The Ninth Inning (The Boys of Baseball #1) - J. Sterling Page 0,46
you. Why?”
“He wanted to know why I believed you over him,” I started to explain.
Cole gently sat down, his body angled toward mine as he rested his hand on my thigh. “What did you say?”
“I told him that I knew you better. And that I didn’t trust him.” I placed my hand on top of his, and he quickly switched our positions so that his hand covered mine as he squeezed it tight.
“And he left you out there? Alone?”
“I thought you knew. I figured he walked right back inside.” I shook my head because it was the only logical explanation I had.
“He didn’t come back in until enough time had passed that I had lost my damn mind.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Because he wants me off my game. He wants my position. He knew this was the only way to get it. Through you,” he explained, and my heart started pounding.
What did I have to do with any of that?
“I didn’t mean to say what I did at the party about him using you. I mean, I meant to say it, just not in front of everyone. I’m sorry if I embarrassed you,” he apologized, but I wasn’t mad about that. At least, I’d stopped being mad at him once I realized that he was right.
“I was a little embarrassed. But I’d never seen you like that before, so I knew there was something serious going on.”
“I shouldn’t have done that though. Not in front of everyone, but it was killing me to see him touching you. I wanted to rip his limbs off, so he couldn’t ever do it again.” Cole sounded so sincere that I couldn’t help but believe him.
“Why was it killing you?” I asked, so desperate to hear the answer that I could practically taste it on my tongue.
“Because you’re mine, Christina. You’ve always been mine. And everyone knows it.” He squeezed his eyes closed before staring at our hands.
“But I’m not yours. You won’t let me be,” I started to argue, but he leaned over and stopped my words with his mouth.
His tongue pressed against my bottom lip, and I hesitated before letting him in. His lips apologized, his kiss spilling all of his feelings and emotions into me, and I took them without hesitation. I wanted everything Cole was willing to give in this moment even though I shouldn’t.
“You’re mine,” he whispered against me, his breath warm. “At least, I hope you are. Because I’m yours. And I always have been too.” He looked into my eyes like he was searching for a truth hidden in there. “It’s only fair that we belong to each other, don’t you think?” he asked with an unsure smirk.
My heart leaped into my throat, begging for me to say yes, but my brain flashed warning signals like a train was coming.
“Is this a game? Some sort of trick?”
He leaned away from me, his expression revealing that he had expected me to ask exactly that. “No. I mean it. I mean every word. I have so many things I need to say to you. So many things to apologize for. I don’t know where to start.” He looked so frustrated, his brow creasing. “I knew I should have made a list.”
I laughed. Because I wanted to ease the tension that was building and because it was so damn cute to see him so flustered over me for once. “Lists are always helpful.”
He looked me in the eyes and asked, “What are you thinking?”
I sucked in a breath and chose honesty. “I was just wondering, why now? Nothing’s changed,” I asked because the cold, hard truth was that nothing about our situations had altered in the slightest. It made no sense for his mind to have switched.
His head shook like I couldn’t be more wrong. “Everything’s changed. I’ve been living my life for one thing for so long that I didn’t know any other way to live.”
“But you do now?”
“Not even a little bit.” He let out a guttural laugh. “But I want to try with you.”
I folded my hands in my lap. “But why? Why now? Why me?”
He wasn’t offended by my questions, but he looked unsure of how to respond to them. We both stayed quiet, soaking in the moments while I waited for him to say something.
“I realized that nothing works if you aren’t with me. My hitting didn’t start to really suffer until I tried to force you out of my life for good. It was