“What we had was real,” I say, staring at Misty’s menu, since she’s covering her entire body with it.
“Sure, but some people would say it isn’t. You were messing around with that girl for over a year.” She lowers the menu and leans forward, lowering her voice. “You were fucking her for over a year. That’s a long time. A lot longer than you were fucking me.”
I flinch. “Misty.”
“It’s true. I fucked guys longer than we were together as well.” Her eyes narrow. “How does that make you feel?”
“Not good.” I shut my eyes, wishing she’d take all of that back, but I know she won’t. I open my eyes and swallow. “I hate that.”
“Yeah, well, welcome to my world. And still you think we can make this work. I just . . . ” She shakes her head, leaning back in her chair and going back to the menu. “What the fuck is the point anyway?”
“The point is to be together.”
“Together.” She laughs. “What will happen when you get drafted?”
“We’ll figure it out.”
“We’ll figure it out.” She shakes her head. “The draft is soon.”
“I know.”
“What round will you go, do you know?”
“First.”
“You seem pretty sure about that.” She raises an eyebrow.
“I’m absolutely sure. If that wasn’t the case, I wouldn’t have gone to college at all.”
“Explain something to me.” She lowers the menu again and leans forward. I do the same, wishing this table was smaller so that I could be all up in her space. “Why would you want to get into a relationship now, when you’re about to become rich and famous and women are going to be throwing themselves all over you? It sounds like a recipe for disaster.”
“It’s not.”
“Explain.” She taps her fingers on the table, waiting. The server interrupts us and we put in our orders quickly. When we finish, Misty is still staring at me.
“Women already throw themselves all over me. They have for . . . the majority of my life. This isn’t new territory to me. I can have whoever I want, but the only person I actually want is sitting across from me right now.”
“Why? When did you figure out that I’m the one you want.”
“I always knew.”
“Yet you were busy fucking women like Silvie and leading them on.”
“Jesus.” I rub my hands over my face.
“Why not have a relationship with someone? It doesn’t make any sense. All these years and you never had a girlfriend.”
“I told you, baseball was my number one priority.”
“It still is, clearly, so what changed?”
“You’re not making this easy, Misty.”
“Am I supposed to? Do you expect me to flail all over you because you’re hot and are about to get a fat paycheck?”
“No.”
“Is that why you want me? Because I don’t need you?”
“That’s one of the reasons.”
“Give me another reason.”
“You’re smart. You’re beautiful. You’re funny. You’re an asshole.”
“Oh, so we’re openly admitting we like assholes now?” She tries to fight a smile, but fails.
“You did call me an asshole earlier.”
“I hated you for such a long time,” she says, her words nearly a whisper. “And I realize that was on me. I couldn’t make you love me.”
“I did though.” I put my hand over hers. “I did love you.”
“You didn’t say that.”
“What was I supposed to say? I wanted you to leave and not look back. I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“But you did and you made me feel like my feelings were invalid.”
“I’m so sorry.” I squeeze her hand.
“Stop apologizing.” She takes her hand from underneath mine.
“What can I do for you to give me a chance?”
“Keep showing up.”
“That simple?” I try not to smile, but it’s useless; this is the most hope she’s given me in years.
“That simple.”
“So you’ll officially date me?” I’m full-on smiling now, and I don’t even care.
“Let’s not go that far. I didn’t agree to that.”
“But you’ll go on dates with me and not see other guys?”
“Are you going to see other girls?”
“No. Hell no. I haven’t been with anyone all year.”
“Not even Silvie?”
“Especially not Silvie.” I chuckle, then get serious again. “I’m going to take you out every night this week and next week and the one after that until you choose me.”
“Okay.” She smiles and my heart booms.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Misty
Mitchell wasn’t kidding about seeing me every day, though we haven’t exactly gone on actual dates or had much fun. I’ve been working on the article, finally, and working, and he’s been busy with practice, so we’ve seen each other maybe for ten minutes here and there. He’s also had Maverick over every night, so that hasn’t worked out in our favor either. Somehow, those stolen moments have made things even sweeter. A kiss before class or work. Some heavy petting that never leads where we want it to since someone always needs him for something. It’s frustrating, but it’s a nice change and it reminds me so much of when we first got together. That entire first month had been about flirting and kissing and pushing limits. A noise wakes me and I look at the clock to see it’s three thirty in the morning. I sit up quickly, heart pounding when I hear the sound of footsteps.
“Misty.”
“Mitch?” I rub my eyes. “What the—”
“You gave me a copy of your key, remember?”
“Yeah.” I frown in the dark. I’d given him the key three days ago. “And you never showed up.”
“Because my parents came over.”
“Oh.” My frown deepens. “I didn’t even know they were in town.”
“You’ve been busy.” He walks up to my bed and sits beside me.
“It’s almost four in the morning.” I yawn. “Don’t tell me you’re here to take me on a jog because I swear I’ll scream.”
He chuckles. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“Then what—”
He stops my question with a kiss. A hard kiss against my lips that pushes all thoughts out of my head. His tongue slips into my mouth and his hands start working their way down my body. I sit up to assist him in taking off my clothes, and then help him with his. He takes a step back and looks at me. I can’t see much of him, only shadows, but I can definitely see his cock, hard and ready. He leans down, pulling me into a kiss again, as his hand reaches between my legs, finding my clit.
“Oh my God,” I whisper against his mouth.
He takes his hand away and I whimper at the loss of contact. He moves onto the bed and grabs my waist, guiding me over him. I begin to settle over his hard-on, but he continues to move me higher.