and everything in Gabriella sighed happily. The world felt right. And damn good. She had no idea what any of this meant, other than that they loved each other. What she did understand, however, was that Clementine had now arrived at first base and the ball had joined her, landing just behind Ryan with a thud.
“Gotta go,” Gabriella said, pulling away and finding her breath.
“I give that a ten of ten!” Monty the cowboy yelled from his spot next to Becca, who whistled loudly with two fingers.
Gabriella bolted, and to her credit, Ryan took her time retrieving the wayward ball. Gabriella rounded second base and, feeling gutsy, continued to third. Apparently, the goodwill ran out, and Ryan beamed the softball, beating her to the base by a millisecond.
“Outta there,” Byron yelled, throwing his arm back and then forward with, okay, way too much gusto. The Otter fans went wild because it was the final out of the game.
“Might take it down a notch,” she whispered to him.
Didn’t matter. The Otters had taken the Whisper Wall championship. The Muskrat supporters sat down in defeat with a collective awww. Gabriella took off her hat and waved to the crowd in apology as she trotted to the dugout. She caught Madison smiling in quiet support from the stands, which was a relief. Next, she glanced over her shoulder to see Ryan backing away from first base with a genuine smile on her face, her focus not on her celebrating teammates but on Gabriella. No trace of softball smugness or playful gloating. Ryan looked so very happy, and that made Gabriella happy. A chain reaction because they were linked. She could pretend she had control over that, but she didn’t. The connection that ran between them was alive and well, and she’d unleashed it fully right there on first base in front of the whole damn town. She’d examine the repercussions later. For now, she smiled apologetically at her teammates, who were forgiving enough to let her off the hook for her antics.
“At least you got a little action out of it,” Bruno said with a gleam in his eye.
Clementine laughed as they bumped fists. “And by proxy, so did the rest of us. Damn.”
They gathered together as a group, and Clementine gave them the requisite good game talk. “We came out. We played hard. We were Muskrats until the end.” She studied their faces intently one at a time. “We’ve missed out on this championship game for three straight years now. But we made it here this time. Next season, we’re gonna win. Now put those hearty Muskrat paws in here and claim the pride you’ve earned. Hold those whiskers high.”
With hands in, they chanted, “Muskrats for life!” and erupted in cheers. The crowd echoed their sentiment, and someone broke out the beer. Her team had lost in a stomach clencher that had been mostly her fault. But it was a beautiful summer evening, and she felt the goodwill of everyone around her. She glanced across the field at the Otters’ celebration. Gabriella didn’t have the answers to the questions her heart was asking of her, but she was open to searching for them.
Chapter Twenty-four
There were some moments you held on to forever, and Gabriella grabbing Ryan and kissing her was definitely a keeper. Though her spirits soared, Ryan hadn’t spoken to Gabriella after the game. Perhaps, for the best. Maybe they needed space to process the new developments. She’d gone to Pizzamino’s with Billy and a small group of her teammates, accepting their ribbing, because really what else should she expect?
“Ry, can you pass me the menu, or do you want to make out first?” Billy asked, serious faced.
“You’re hysterical,” she said.
From down the table Brenda Anne nodded. “I generally make out with my competitors, too, Ryan. It’s how I keep the Nickel in business.”
She gasped, because being dragged by Billy was one thing, but wholesome Brenda Anne was another.
“I can’t help it,” Ryan said. “Sometimes you have to seize the moment.”
“She sure seized your face,” Billy said around his slice.
“I think you two seized a little more than a moment. I had my stopwatch out,” Brenda Anne said into her beer. “Those games should come with a PG-13 warning.”
There was a rumor that the Tangle Valley crew had headed to the fry shop for drinks and dinner. It took everything in Ryan not to innocently swing by. It was like she couldn’t tamp down her anticipation. She needed to fast-forward and