The cover had pictures of Jimmy printed on it, from when he was a baby to just a few weeks ago. The title across the top readAdventures with Jimmy: A Home Movie.

Cash looked at me, his eyes shining with emotion. “Hannah ...”

“I thought maybe you’d like to see—”

In a flash, his mouth was on mine. I completely melted in his arms, molding myself against his body. His warm hands cradled my face, sending shivers down my spine. His lips were demanding yet tender. It was a kiss filled with affection, desire, and what I assumed to be gratitude for the gift.

He shifted his hands to wrap his arms around me, squeezing me tighter and making my feet almost leave the floor. If we kept this up, he’d get his second gift before watching the first. Reluctantly, I broke the kiss.

“Does that mean you like it?”

“No, I love it and you. Can we watch it now?”

“Yes. It’s on a thumb drive. There’s also a link that you can download to the cloud.”

“Sounds perfect. Let’s sit on the couch.”

I pulled my feet up and angled my body toward Cash, who positioned his computer so we could both see it.

“Is this okay? I know the screen is smaller than a television.” I nodded. “Great, because I can’t wait to watch this.”

Once he removed it from the case, he slid the thumb drive into the drive opening. The screen changed from whatever he’d been working on to me, pregnant with Jimmy. My mom had taken that video. “I gained thirty-eight pounds,” I told him. “That was the day before I gave birth. I look horrible but thought you’d like to see it.”

“Hannah, you’re beautiful.”

Soft music played to fill the spots where there wasn’t any real-time audio. For the next several minutes, we saw Jimmy’s first through fifth birthdays, his kindergarten graduation, and his first T-ball game. I smiled, watching my young son walk up to home plate, swinging a bat almost as long as he was. He lifted the bat, swung, and spun around, missing the ball completely. You could hear me in the background yelling, “You’ve got this, kid!”

Cash paused the video. “You used to say that to me when I played. I heard you say it at the alumni game.”

“I know. I saw you look in my direction.”

“So that was you I saw ducking behind the person in front of you.”

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