Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 115577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
And he was choosing me.
He was choosing this messy, flawed, imperfect woman who was too loud and too bold and too unstable to ever know what to expect.
He was seeing me for exactly who I was and finding it to be enough.
Just like I had been learning to do.
“I love you,” he breathed against my mouth before landing another long, hard kiss. “So much. Thank you for not giving up on me when I was being a fucking idiot.”
I laughed, kissing him back in earnest. “Thank you for saying yes when I disguised my desire for you under some stupid bucket list.”
“Are you telling me that list wasn’t real?”
“Oh, you’ve seen the notebook. It’s very real.” I leaned back, brushing his hair off his forehead. “But I wanted more than just you in my bed. I wanted you in my life. In my heart. I just knew it was an impossible ask.”
“So, you found a way.”
“I found a way,” I said, planting another kiss. “And I think maybe that’s what we do from here on out, don’t you? Just… roll with it. Find a way. Our way.”
Braden nodded, wrapping me up tight as he leaned his forehead to mine. “You and me, Trouble.”
I smiled, my heart echoing the sentiment until I felt it in my toes.
“You and me.”
Braden
The next day, Emily and I walked hand in hand through the stadium toward a conference room full of people we were ready to break the news to.
I’d called on Coach Palmer, Emily had informed Claire, and we knew there would likely be half the PR and HR teams there, too.
Emily’s hand was steady in mine, her breath calming my own as we walked.
I knew as long as I had her, I could face anything.
“You know, however this turns out… you’re going to have to face something possibly more intimidating than Claire and Coach Palmer,” I said.
“Does that even exist?”
One of my shoulders tilted up. “You’ve gotta meet my friend group.”
Emily waved me off with a scoff. “Are you kidding? That’ll be easy. Have you met me?” She pressed a quick peck to my cheek. “I’m impossible not to love.”
“Don’t I know it.” I smiled, throwing my arm around her shoulder. “We’re doing Christmas in the Rockies, just a couple nights where we can make it happen between practices and games. Come with me?”
“Oh, you’re stuck with me now.”
“My favorite way to be.”
She leaned into me with a smile, glancing up at me. “Are you nervous?”
“No,” I said, and I meant it. “I’m done being scared. No matter what happens when we walk through that door, I know it’ll be okay.”
“I love you,” she whispered. “Have I told you that today?”
“Yes. About four times in a row this morning actually when my face was buried between your—”
She kissed me with a laugh to shut me up, and then we paused on the outside of the conference room, both of us taking deep breaths.
“Ready?” I asked.
“Ready,” she said.
We turned toward the door, but before we could reach for the handle, it opened for us.
And one of my teammates walked out — Lavonte.
Holding hands with a dancer I recognized as one of Emily’s friends who was also her teammate.
“Marcus?” Emily asked, brows shooting up when she looked at their hands clasped and then back at her friend.
Marcus smiled sheepishly, threading his arm through Lavonte’s before resting his head on his biceps. “What?” he asked playfully. “You think you’re the only one who gets a happy ever after?”
Emily laughed, shaking her head. “I could not love this more. Hi, I’m Emily,” she said, extending her hand for Lavonte’s next.
“I know who you are,” Lavonte said with a smile, shaking her hand firmly. His eyes jetted to me next and he nodded his hello. I did the same, a knowing smile on my lips. He’d mentioned to me in a very brief one-off conversation that he was seeing someone, and it was getting serious.
I was happy to see I wasn’t the only one facing fears.
“I saw your podcast clip,” he said to Emily. “Then went and listened to the whole thing. It really inspired me.”
Emily balked. “I… inspired you?”
“Yeah,” Lavonte said. “It was brave as fuck, what you did. And you didn’t stutter, either. You stood on business. Made me think about my own cowardly ass and how I wanted to do the same. I wanted to be brave about what matters to me.” He looked down at Marcus then, and he practically transformed into a heart eye emoji. “So, thanks. You saved me from a lot of unnecessary pain.”
Marcus pressed up onto his toes to kiss Lavonte, and then he pretended to flick his non-existent long hair off his shoulder before planting a pointed look at Emily. “Anyway, your turn. It’ll be hard to follow our act, I assure you, but you can still have your little moment.”