Page 61 of Thrown Off Balance

Sloan

Cody hasn’t been more than a few feet away from me since Mason, Maddox, Peck, and Pauly told us the plan. He’s terrified something will go wrong and I can’t blame him, I am too.

Instead of going to bed, he insisted on sleeping on the couch so he could have me in his arms. It’s adorable and I love how protective he is, but we need to do this. I'm not changing my mind.

“Cody, it’s time to wake up,” I whisper as I brush a few strands of hair off of his forehead. He’s been complaining it’s getting too long, but he can’t even go get his hair cut thanks to Jude.

“Mmm, I don’t want to,” he groans, pulling my body tighter against his.

“C’mon, we have things to do! This will be the start of forever. Once Jude’s gone, we can do whatever we want.”

“I want to get married,” he murmurs sleepily, his eyes still shut.

“Ok.” A slow smile spreads across my lips. I’ve always wanted to marry Cody Robinson, I never thought it would happen after I moved away though.

“You’ll marry me?” He peeks one eye open and stares at me like he isn’t sure if he should get excited yet or not.

“Well, you’d have to propose first.” My grin widens as both of his eyes pop open and his intense gaze finds mine.

“Oh, I'm going to propose. The question is, will you say yes?” He leans in and brushes a soft kiss over my lips. I swear I’ll never get used to kissing Cody. Each time it feels like the first time. Each kiss sends butterflies swarming in my stomach. I hope that never changes.

“I guess you’ll have to wait and see.” I place my hand over his heart, feeling it beat strongly against my palm. I get lost in his arms. In his kiss. In Him.

“Let’s go, Broseph!” Jax’s face appears next to mine and I almost fall off the couch in an attempt to get away from him. “What are you doing?” Jax laughs and shakes his head.

“Why do you always have to be so close?” I grumble under my breath as I scoot closer to Cody again.

“One word. Jude. You and Bromeo will be able to go on all the dates you’d like, once Jude has disappeared from our lives. Won't it be amazing?” He lets out a happy little sigh. “I might not come home for days. I’ll live out in the city and be the happiest I’ve ever been.”

“You’re going to get mugged,” Cody snorts with laughter.

“Well, that would be an awful turn of events.” Jax frowns at us. “Still probably better than being stuck in this house. I might even drive myself everywhere.”

I giggle. I’ve never met a grown man who hates driving as much as Jax does. I'm not sure if it’s because he doesn’t want to be behind the wheel, or if he just likes having someone else with him all the time.

“Tanner said we’re going out tonight. He even got Killian to agree to come. It’s like my maiden voyage all over again. Like I get to be a man and go out for the first time without my parents. It’s going to be so great.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone so happy,” I laugh again.

“When does this crap start, Brosephine? I'm ready to get back to living again.”

“He’s in his car,” Pauly murmurs from his spot at the windows. He has a pair of binoculars and is watching Jude carefully.

“I'm getting too old for this crap,” Mason murmurs through the line. “Make sure he doesn’t spot us trying to scale this six-foot privacy fence.”

“C’mon, old man! We got this.” I can hear the grin in Maddox’s voice. He loves to give Mason a hard time about getting older. Mason’s only a few years older than Maddox, but he never lets him forget it.

“You could just use a ladder,” Peck chuckles.

He set up camp in Wheeler’s kitchen. They’re lucky they all know the second basemen of the Philadelphia Pit Bulls thanks to Wyatt. He’s made this entire operation so much easier for everyone.

Wheeler’s backyard butts up to Cody’s and Smithy, the third baseman, lives right next door to him.

“Just get over the stupid fence before he sees you,” Wes growls.

“What’s your dad doing here?” I turn and ask Cody.

“I'm pretty sure all the men of Mulberry Lane are at Wheeler’s or Smithy’s house. They want to be here in case they need to step in and help. Mason and Maddox have every employee they could pull parked around the neighborhood too. Jude won't be able to get away.”