Behind the Plate (The Boys of Baseball #2) - J. Sterling Page 0,122
drove on the freeway with the radio playing in the background, and before I knew it, I was exiting and almost home.
Stopping at a red light, I leaned toward Danika and pressed my forehead against hers. “I love you,” I said, certain that I’d never get tired of telling her that or hearing it in return.
Her face broke out into a huge smile as she closed her eyes for a moment before reopening them. “I love you too.”
“What was that?”
“The eyes thing?”
“Yeah.”
“Just making sure this wasn’t a dream and that you were real,” she said, and I laughed.
“I feel the same way about you, baby,” I said as the light turned green.
“You know, Chance, just for the record, I don’t care about baseball,” she said, and I almost slammed on the brakes as I shot her a questionable look. “I just meant that baseball isn’t why I like you. I like who you are as a person and the kind of guy you are. The way you treat me and make me feel. The baseball stuff is just a bonus but only because it makes you so happy and you’re so passionate about it. But if you never played another game again, I’d still want you just the same.”
I glanced over my shoulder to check for oncoming traffic before pulling my truck to the side of the road and turning on the hazard lights. Placing the car in park, I initiated the emergency brake and sat there, staring straight ahead. I’d never expected to hear something like that from Danika. Mostly because I hadn’t thought I needed it. I’d never once thought that she liked me for the wrong reasons, but having her say it out loud had me overcome with emotion.
Swallowing hard, I blew out a few quick breaths and focused on maintaining my cool instead of completely breaking down.
“Are you okay? Did I say something wrong?” she asked, suddenly concerned, her hand on my shoulder. “I meant all that in a good way.” She sounded so nervous, as if she’d messed us up somehow when it was the furthest thing from the truth.
I couldn’t look at her. Not yet. I was going to fucking lose it if I did, and I really did not want to cry in front of my girl. Hell, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d cried at all, but I wasn’t about to do it now.
“Chance? Look at me,” she pleaded, and I put a finger in the air, asking her to give me a minute.
I’d had no idea that someone like her existed or that I would ever find her. A female who honestly didn’t care if I played baseball or not. She loved me for who I was, not what I could be or what I could offer her.
“I never thought I’d find someone like you,” I said as I finally worked up the courage to look at her without bawling. “I really thought I’d be alone forever. I mean, I hoped that maybe I’d find a girl someday, but I never knew how it would happen. It just didn’t seem possible. She’d always want Chance Carter, the baseball player, and never just Chance Carter, the guy.” I reached out and cupped her cheek in my hand. “Then, I met you. And you changed everything. You made me feel something I’d never felt before, and at first, I hated myself for it because you weren’t mine to want. You weren’t mine to have, and it tore me up inside.”
Her eyes started to water, and mine did the same.
“Girls always say they have walls that guys need to climb, but I had armor. And you cracked it the first day I met you, and you’ve been slicing through it ever since.”
She started crying and didn’t even try to stop, and I felt my own tears start to fall before quickly wiping them away. I remembered what Cole had said when he came over that day, about having a partner and feeling really alone if Christina hadn’t been there to experience it all with him. I couldn’t have understood what he was saying at the time, but I felt like I completely understood it now.
“This thing between us isn’t temporary, baby.”
“I know it’s not,” she said as she wiped away her tears, and my heart expanded, just hearing her say those words.
“Can we go to my parents’ now? I’m starving.” I tried to lighten the mood, and it worked.