mom, who had dumped their dad and was off with her new boyfriend. We managed to come to a peaceful agreement on the last day. But I learned my lesson. No more vodka shots."
"That's worth a point."
"Hey, it should be worth two."
"Now who's the competitive one?"
"Me. I am competitive. Maybe not like a pro athlete, but I like to win. It's much more fun than losing."
His smile broadened. "Definitely more fun."
She let out a sigh. "This is so nice. And I don't want to get out of this bed, but I think we should probably go home soon."
"We have a little more time, don't we?"
"More time??ut no more condoms."
"We can do some other stuff," he said with a spark of mischief in his eyes.
"We already did other stuff."
"I was just getting started."
"You are very tempting."
"I want to show you the benefit of not being just friends."
"You've already done that."
He ran his fingers through her hair as he gazed into her eyes. "I like you, Keira."
A shiver ran down her spine. "I kind of figured, but it's nice to hear."
"I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since we first met."
"You've been on my mind, too, even when I didn't want you to be. And no matter what happens, I want you to know that I don't have any regrets."
"It's not morning yet."
"The sun won't change my mind," she said, hoping that was true. "I wanted to be with you tonight. Whatever comes next, even if it's nothing, is fine."
A frown played across his lips. "This is starting to sound like goodbye."
"No, it's not goodbye. I'm not ready for that yet."
"Good. Can I see you tomorrow?"
"Well, if you come by McLaren Park around noon, my friend Gianna's stepdaughter will be playing softball, and I'll be cheering her on. It's Hailey's ninth birthday, so I'm going out to support her and the team."
Indecision played through his eyes. "Softball, huh? I don't know. I've been avoiding anything related to baseball."
"It's just going to be little girls who can barely hit. I want you to meet Gianna and her husband, Zach. Chloe will probably be there, too. Jake is the coach, so Hannah will also show up."
"Maybe I can meet you after."
She didn't love his answer. It made her feel like everything was on his terms. And it was, wasn't it? She wasn't having regrets, but she did feel like she'd just gotten a wake-up call. He was so consumed by his injury, his feelings about baseball, that he couldn't even watch a little kid's game, even if it meant spending time with her and her friends. "Sure, all right," she said shortly, sliding away from him. "I should get home."
He sat up, his brows drawing together as he frowned. "You're mad."
"I'm not."
"Yes, you are. The one thing I've liked about you the most is that you're really honest."
He had a point. "Fine. Your decision about tomorrow just makes me realize how much baseball controls your life. I don't want to forget that."
"It's not controlling me." He licked his lips, his gaze darkening. "I need to explain."
"No, you don't."
"Yes, I do. I'm not that great at expressing my feelings, but here goes."
She waited as he searched for words, fascinated by the play of emotions going through his eyes.
"Watching a baseball game feels like putting salt in an open wound," he said. "It reminds me of where I started, a little kid playing a game that became my whole life. Baseball kept me going after my mom died. Baseball gave me purpose. And being good at it gave me something to feel happy about." He paused. "Pitching is the one thing I'm really good at, Keira. I don't know who I am if I'm not a pitcher. I don't know what I'll do next, and facing that uncertainty is terrifying. Maybe that sounds selfish. No. It doesn't sound selfish; it is selfish," he added. "You want me to meet your friends, and I'm making a little kid's game about me and my problems."
His brutally honest and self-revealing words made her feel bad. "I'm sorry, Dante. I didn't realize what I was asking."
"How could you?"
"I was thoughtless."
"No, you weren't. You asked me a normal question, and I made it weird."
"Well, you did do that."
A slow smile spread across his mouth. "I haven't been this honest with anyone ever, Keira. In my family, if I had a problem with someone or they had a problem with me, we usually just resolved it by hitting each other