Epilogue
Zara
Her leg wouldn’t stop shaking. It didn’t matter that Noah was playing phenomenally or that the Emperors were up by four runs in the top of the eighth.
This was the World Series.
Possibly the final game of the World Series.
“Honey,” her mom said, placing a hand on her knee, “you need to relax.”
Zara groaned. “I’ll relax when the game is over.” She wasn’t new to the World Series. Every year, she had at least one client on a team that made it. Watching from the stands with her family and Noah’s was new.
Being this nervous was new.
On the other side of her, Penny squeezed her hand. “Your mom’s right. There’s no reason to be so nervous.”
“Oh yeah, you’re as cool as a cucumber,” Ellie, Noah’s sister, said. “That’s why you’re clutching Zara’s hand like you’re about to fall off a cliff.”
Zara didn’t care if Penny broke her hand. All she wanted was for Noah’s team to win. If they lost tonight, there were still more games to play, but she knew how much he and the team wanted to end it tonight.
Over the last few months, she and Penny had spent a lot of time together when she was in California, which was often. During his home stretches, she stayed with him unless she had to meet with a client. When he had away games, she stayed in Valley Falls or traveled to meet clients. They even saw her parents more than she ever had before. They both loved Noah. In fact, sometimes she felt her dad liked him more than he liked her.
Behind her, Hannah said, “I need a drink. When this baby comes out, I’m drinking for days straight.”
“That’s fine, babe,” Edwin said. “I’ll be on daddy duty while you drink.” Edwin, along with a good portion of the rest of her friends from Valley Falls, had made the trip for the, hopefully, final game. The Strikers soccer season had ended early when they’d narrowly missed out on the playoffs thanks to a handful of injured starters.
The eighth inning ended with the Emperors still up by four. They just had to get through the top of the ninth and it would be over. Zara watched as the closing pitcher struck out the first two batters.
One to go.
Her breath caught in her lungs as the batter hit a long fly ball. She watched Noah back up, up, up, until he was against the wall. At the last second, he leapt up, reaching high in the sky and grabbing the ball. The stadium erupted, but Zara waited still holding her breath. Noah had fallen to the ground, and from where they were sitting, no one could see if he still had the ball.
Then he raised his gloved hand in the air, the ball tucked safely inside.
Everyone around her jumped and shouted and screamed. He’s done it. He’d won the World Series.
He was bombarded by his teammates and coaches, but somehow in the middle of all those people, Noah looked up to the stands to where she was sitting. His smile was huge as he shook his head and held up the ball.
The last few months had been a lot. The distance, the flights, the long phone calls when they were cities apart. Looking at him and seeing how happy he was, Zara knew it had all been worth it.
After what felt like hours of celebration where the Emperors were crowned champions and Noah was named MVP, Zara was ready to congratulate Noah in her own way. She’d seen him and kissed and hugged him, but that was with millions of people, tv cameras, and their family and friends watching.
She wanted him alone.
Not for anything sexual, although that was definitely going to happen, but because she wanted to tell him how proud she was of him and how much she loved him.
In the last few months, after games, they’d met up many times in the room that Noah used to use when and if he had a panic attack. The attacks were few and far between now, Noah insisting it was her doing. She told him over and over that wasn’t the case. He refused to believe otherwise.
She was just about to the room they met up in when her phone buzzed in her hand.
Noah:
I’m waiting...
She laughed. It seemed he had the same idea as she did.
Gripping the handle, she turned the knob, pushing the door open. The room was dark, as always, but she saw Noah’s silhouette sitting on the desk.
“You stole my idea.” She shut the door behind her, never taking her eyes off him.
“You think I didn’t know you’d come here?” He stood up, coming toward her.
When he was in front of her, she lifted a hand, touching his cheek. “I’m so damn proud of you.”
He dropped his forehead against hers. “I’m still in shock.”
She laughed. “You did sort of look like you were in a daze during all those interviews.”
“Please tell me I didn’t sound stupid. I have no idea what I said.”
“You didn’t sound stupid.” She kissed him gently. “I’ve never been so nervous for anything in my whole life as I was watching that game.”
“Never?” He raised a brow. “Because I seem to remember someone being afraid to fall in love.”
“It’s not the same. I knew I was in love with you, I just refused to admit it. I had no idea what the outcome of this game would be.”
He turned them until her butt was against the desk, then he lifted her up onto it, his lips skimming over her jaw. “For weeks, I was tortured with thoughts of you never loving me, and now you tell me you always did?” His lips were trailing all along her jaw and cheeks. “I should really punish you for that.”
She wrapped her legs around his waist. “What did you have in mind?”
He lifted his face, looking her in the eyes. The happiness in his expression was evident. “I was thinking about two weeks somewhere tropical where I could keep you naked and in bed the whole time.”
She leaned back, as his hands trailed up under the jersey she was wearing. The one she’d bought months ago with his name and number on the back. “If you’re planning to keep me naked and in bed, what does it matter if we’re somewhere tropical?”
His lips searched out hers, kissing her deeply. “You make a good point,” he said when he pulled back, both of them out of breath. “Who needs tropical, when we have this room all to ourselves?”
She leaned back just a little to see his face. “I don’t need anything but you, Noah.” She slipped the jersey over her head leaving her in nothing but her bra. “Now about that punishment.”
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