“It sounds like you were close.”
“Sounds like it.”
“You going to tell me what that means?” His voice is soft. His hand on mine is tentative.
“It means he left without looking back.”
His thumb smooths a path across my knuckles. “You didn’t want to go with him?”
The truth presses against my throat, burning. More than anything. I swallow, hard. “He didn’t deserve us, not after everything we’d already given up. After the promises he made.”
“So you cut him out?”
“He’s the one who left.”
“But that’s baseball. What about us?” Garrett presses. “What if we’re together and I have a chance to keep playing only it means moving across country?”
Go back to that? My head is already shaking. “I’ll wish you well.”
Garrett’s hand slackens on mine. “That’s cold, Josie.”
“I’m sorry.” There’s heat behind my eyes because I’m not cold, only careful. “It’s just the way it is.”
When our eyes meet, his are cloudy with indecision. I try and tug my hand free, and that seems to settle something for him. He grips me tighter.
“We said we’d see what happens. So let’s see. I’m not going anywhere right now,” he says. “And neither are you.”
There’s a husky note in his voice that unravels me. “Why do you like me, Garrett?”
“Because you’re smart and funny. You challenge me and you frustrate me and somehow even that’s a good thing.” His fingers wind between mine. “Because under all that sarcasm, you have a smile that gets to me.” His throat works over a swallow. “You’re like baseball, Josie Walters. Hard to get to know—lots of rules—but you bring out the best in me.”
Tears swim in my eyes. No one’s ever said anything like that to me before.
I kiss him. I press my mouth hard against his so that nothing can get between us. Not even the future.
A breathless time later, we end up with our foreheads touching, our hearts racing.
“I should go,” I say. “I promised my mom.”
“Not yet. Stay a while longer.”
As much as I like the idea, I pull back. “You have poker, remember?”
His fingers slide from my hand to my forearm. “I can skip poker.”
“You can’t. What will the guys say?”
“Lucky me?”
“Ha.” But his words and his touch send another wave of warmth through my veins.
“Speaking of the guys, they’re really impressed with how good you are on-air.”
“You’re not bad, either.”
He widens his eyes. “Gee, Walters. I’m overwhelmed.” His fingers skate further up my arm. “Cooper’s grandfather thinks we could have a future in broadcasting.”
“What does he know?”
Garrett surprises me by saying, “A lot. He was a TV sports producer before he retired. Which makes me think…” His fingers still. “If I can’t play, broadcasting might be the perfect fallback plan. For you and me.”
“Me?”
“You like fallback plans. They’re very practical.”
I’m scrambling to catch up. “You’re talking about broadcasting. For reals?”
He purses his lips. “Reals is not a word, Walters. I’m not sure if I want a partnership with someone who is unfamiliar with the English language.”
“Smart-ass.” I flick his chest with a finger. “What about your grades? Can you even get into a broadcasting program?”
His expression is part irritation, part exasperation. But he says, “It’s possible that I did a little better on this week’s quiz.”
“Ninety percent or better?”
“Did I say I liked that you challenge me?” But his expression softens into something I think is embarrassment. “You were right, okay? As good as it felt to get back at my dad, it wasn’t my best idea. Besides, the bad grades were hard on my mom. Dad made her feel like they were her failure, too.”
“So if you bring up your grades, you can stay here for college?”
“As long as I have a plan that includes a potential paycheck, my dad won’t fight it. I’m still not going to settle for a cubicle. But a booth—with you—that’s got potential.”
I’m excited for him, but… “I already have a partnership. With my mom.”
“Do you love it?” He doesn’t wait for an answer. “Think about it. It’s just an idea. We’d have to get better first. Have to work at it to see if we could.”
“You mean, treat broadcasting as more than a contest?”
“Why not? The winning team gets admission to ASU’s School of Broadcasting. I was never going to go that route, but what if I did? What if you did?”
My throat is tight as I put the thought into words: “What if we did?”
He smiles. “I like how you say we.”
“We?” I repeat.
“Your lips get all puckery.”
“Puckery is not a word, Blondie. I’m not sure I want a partnership with someone who’s unfamiliar with the English language.”
His eyes spark with humor an instant before he grabs my shoulders. “That’s it. You’re getting tickled for that.”
I shriek as I’m suddenly flipped on my back. He doesn’t have to tickle me, though, because I’m already laughing. I’m laughing at every ridiculous thing he’s said to me since we met. At the realization that I’m going to get to hear whatever it is he says next.
He’s laughing, too, his chest shaking until he finally buries his head in the curve of my neck. We lie like that until the laughter dies away, and I have to wipe tears from the corners of my eyes. His weight feels good, and I’m sad when he finally moves, shifting until he’s propped up on one forearm.
His eyes are still full of laughter, but there’s also a stillness to him that speaks of something important. “So what do you think?” he asks. “About the broadcasting? You want to try it?”
My heart thuds with a mix of fear and excitement. My fingers are a little sweaty as I find the edge of his shirtsleeve and grab hold. “I guess it can’t hurt to try.”
I ignore my heart that’s saying, Yes, it can.
Chapter Thirty-One
I’m in so much trouble.
“Let me come with you,” Garrett says.
We’re standing in front of his house, by my truck. In the dark.
Full dark.
My heart’s beating faster with each passing second. “Are
