“We can also just use your deck.”
“Alexandra.” Oh boy…my full name. “You’re not giving up your trees.”
We went into a staring contest.
I broke it saying, “There’s too many stairs here.”
He twisted in his seat to better face me, starting, “Babe—”
“Honey, it’ll mess with your head. And I can’t have that. If you’re set on giving me my trees, we’ll find another cabin that works for now and future or we’ll find some land and build something. Hey?”
His lips quirked and he agreed, “Hey.”
“Now, do you need another beer?”
“If I need another beer, I’ll get another beer. Do you need more wine?”
“If I need more wine, I’ll get more wine.”
His heavy black brows snapped together.
“We’ve played,” he said low. “But you haven’t been spanked and I’m feeling that coming on.”
My legs suddenly were restless.
This was not lost on him.
Thus, he turned back to the trees, threw back a tug of beer, and muttered, “Totally my mountain fuck bunny.”
“Oh my God,” I said to the trees. “You’re the worst.”
The next came supremely cocky.
“I know, but you love it.”
Oh yes.
I did.
I really, really did.
Epilogue
The House
Alex
Crack!
I no longer tensed when Judge threw up the softball and hit it with his bat toward left field.
Because what happened next was what had been happening for the last fifteen minutes.
Rix jogged, got under it, and caught it.
It was just the two of them out there.
Now.
I’d been out there before, when Judge was pitching, and Rix was hitting. Obviously, I had a lot of ground to cover. Mostly, I just chased after balls rolling toward the fence that had flown over my head. I hadn’t caught any, but I’d scooped up a couple of grounders.
Now, I was in the bleachers with Chloe.
Because Rix was fielding.
Crack!
“I can’t even begin to understand my visceral response to this,” Chloe began, sitting beside me, lounging back into the bleacher seat behind us with sunglasses on her nose, a chunky mohair sweater covering her upper body, skinny jeans, and booties on her lower.
It was a crisp late autumn day in Prescott, and she looked like a What to Wear picture.
Her focus was on Judge.
And her mouth was still moving.
“But it’s safe to say that Judge is going to get thoroughly ravished when we get home.”
I chuckled, watching Rix wing the ball under arm so it’d roll back to Judge after he’d fielded it. Then he got back into position. Feet apart. Knee slightly bent. Arms half loose, half tense, ready to help propel him where he needed to go to tag the ball.
And, yes.
He was going to get thoroughly ravished tonight too.
Though, I’d never tell him I was “ravishing” him. He’d be laughing too hard for me to concentrate on the ravishing.
“The guys are pretty excited Rix is going to come back to the team next season,” I noted.
“I’m sure they are. I know nothing of this, but I think it’s good practically every pitch Judge threw ended up in the grass.”
This was true, though it had started out frustrating, with Rix needing to come out of the batter’s box to go to the back stop to nab the ball and throw it back to Judge after he’d missed it. It hurt so much to watch, I almost jogged in so I could play catcher.
But Rix’s shoulders always stayed straight. His chin up. His concentration focused. And a couple of times, Judge jogged in to talk to him about things he was seeing that Rix was doing but wasn’t catching.
Eventually, he pulled it together, and when he did, boy, did he do it.
I figured he might have been more of a powerhouse before he’d lost his legs, but he was no slouch now.
He was going to be a ringer.
Crack!
“I know you saw it,” I said to Chloe.
“Saw what?” she asked.
“Saw it the first time you met me.” I gave it a beat and then explained, “How into Rix I was.”
I was watching Rix field.
But I was feeling Chloe’s attention turn to me.
“I also figured out you knew I hadn’t asked him to be my fake boyfriend when you called to talk to us about him being my fake boyfriend,” I continued.
Chloe said nothing.
Crack!
It was a line drive.
Those were harder to field. You needed to be more nimble on your feet.
I tensed.
Rix couldn’t get to it, but he reached for it anyway. My heart slid up in my throat, but when it passed him by, he just started jogging after it.
“He’s the best guy I’ve ever met,” I finished.
“Fortunately, my life is such that he’s in my top ten,” Chloe replied. “But he’s high up in that top ten.”
Happy she had that, and for other reasons besides, I felt my lips curl up.
Crack!
I watched Rix field.
Then I noted, “You were never going to throw us in front of Peri.”
“Mm…no,” she confirmed.
“That was about getting me motivated,” I went on.