Page 39 of Triple Threat
“I believe you.” I broke our stare, focusing instead on the green beans clutched in my hands. “Hopefully, this stir fry turns out okay. I found this new seasoning I’ve been wanting to try?—”
“Why did you leave?”
The green beans fell into the sink at Jace’s words. Heat rushed through my cheeks as I struggled to regain my composure. “Wh-what do you mean?”
Jace placed the knife on the block and then stepped closer to me. When our eyes met, he reached out and took my hand. My fingers shook against his sure ones, unable to move away even if I wanted to. “Why did you leave without saying goodbye, Kinsley? Did I do something?”
“No.” I shook my head. “It wasn’t anything you did. That night…” I inhaled slowly, trying to find the right words to express what it had meant to me. “It was perfect.Youwere perfect. And that scared me.”
“Why?”
I chewed on my lower lip. How could I get these words out without sounding like I’d lost my mind? After my mom died, I’d been so lost, so unsure of my choices over the past decade. Sure, I was surviving, but that was all I’d been doing. Going through each day, waiting to see if it was the one that changed the tide. But being with Jace? He’d been the push I needed for so long, making me want to do more than just exist.
“You scared me.” Jace’s face paled, and he backed away, but I placed my hand on his chest to stop him. “Not physically. I-I’ve never been good at dealing with other people. And dating…it’s never been my thing. I was okay with that. But then I met you…” Tears stung my eyes, so I slammed them shut, hoping to force them away. But as soon as one fell, Jace was there, brushing it away with his thumb. “You made me want more.”
“And that was bad thing?”
I swallowed, unable to answer him.It might have been.
Jace’s thumb kept gliding across my cheekbone in silent support. He didn’t push, didn’t ask me to explain. He simply stood there until I was ready to open my eyes. And when I gathered the courage, his blue eyes were waiting, filled with more understanding than I could have ever hoped for.
“You scared me too,” he whispered. “I was drowning back then, Kins, and you were the breath of air I needed.”
The simple admission was enough to remove any rational thoughts from my mind. I leaned forward and pressed my lips to Jace’s, claiming the kiss I’d dreamed about for years. It was slow, timid, almost as if this were our very first kiss. In a way, maybe it was. Not our beginning, but the beginning of something new. Something a lot less temporary.
Jace’s hands found my hips, dragging me closer to him. My hands fumbled, needing his skin on mine as fast as possible. An ache crashed between my legs, craving Jace more than anything else in this world. In the past two years, sex had been a distant memory. With my life revolving around Anna, it wasn’t as if I spent any time dating, and even if I could, I didn’t want to. Not when Jace was out there, still owning the shards of my broken and dusty heart.
Just as I started to pull off Jace’s shirt, a cry came out from my bedroom.Shit.We bounced apart, ending up on opposite sides of the kitchen again. What the hell was that? Jace came here to get to know his daughter, and I mauled him the moment we were alone?
Jace opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off before he could.
“We shouldn’t have done that.” I moved my hands behind me, grabbing the counter to stop from reaching out for him.“This is already complicated enough. We need to focus on Anna right now.”
Jace’s bright eyes found mine, searching their depths for any hint of a lie. If he looked close enough, he’d sure as hell find one. Being kissed by Jace altered everything, bringing me back to life for the second time, reminding me of how it felt to be wanted—needed—to be more than someone’s overworked mother.
“Is that what you want?” Jace asked.
“Yes.”No. But it was the only choice. If Jace and I fell into bed again, who knew what the fallout might be? Breaking my heart would be one thing, but I wouldn’t risk Anna’s, not before she even had time to know her father.
Jace nodded, moving toward the bedroom, but before he passed me, he paused, kissing my temple. “You’re right.”What?As Jace pulled away, his fingers brushed mine. “Doesn’t mean I agree. We’ll keep the focus on Anna for right now, but that won’t be the last time I kiss you Kinsley.”
With that, Jace walked toward my bedroom, greeting Anna as she got up from her nap. When he brought her out moments later, I showed him how to check her diaper and her favorite toys. Then, we cleaned up dinner, and he sat on the floor with her for hours, not complaining once as she showed him every piece of plastic food in her toy box.
From my spot on the couch, I kept quiet, content to watch as they spent time together. But every couple of minutes, my fingers drifted to my lips, retracing them and wishing it was Jace’s lips instead.Platonic. Keep things platonic, Kins.But every time his gaze met mine, one thought kept repeating back to me.
There was no way that was our last kiss.
TWENTY-FOUR
“You okay, Lyons?”
August panted the words, rushing to my side after a nasty throw. My shoulder roared as I tried to roll it out, the tendons raw from overextension. Didn’t matter. We were down three runs to Philly, and the minutes were trickling down too quickly. As much as I wanted to rush off this field and head back home, my pride wouldn’t let me. We needed this win—fuck,Ineeded this win.
After over two months back on the team, I was finally finding my rhythm in the outfield. The pressure was different from the infield, and it made me work that much harder. A new position, a new challenge, a chance to prove myself all over again.
I tilted my chin up at August. “All good. Just stop letting those fuckers get past you.”
He laughed off my comment, “Yeah, fuck you too, Lyons. Last time I check in on you.”
