Page 98 of Out of Bounds
“Youmake me want to believe in myself. I think that might beyoursuperpower.”
She stands from the table when the waiter pulls out her chair and I offer her my hand. I have no idea what it implies or if it really means anything but as we head back to the car it’s the easiest decision I’ve made today to fold my hand around hers.
I open the driver side door for her. “Miss Quinn, your ride.”
“Don’t you meanyourride, since I’m the designated driver?”
I chuckle. As I do, Annie reaches for my face and I think she’s going to kiss me. And I’m so fucking here for it. I drop my hands to her hips, as one of her hands presses against my chest, but the other…
“You had dessert in your beard,” she tells me, as I’m wondering if my legs are still attached to my body because they’re weightless when she looks at me the way she’s looking at me now. When the heat of her body is setting off an inferno in my hold.
But I’m with it enough to realize she wasn’t going to kiss me at all.
“Thanks,” I tell her, dropping my hands, wishing I could read her mind because in these small moments, I think there’s a chance my feelings might be reciprocated, at least in part.
Then I remember why we’re even standing here, in this basement garage, having eaten more sugar than there is on an entire plantation. Annie’s driving lesson. Getting her through her test for her and Nelson’s sake.
“You know, if someone had told me a year ago that you’d become my best friend, I’d have laughed and said why on earth would a guy like that want to hang out with little old me?” she says.
What would I want with her?I’m absolutely gone for her. Everything about her.
She presses her lips to my cheek then climbs into the car. I close the door behind her and pause for a shaky breath.
I’m so fucking in love with her, it’s a disaster.
42
ANNIE – LATE NOVEMBER
A Year Gone By
“I don’t know how a year has gone by,” Sas says, handing me a glass of champagne that she’s insisting I deserve today of all days.
Nelson is napping with Colton since the Bears didn’t land back home from their Black Friday game until the early hours of the morning. We didn’t really get to do Thanksgiving properly because the team had to travel on Thursday, so today is a do-over of sorts as well as Nelson’s first birthday celebration.
It’s a reminder of what I was most thankful for a few hours after my turkey last year, becoming a mama, with my own mama holding my hand and by my side the whole time.
Sas and I are preparing a huge bird with all the trimmings for our family, Betty and her sister, the Sunshine Ranch staff, Tanner and Darcy, and Auston, if he turns up.
At this point, I’m sure Sas is regretting agreeing to this, whereas I’m used to making food en masse for the Sunshine Ranchers. She must be tired, too, since she spent Thanksgiving with her family in New York, then went to the Bears’ game last night and flew into Texas on a commercial flight this morning. Still, she’s here, cooking and handing me fizz.
“Thanks for today, Sas. You’re one in a million. So much has happened in a year and Colton, Daddy, Nelson and I would have found it all much harder without you.”
She leans her temple against mine, where we’re resting back against the kitchen counter in matching Bears aprons. “I’m not sure I’ve added much, Annie. You guys have pulled through this past year as a family and a team.”
“Youare our family now, too, Sas. You’ve made Colton the happiest he’s ever been in his life, which Mama got to see, and which benefits me because it keeps him off my back. You’ve helped so much with Nelson and here on the ranch when you’ve been in town. And without you, I’m not sure Tanner would be anything more than another guy on the team to me.”
I don’t know why I suddenly come over all teary eyed but I swallow it down with bubbles.
“You like him, don’t you?” Sas asks.
I swear I almost choke on my fancy-pants drink.
“I…” Am about to lie my pants off but the look she gives me tells me she already knows. “Yeah. I do. Which is bad. I’m a hot mess. My life is chaos, at least it was before he stepped in and fixed a few things for me. Now it’s a milder version of chaos but it’s still not an attractive proposition. I mean, the father of my child is maybe, maybe not, coming to his son’s first birthday party. My brother might well put him in the ER again if he shows. The whole world knows our dirty laundry, and I’m a twenty-two-year-old single mama, who’s still in education, helping out on the ranch, trying to raise a baby.”
“Annie—”
“It’s okay, Sas. There’s no need to sugar coat it. The fact I’ve fallen for Tanner adds another road to spaghetti junction. He could have any woman he wanted and even if he feels enough to support me now, I’m certain it’s more because he’s a great guy, and even if some of these hurdles didn’t exist, he’d eventually get bored, right? He means so much to Nelson and me both that I couldn’t risk doing anything about it.”
