would remain for all time. Travis silhouetted by the concrete dugout, rain falling in her periphery, his male growl of pleasure filling the air. And eventually his comforting, calming kiss, the stroke of his reverent hands as he sat back down, cradling her against his chest. “Sweet girl. So beautiful.”
She’d splintered apart at her peak, but those pieces drew back together now, stronger than before, glowing with contentment. “Sweet man,” she whispered, cheek resting on his shoulder. “So strong.”
Travis’s pulse was already galloping, but it stuttered at her words, his arms wrapping around her in an unbreakable hold. “You make me believe that.”
Georgie lifted her head to find Travis watching her with a thoughtful frown, and something passed between them. Something she didn’t know enough to name and was too afraid to explore. Contentment spread like jam on bread in her belly, though, which made it twice as frustrating when her phone started ringing, tangled in her yoga pants somewhere on the dugout floor. “I should get that. Just in case something’s wrong.”
He gave her a final kiss and nodded, letting her stand and keeping his attention on her as she answered. “Hello?”
“Georgie. I need you at my house like yesterday.”
She glanced down at her naked-in-a-dugout body. “I’m kind of busy.” Travis grunted his agreement, tugging her closer to nibble on her hip. “What’s all that noise?”
“Oh, you noticed?” Bethany’s sarcasm pierced Georgie’s afterglow. “Our sister-in-law told the whole town about the Just Us League. And now every woman in Port Jefferson is in my kitchen, demanding to join.”
“Shut up.”
“Just . . . help.”
Georgie sent Travis a regretful look. “I’ll be right there.”
Travis hovered in her periphery as they both got dressed. “The dinner with the network exec is tomorrow night.”
That contentment she’d been feeling nose-dived. “Right.” Along with the reminder of the end of the line came a need to protect herself as much as possible when she was in love with the man standing five feet away. “Actually I was thinking of heading over to Westbury early. There’s a wholesale furniture shop in town I want to check out. For the new office.” She shot him a smile. “Meet you there?”
His jaw twitched. “You want to arrive separately at this dinner when we’re supposed to convince the network we’re together?”
“Never mind,” she whispered. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”
Travis’s stony gaze told Georgie he knew exactly what she’d been attempting to do. Distance herself, even though she wanted to dive into him feetfirst. She tucked some haphazard strands of hair into her ponytail and backed toward the stairs, grateful the rain was letting up.
“Dinner is at seven, right? I’ll be ready to go at six.” Her smile felt stiff. “See you then?”
“My truck is at your place, Georgie. We’re running back together.”
“Oh. Yeah.”
After what felt like an endless staring contest, they jogged back in silence.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Georgie gaped as she stepped out of her car.
Chaos reigned inside Bethany’s house. Women spilled out the front door onto the porch, shielding their heads from the rain with umbrellas and newspapers. A deliveryman with a stack of pizzas pushed through the throng, holding up the bill like a white flag of surrender. Among the women, Georgie recognized her ninth-grade physics teacher, Boutique Tracy, and several other familiar Port Jefferson faces. Including her mother.
“Mom?”
“Georgie.” Vivian paused mid-conversation to wave her closer. “Will you pay for these pizzas? I don’t have any cash.”
Right. It was well known that Vivian carried everything she owned in her pocketbook, but couldn’t manage to slide out cash or credit cards, thanks to her acrylic nails. “Who ordered them?” Georgie called, leafing through her wallet as she reached the front yard. “Where is Bethany?”
“Inside, talking about stuff.” Her mother shooed some women aside so Georgie could tunnel through. “Come on, move. Make way for the founder.”
“I’m not the . . .” Georgie shook her head. “I just came up with the name.”
“Founder! Founder!” Vivian chanted. No one joined. “What took you so long to get here? You weren’t home on a weekday morning?”
Suddenly, everyone on the porch seemed interested in their conversation. “I was out for a run with Travis,” she said, cheeks burning. “I had to shower and change.”
“Must have been some shower,” Vivian remarked, juggling her eyebrows.
“Yeah.” Georgie cleared her throat. “Um. So everyone is here to join the Just Us League?”
A cheer went up around her, followed by a single shout of “Fuck them all!”
Once the clapping and whistling stopped, Georgie said, drily, “We’ll see