29. Chapter 29
I couldn’t be happier holding Alyssa in my arms. We’re even slow dancing to a fast song right now. No cares in the world, not minding what anyone around us thinks. Just in our own little love bubble.
Because that’s what this is: love.
I’ve loved her for years as a friend. But I can safely say I’m in love with her now. Every aspect of who she is as a person is what I’ve always wanted. She’s exactly the girl my parents always told me to hold out for. I can’t wait until the season is over so I can take her back to Boston.
She’s already met my mom in person and said hi a few times on video calls, but I want her to meet my dad and grandma and cousins. I want to show off the woman I’m in love with. And I think our relationship will feel even more real once I show Alyssa where I’m from. The town that built me.
I always planned on moving back there to build a family one day. But now that I have Alyssa, I know I’d be happy settling down anywhere as long as I have her by my side. Although, it still isn’t my decision where I play.
I brush my finger over her bottom lip, unwilling to think about how I could live thousands of miles away from her with little warning.
“You good?” she asks.
I want to tell her that I love her. That I want her to be with me, whether it’s in Louisville or Boston or any city.
Me and her against the world. But it feels selfish to tell her I love her when the future of my career is so uncertain.
I know being with me is a big commitment in itself with how often I’m traveling for work and my crazy practice schedule, and it would be even more difficult if we were living in different cities.
I also know that Alyssa and I care enough about each other to go the distance and work through hard, busy seasons of life only to come out stronger together on the other side.
I just need to talk to my agent and get a more concrete answer on where my baseball career stands before I tell Alyssa the depth of my feelings so I can give her the full picture of what life with me will look like.
I nod, but before I can respond, Bianca storms toward us with her dress attendant trailing behind. She huffs. “Did you not hear the announcement? It’s time for us to cut our cake, which means you need to walk your thrifted, so-five-years-ago dress off the dance floor.”
She only speaks loud enough for us to hear, but we’ve still gathered the attention of some wedding guests near the dance floor.
I step in front of Alyssa, wanting to shield her from her cousin’s hate-filled words.
I try to bite my tongue, but calling Alyssa’s dress cheap after all the other horrible things she’s said this week has pushed me to my breaking point.
“You must be really miserable to always feel like you have to put everyone else down.”
“Me, miserable?” she scoffs. “Please, at least I have a husband who will have a stable job for his whole life and not be some washed-up, has-been baseball player by the time he’s thirty.”
Looks like I’m the new recipient of her jabs. I’d gladly take them if it means sparing Alyssa. Nothing this woman says can hurt me because I already know who I am.
I move to grab Alyssa’s hand and escort her off the dance floor, but she holds my hand tight, keeping me in place.
“He has something you’re never going to have,” Alyssa whispers, her voice low but steady.
“Respect.” She grips my hand, and I offer her a reassuring squeeze.
“You expect people to still want to be around you when you’re constantly throwing barbs at everyone.
One day you’re going to wake up and realize you pushed everyone away, and you’ll only have yourself to blame.
” She steps closer to her cousin. “Do yourself a favor and find a therapist. You need to learn to respect yourself first before anyone else will.”
Bianca’s cheeks flame red. She sputters but no words come out. Finally, she stomps one of her heels and walks back over to Bradley, who is waiting by the cake table the staff carried out to the center of the dance floor.
I pull Alyssa over to an empty area and wrap my arms around her. “I’m so proud of you for standing up to her like that. You were firm but kind.”
She wraps her toned arms around my waist and presses her head to my chest. “Thanks. I couldn’t hold back any longer—not after she came for you. I can deal with her jabs, but when she comes for someone I love—” She stops talking mid-sentence, and the realization of what she said hits me.
I’m someone she loves.
I pull my head back and cup her face in both hands. “Did you just say you love me?”
“There you are. I’ve been trying to talk to you all week, but we’ve just been like ships passing in the night.” Bianca’s sister, who also happens to be Alyssa’s unfortunate matchmaker, approaches us.
“Patrice.” Alyssa grits her teeth. “How have you been?” She steps back and accepts a hug from her cousin.
“Good, although things are a little awkward at work since you walked out on your date with Mike.” Patrice sizes me up with a quirked brow. “I’m guessing you’re the reason for that?”
“Mike is the reason for that.” Alyssa closes her eyes and shudders. “Did he tell you he brought his mother with him?”
Patrice’s forehead wrinkles in confusion. “What’s wrong with that? Susan is my boss, and she’s wonderful.”
“It was a first date. You don’t think that’s a little weird?”
“Better to meet the family sooner rather than later. See if something’s really there than waste your time.” Patrice places her hands on her hips.
Alyssa sucks in a breath. “Well, with the way he and his mother treated me, I think it’s safe to say he won’t be finding romance anytime soon.”
Her cousin looks at her disapprovingly. “Now that Bianca, Maddy, and I are all married, I figured you’d want to find someone to settle down with. We’re not getting any younger.”
I extend a hand and cut her off before she can say anything else. “I’m Austin Bradford.” I could’ve said something a little more smooth, like ‘I’m Alyssa’s date’ or ‘Hi, I’m in love with your cousin,’ but I guess it’ll do.
“Ah.” Patrice’s handshake feels like shaking a limp noodle. “Sorry, I’m not a big fan of baseball, but my sister told me about you.”
I extricate my hand from her weird grip. “Don’t believe everything you hear.”
“Of course not.” She turns back to Alyssa.
“So, I met this guy at the grocery store right before the trip. I was grabbing some anti-nausea medicine for the flight and, lo and behold, this hunk of a man appeared in my aisle. I struck up a conversation, and he said he was there to get some vitamins. He did grab prenatal ones, which I thought was a little odd”—she waves her hand, brushing off the thought—“but he was attractive enough that you could totally look past it.”
“Me?” Alyssa balks at the same time as I say, “Her?”
“Yeah.” The wrinkles on Patrice’s forehead deepen.
I wrap my arm protectively around Alyssa.
I’m not the kind of guy to get jealous or be possessive.
She’s a grown woman. She’s smart and can hold her own.
But the way her cousin just casually brushed me off like I was nothing more than lint on her dress has me wanting to rip off my shirt and beat my chest, pronouncing Alyssa as my girl.
Alyssa jumps in before I can start undressing. “I’m already taken, so no further blind dates are needed.” She interlocks our fingers, and I immediately feel my body begin to settle. “Ever.”
My safe place. My calm. My person.
Patrice shrugs. “Your loss.”
If the prenatal vitamins the guy was buying are any indication, I’d say it’s really a win.
“We’re going to grab some cake.” Alyssa starts walking toward the dessert table, pulling me with her. “Great seeing you, Patrice.”
She waves over her shoulder. When we’re far enough away from her, she shakes her head. “Sorry about that.”
“You can’t control your family members.” I squeeze her hand. “And look at you telling her to stop setting you up. Was it her attempting to set you up with a random stranger who bought himself prenatal vitamins that really sealed the deal?”
Alyssa laughs. “That and I just finally realized that I don’t owe her anything.”
“I’m proud of you.”
She beams up at me. “Plus, I’m already happily taken.”
“And in love?” I ask before I can think better of it.
I shouldn’t have said that. Not when I still need to reach out to my agent and see if he’s heard anything else about me potentially being traded mid-season.
I don’t want any more questions about the future dangling over my head before I tell her that I love her.
She ducks her head against my chest. “You weren’t supposed to hear that.”
I press a kiss to her temple, hoping she can sense the depth of my feelings even without me saying the words. “But I’m glad I did.”
When I don’t say anything else, Alyssa grabs a plate and starts loading it up with multiple sweets. When she realizes I’m not making a plate of my own, she shoots me a look. “You’re not getting anything?”
I rub my stomach. “I’m still stuffed from dinner.” Between the appetizers, salad, and surf and turf, I’m not sure I could fit anything else in without feeling sick, and I’ve got a game tomorrow. “You’re not coming to my game tomorrow night, right?”
She grimaces. “No, we have girls’ night. Normally, we’d all come cheer you on, but since I haven’t seen them all week, I thought we’d stay home. Is that okay?”
I nod, even though the thought of her not being there makes me feel like there will be a missing piece in the crowd.
“Of course. You should catch up with your friends.” I run my hand along my scruff.
“You could bring them on Saturday. You’ll have the box suite all to yourselves, and I could even get you on the field before the game if you want to come early and see the dugout.
” I try to sound like I’m playing it cool, but I can hear the desperation in my voice.
My desire to have her at the game is as clear as a cloudless day.
Alyssa’s quiet while she takes a bite of a sugared churro in chocolate sauce.
I reach up and wipe a few sugar granules off her bottom lip.
The motion instantly takes me back to the night we met, when I helped get some powdered sugar off her face.
Her gaze finds mine, and I’d like to believe she’s thinking of the same memory.
“Saturday should work for us. I’ll talk to the girls tomorrow night,” she says once she’s finished her bite. “It would be fun to see how things look down on the field.”
My chest heaves a sigh of relief, knowing she’ll be there. “Great, I’ll let Henry know you’ll be there early. If you meet me by the locker room, I can escort you onto the field. Say, two hours before the game starts?”
“Sounds good.” She pops the rest of the churro into her mouth and moans. “You’re missing out.”
I could take a bite…but knowing I’ll get to taste it when kissing her later sounds even sweeter.