With a bat in one hand and a mitt in the other, he walked across the field with a confident stride, and I thought it proof of a loving mother and good parenting that even though he must be a little nervous—or hell, maybe a lot—he still held himself tall.
“Hey,” I called out as he got closer, and I smirked when I noted the baseball cap sitting backward on his head. It was crazy how much of yourself you could see in someone when you knew to look.
“Hey,” Jake said as he came to a stop opposite me, and I went back to tossing the ball in and out of my glove. “Mom said you wanted to hit the ball around.”
“Yeah, well, I was thinking maybe a redo of Sunday, since you were kind of aiming for my head.”
Jake scoffed but toed the ground as though he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t. “I wasn’t aiming for your head.”
“No?”
“No.” Jake looked up at me with a smirk. “If I’d been aiming for your head, I would’ve hit it.”
That made me laugh. “You know, I actually believe you. You’re good.”
“The best at my school.”
“Uh huh, so was I.”
“Yeah, Mom said.”
Did she now? Well, that made me feel pretty damn good. “I thought maybe I could help you out a bit. On your fastball.”
“Really?”
“Yep. What speed are you trying to beat?”
Jake pinned me with a competitive stare if ever I’d seen one. “Yours.”
So it was like that, huh? I let out a whistle and nodded. “A hundred and one miles per hour is damn fast.”
“So is one hundred, but you did it.”
“You looked it up?”
“I did. The night of the baseball game.”
Oh yeah, this kid was just like me. Competitive through and through. “Well, let’s see what we can do.”
I reached for the bat he held, and before he let it go, he said, “You really didn’t know about me?”
My heart felt as though it got lodged somewhere in my throat. I looked into eyes the same as mine and shook my head. “I really didn’t. If I had, I would’ve been back here quicker than you can imagine.”
Jake stared me down as if trying to get read on me. “Harry was an asshole.”
The words were so honest and so spot-on that I couldn’t help but laugh. “I would’ve said bastard, but that works just as good. And you’re right, he was the worst. I’ve spent my whole life trying to be the exact opposite of him, and I’d like to try to do that with you as well.”
Jake let go of the bat, and I handed over the ball.
“I know I haven’t been here. That I’ve missed absolutely everything. But I’m here now, and I’m not going anywhere. I’d like to try to get to know you. I want you to get to know me.”
Jake swallowed and nodded, but, keeping true to his age, he kept his answer short and sweet. “That’d be good.”
“Good.”
He stepped around me and headed toward the pitcher’s mound, but halfway there he stopped and looked back at me.
“You gonna start dating my mom?”
Yes. Yes I was. “That okay with you?”
Jake shrugged but nodded. “It’s cool. But if you hurt her, I’ll kick your ass.”
As he turned to keep on walking, I couldn’t help but smile. I would’ve said the exact same thing.
He had nothing to worry about, though, because I’d come to realize over the past couple of weeks that I loved Laurel. I always had, and once this all settled down, I was going to make sure she knew it.
37
Laurel
THE SOUND OF Jake’s car tires on the gravel a couple hours later made me shut my book and look to the front door.
I’d been a nervous wreck all morning wondering how his and Noah’s first real get-together would go, and now that they were back, I couldn’t wait to grill Jake about it. I listened intently for footsteps up the stairs and then waited for the door to open. When I heard a knock instead, I frowned and put my book aside.
A quick look out the window showed Jake reversing back out of the drive. When I finally opened the door, Noah grinned.
“Hey there.”
“Hey…” My gaze shifted over his shoulder as I watched Jake drive away. “Where does he think he’s going?”
“Um, he told me anywhere but here.”
“Oh, did he now?”
Noah nodded. “He did. Said he’d find something to occupy himself until… Is it Caleb?”
“Yes.”
“Until Caleb got home from school. He said he’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”
“Uh huh.” Seemed that my—our—kid had decided to give us some alone time. He was perceptive, that one, and too smart for his own good. “In that case, would you like to come in?”
“I would, but first…” Noah reached out, cradled my cheeks, and moved in to press a soft, sweet kiss to my lips. I felt all of the stress and worry from the past couple days lift.
“Now do you want to come in?”
Noah raised his head and nodded. I stepped aside, and when he walked by, I took a second to inhale his delicious cologne. God, he smelled amazing. So damn good that I would’ve been happy to curl up in his lap and sit there for the rest of the day.
But more than that, I just wanted to be with him. In the same room talking, listening, learning about him. With everything now out in the open, I felt a freedom I’d never had before, and I wanted to bask in it and enjoy it.
“Did you two have a good time?”
Noah walked into my living room and looked around the space, and seeing him there did funny things to my insides. Too many times I’d imagined him here, standing by one of the windows or sitting on the couch beside me, and to see him there now was almost surreal.
“Laurel?”
“Huh?” I
