Page 52 of Lines We Cross

All heads whipped over to Ryder. He hadn’t told us anything about a make-out session with the young supermodel taking the fashion world by storm. I was pretty sure I’d remember that kind of salacious detail.

Ryder rubbed the back of his neck, a red hue to his face apparent despite the low lighting. He looked at the ground and mumbled, “Yeah, that was just a misunderstanding.”

Ava folded her arms across her chest and skewered him with a look I never wanted to be on the receiving end of. “Well, you might want to get things figured out before you bring that kind of craziness to Nickel Bay. We don’t need your PR nightmare in our town.”

Ryder straightened, his hard gaze swinging to Ava. “Ourtown. Nickel Bay is my town just as much as it is yours.”

Ava scoffed but didn’t say anything further. The rest of us looked around the circle in uncomfortable silence. Rae mouthed something to me, but I didn’t catch it. She rolled her eyes and pointed to the dance floor.

“Oh! Um, excuse us.”

I came around to collect my wife—a phrase I’d be slipping into conversation every single day for eternity just to hear the way it sounded—and headed out to the dance floor. The DJ caught my head nod and transitioned into our final dance, announcing that we were leaving shortly. I pulled Rae in close, inhaling the scent of her perfume. We had a wedding night to celebrate. The rest of the town could stay all night if they wanted, but I had a naked appointment with my wife I intended to keep.

“What was all that?” I whispered in Rae’s ear, already getting lost in the soft feel of her skin against mine, the way she curled into my body like we were made for each other.

Her eyes went comically wide. “I have no idea. Those two have issues. But that’s for later. Right now I want to dance one last time with my husband on my wedding day.”

The opening twang of Dierks Bentley’s songLivingcame through the speakers and I closed my eyes. Rae tucked herself right under my chin, her cheek on my chest, my arms banded around her waist. We shifted back and forth, swaying to the music. Soaking in the beauty of the day. Making a memory we’d have for the rest of our lives.

Flashes of light pinged against my eyelids and I knew our wedding photographer was capturing this dance. I’d had my picture taken thousands of times as a professional athlete, mostly when I wasn’t expecting it. Out of all the pictures I appeared in over the last twelve years, including the cover of Sports Illustrated, this one would be my favorite. The moment I celebrated every single detail of my life aligning perfectly. The moment when the beauty of the present stole my breath and made tears burn the back of my eyes. Baseball was fun, but being with Rae waslife.

I could see it all laid out ahead of me: Rae running ahead of me through the forest, that secret smile tossed over her shoulder while I lugged behind her. Rae rubbing her hand over her belly swollen with our baby. A house full of life and love and chaos in the form of little bare feet padding across the wood floor. A porch to hold our rocking chairs as we counted the gray hairs and told the same story over and over while our grandkids giggled. Today was where it all began.

Some days you just get by.

Some days you fly.

With Rae by my side, I’dsoar.