Chapter 32
I didn’t get a chance to really talk to Ty until Monday night.
Thanks to the intermittent cell signal where he was, we’d only been able to text. I wasn’t about to say what I needed to with the call cutting out.
I’d wanted to talk to him on Monday before he started working on the murder manor, but I’d needed to head to Atlanta Sunday night for a meeting with my agent.
She’d flown into town from New York to go over the first pages I’d submitted of the Cursed Bonds spin-off.
She also wanted to go over the publisher’s plan to essentially “out” me if I agreed. I didn’t.
What I did do was outline my own plan to Alex, knowing I’d need her when the time came. When you were about to throw a nuke into your life, you wanted Alex Devereaux as the general of your army.
I’d barely made it back to Maplehurst for Lock’s baseball game.
Now we were all at Bennington’s, the pizzeria in town, with the team celebrating their win.
The place was packed with family and friends of the Maplehurst River Bats.
The smell of pepperoni, tomato sauce, cheese, and dough overwhelmed the lingering scent of sweat and dirt on the kids, many of whom refused to shower, wanting to celebrate in the baseball uniforms.
Ty sat with the team at the long table in the center of the dining room, ensuring the kids didn’t use the pizzas as frisbees.
Cady-Jo, Delilah, Louise, Helen, and Olivia all sat with me.
I tried not to see green when Olivia left the table, taking a seat next to Ty.
I caught the side-eye he sent me, but strangely, I didn’t feel unsettled.
Okay, so seeing another woman hit on Ty made me consider a good old-fashioned hair ripping out.
What was strange was I didn’t think twice about what Ty was saying.
What he was thinking. Would he do something with her? Was he flirting with her?
All those thoughts that should have plagued me…didn’t. I knew Ty was being nothing but polite. He wouldn’t give Olivia any hope of something more between them. He wouldn’t betray me.
The level of trust I had in him should have scared me.
Ty had texted me a few times since we’d gotten here.
Each message was a stolen moment between us.
When Lock hadn’t been on the field, I’d watched Ty as he coached.
The distance between us across the baseball diamond felt small compared to the distance I felt when he was just across the room and I had to act like I wasn’t halfway in love with him.
All right, I loved him. And that was the reason for what I was going to do next.
Eating with Cady-Jo, I tried to figure out how she’d actually react. Helen, to her credit, was her usual vivacious self, not giving anything away. I wanted to find a way to ask her what she thought of my plan.
As the evening wore on, I became more and more anxious.
I couldn’t stop tapping my foot, which Helen did catch, kicking me under the table.
The wink she gave me really said it all.
I could barely sit still. Every time I had to answer a question or contribute to the conversation became an internal fight to make sure my words weren’t delivered prematurely.
I had a plan, after all.
It was an hour later when I couldn’t take it anymore. I wasn’t waiting till later tonight when Ty came over. I couldn’t.
Following Ty outside, I was careful to make sure I wasn’t seen.
“Sure, Dad. I’ll stop by tomorrow morning.”
The gravelly rumble of his voice drew me to him. Rounding the corner to the back part of the parking lot, I found Ty looking into the trees that lined the lot, phone pressed to his ear.
Leaning against the wall, I waited for him to finish.
Turning, he did a double take. He made a show of looking me over from head to toe.
The smile that spread on his face made me glad I’d worn this particular dress.
It was a muddy red color with a flowery pattern of tans, golds, and greens, with a thick leather belt cinching my waist. It had buttons all down the front, and I’d paired it with a thick brown sweater to ward off the late autumn chill.
It wasn’t a special dress in any sense of the word, but I’d worn this dress one particular afternoon when I’d surprised Ty, for once, with a picnic in a spot I’d found. A picnic with a very special dessert.
His smug smile made my stomach quiver. I loved it when he looked at me like that.
“Something I can help you with, Ms. Lebonaire?”
Pushing off the wall, I made my way to him, so I was between him and the front of his truck. “That depends, Coach.” I ran my hand over the River Bats’ logo on his coach’s jersey.
“Depends? On what?” He took my hips in his hands, pulling me against him so I could feel the effect of this dress.
Shivering, I felt desire pulse between my thighs. “It’s come to my attention that I may need a little coaching on something.”
This wasn’t how I planned to have this discussion, but it felt right. Instead of something heavy, the teasing lightness that was so much a part of how we communicated just…fit.
Ty scanned the area. Lowering his head to mine, his voice thick with arousal, he said, “You looking to learn how to score a home run?” He punctuated his words with a gentle thrust of his erection against me.
Swallowing hard, I tried to keep my train of thought. God, did he smell good…
Words, Phoebe. Say the words.
I tilted my head back and had to flex my muscles to keep from trying to kiss him.
Did his lips have to be right there? “Actually,” I forced myself to speak so I didn’t get distracted anymore.
“I was hoping you had a coaching plan for a woman who wanted to tell her friend that she’s been dating her son and she’s crazy about him? ”
Ty stilled. “What?”
I love you and I want to be with you. Er…not something I could say in a parking lot, so I went with, “I don’t want us to hide our relationship anymore. From anyone.”
Ty stood so still he didn’t seem to be breathing.
Oh, I felt myself deflate. Maybe I—what if I was wrong?
I’d thought the entire time it was me wanting this, us, to be a secret.
What if it was Ty? After all, wasn’t that a part of the thrill?
The secrecy? The sneaking around? My heart started to pound, and a wave of dizziness hit, old Phoebe busting out of the mental box I’d tried to keep her in, bringing her BFFs anxiety and self-doubt to the party.
“Or-or m-maybe it’s a bad idea.” I tried to step away from him.
Ty hauled me back so fast I didn’t have time to blink. His mouth crashed down on mine and I was engulfed in his arms. He kissed me fiercely, hungrily. He didn’t let me go until I was leaning into him for more.
“You’re crazy if you think I don’t want everyone to know that you are mine,” he growled against my mouth, nipping my lower lip. “I’m going to paddle your ass for thinking those thoughts I saw swirling in your head, scribbler.”
My ass twitched in interest. He’d threatened to spank me a few times now, and it really wanted to know what that would feel like.
“So you’re okay with us telling your mom?” I needed the reassurance of hearing it.
His hands slid down my back, cupping my butt. He pulled me hard against him, just in case I missed his erection that throbbed between us. “Does that answer your question? Yes, baby. I’m more than okay with it. I’ve been losing my mind waiting.”
Oh...
“Hey, none of that.” He rubbed a hand up my back. “You have no guilt here. I made my own choice to be with you however I could. I would have waited forever if I had to. There is nothing that matters more to me than having you be mine, however I had to make that happen.”
That was sweet, and what I needed to hear. Hope bloomed in my chest that maybe he loved me as much as I loved him.
Melting into him, I inhaled his familiar scent, letting it wash over me. I love you. I love you. It was on the tip of my tongue, and then the sound of car wheels crunching pavement echoed and I knew I couldn’t. Not here.
“I know we planned for you to come over tonight, but I need to talk to Lock.” I couldn’t do anything until Lock knew.
I owed it to him. He deserved the chance to share his feelings whether they were good or bad.
After the secrets that Jeremy kept, it’d bothered me to keep secrets, too.
It didn’t matter that I was doing it to protect him.
“Do you want me to be there? I want him to know he will always be your first priority and mine. No matter what, he will always be my buddy.” His sincerity and understanding made my heart happy.
Lock would need to talk to Ty. They had their own relationship, and I needed to respect that and give them some time.
“I think I should talk to him on my own first. When I left Jeremy and we moved here, I’d told him this was the start of our new adventure.
Team him and me. Given he’s happier to see you than he is to see me these days… ”
Ty chuckled with a rueful shake of his head.
“I don’t think he’ll have an issue adding you to the team. But I need to give him the space to say if he does. He needs to know, unlike with his father, if anything happens between you and me, Lock will always have me in his corner.”
“And me,” Ty added. “You’re an amazing mom, scribbler. Lock has never and will never doubt your love for him. But before we do this, I do want to come to an understanding between you and me first.”
“Okay…” Apprehension skittered along my nerves.
“You’re Lock’s mom and I’ll always respect that.
” His voice was so serious, the look on his face one that could cut stone.
“But I love him, too. He’s Scarlette’s best friend.
I’m his coach. I can promise you right now I’ll never do anything to disrespect your wishes as his mom.
Ever. I just want it understood that if something happens between us, which it won’t”—my breath caught at the vehemence in his statement— “I won’t just walk away from him.
I’ll do it however you want. All I ask is that you don’t make me do that.
It would kill me to be a part of his pain. ”
I pressed my lips together, my eyes watering until I couldn’t see him clearly.
“Don’t cry, baby.” His thumb wiped a tear that had escaped. “I—”
I put a finger over his lips. “You are—I wouldn’t ask you to do that.
You will never understand how much what you just said means to me.
” And I believed every word. I couldn’t declare nothing would ever go wrong between Ty and me, but I could give him this.
“No matter what happens, we’ll figure out a way.
I wouldn’t do that to Lock or to you. You were his friend long before you kissed me the first time.
I couldn’t take that from you. Either of you. ”
Ty breathed a sigh of relief, resting his forehead against mine, giving me a swift kiss.
“You need to get back, or someone is going to come looking for you soon.” He reluctantly let me go, and I steadied myself with the knowledge that soon this wouldn’t be necessary.
“Talk to Lock tonight, and then I’ll come in the morning like always and talk to him too. ”
I nodded. I liked the idea. Keeping things normal was the best way.
Reluctantly, I walked away with the promise I’d call him after Lock was in bed.
I felt happy as I returned to the table, joining the conversation. I sent a quick text to Alex.
ME: Ding. Ding. Ding. Round one, here we go.
Another pizza was delivered to the table, Delilah rejoining us a few minutes later. I didn’t pay as much attention to the conversation as I should have. In my head, I was working out my speech to Lock, anxiously waiting to get him home and talk to him.
Everything felt right, and I should have realized that meant something very wrong was about to happen.