Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 39136 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 196(@200wpm)___ 157(@250wpm)___ 130(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39136 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 196(@200wpm)___ 157(@250wpm)___ 130(@300wpm)
Okay, maybe he was a bit of a bad influence, but damn, Elliot was amazing and sexy and made me so fucking happy.
“See, I told you it was a good idea to come to the game,” Elliot said, nudging me.
“You had to twist his arm?” Jasmine asked with a laugh.
“I’m just here for the baseball pants,” I quipped, and Girard laughed, throwing Maclain a scorching look that was only meant for him. I had a feeling their sex life was pretty damned healthy as well.
When the game finally ended and the Pirates won, I stood up to clap with the rest of the fans, the loudest being Vickers’ family, who, according to Donovan, showed up to every game and hoped he might be scouted by one minor-league team or another. Geez, that sounded like a lot of pressure to me, even if they were only being supportive.
“Well, I’m disappointed,” I teased, watching the team gather their things in the dugout. “No over-the-top show of affection by any of the players this year? No secret relationships?”
“What? Yours wasn’t enough?” Jasmine countered. “Vickers can’t stop bragging that it was all his doing. So as an extension of the Pirates, you are the hot, new couple.”
“Hey now,” Maclain said in his cocky way, knotting his fingers together with Girard’s. “We obviously still hold that title.”
Donovan laughed. “So competitive. I bet you’ll try to get married first too.”
“Naturally,” Maclain said, winking at Girard, who only shook his head and smiled. They seemed so in love, and I supposed it was something to aspire to, though my heart was pretty damned full when it came to Elliot.
Elliot and I talked about our future together, but not about marriage, at least not yet. We had plenty of time to decide what was right for us. Instead, we focused mostly on the present. Elliot had officially moved into my bed, and we’d decided to turn his room into a study space, spending an entire afternoon putting together a desk that was more complicated to assemble than either of us imagined.
But come to think of it, that night over dinner, we did discuss after-graduation plans and found we were on the same page—no surprise there. We decided to save money so we could own a small house of our own someday. Or maybe a condo in a trendier part of town. For now, we were focusing on graduating from college and Elliot getting into the PT program.
We’d think about the rest of our lives later.
But now, I knew in my heart of hearts that when my disorder progressed and I needed more support, Elliot was the right person to have by my side. He’d even taken it upon himself to come to my physical therapy appointments with me and then nag me to work out more. I pretended to be annoyed, but the truth was, I loved that he cared so much.
“Anyone interested in meeting at Neon this weekend?” Jasmine asked as we walked to the parking lot with Girard and Maclain while Donovan and Ricky stayed behind to wait for Kellan. Ricky seemed excited that they’d all be meeting his family for dinner at the local campus pizzeria, something they did after every home game, apparently. It was sweet, really, and something I could see my family doing if they lived closer to campus. But it was enough that we got together for the important things, like our family dinner once Ryan and Kate had returned from their honeymoon. I kept waiting for Ryan to tell me some news about Dawson, but of course, Dawson had the right to take his time to figure shit out.
“We’re in,” Girard told Jasmine, then turned to us. “Wanna meet us at the bowling alley beforehand?”
“Sounds good to us,” Elliot said after glancing at me. But he knew I loved hanging out there and beating him in pinball.
Elliot had also been helping Girard with the little league this spring, standing in as coach when Maclain had too much on his plate at work. I could tell Elliot loved it and was looking forward to the summer tournament and the fall stuff too. I was just glad he didn’t expect me to attend every game.
Once we said our goodbyes and got in the car, Elliot’s cell rang, and he put it on speaker.
“Hi, Mom,” we said in unison to Elliot’s mother.
“Oh good, you’re both there. Family dinner on Sunday?”
When Elliot glanced at me, I smiled. “We’ll be there.”