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The stadium lightswere off and the parking lot was mostly empty while Rhett and I finished packing up all the gear from the game, making sure things were locked down. The scoreboard still read 5-4. The Unicorns’ first win. Esther scored the run that broke the tie, and when all the girls picked her up on their shoulders, I thought I was going to cry happy tears.

I walked alongside Rhett to his pickup, and he loaded the bag of balls into the truck bed. But then I realized it was time to go home, and... I really didn’t want to leave.

“First game,” Rhett said, coming around to my side of the pickup. He leaned up against the white exterior. It was dark out here, with just a lone streetlight illuminating the parking lot. A few moths danced in the light, but nothing like the light that danced in his eyes.

“First win,” I said with a smile. “You did great with the girls tonight.”

He rubbed his arm. “Esther was worried before the game. I hope I helped.”

“Are you kidding?” I asked. “She was grinning ear to ear after that run. What did you say to her?”

He leaned back against the truck bed, arms folded over his chest. “Maybe something about—” But he mumbled the last words, his cheeks turning red.

“What?” I asked. “I didn’t catch that.”

His cheeks were redder as he said, “I told her to have fun and it didn’t matter how she played or if we won or lost.”

His shyness made it hard not to smile. “Look at you and that sneaky big ol’ heart.”

I swore he was blushing as he said, “She was crying. What was I supposed to do?”

“You have a heart, you have a heart,” I sang, teasing him.

“Oh shut it,” he said. “You’re the softie. You said good job to everyone, even after Maya tripped running to home base because she was yelling at her damn dog to make sure he saw her score a point.”

I laughed. “Hey, that was objectively adorable.”

“Uh huh.” He smiled over at me, his eyes meeting mine.

There was something charged between us. Something warm, exciting, familiar, but also terrifying.

“Have you ever heard of twin flames?” he asked.

I raised my eyebrows, surprised by the change of subject. “I think I might have read it on a horoscope website or something.”

His lips twitched into half a smile. “Some people believe a twin flame is a soul split into two bodies. These people will be so closely tied they always find each other.”

“Like soul mates?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Soul mates are people who agree to meet in this lifetime, if you believe that. But it’s thought that twin flames are kind of like mirror souls. They show each other what’s good about the other, but also what they have to work on.”

My breath caught as I listened to his words, deeper than we’d really gone since I’d moved back home.

“And authors have talked about twin flames in stories. You know, Emily Bronte said, ‘He’s more myself than I am. Whatever souls are made of, his and mine are the same.’”

I searched his eyes, wondering what that meant about us, a relationship that had hurt me to the core, but I still couldn’t manage to stay away.

“Sometimes...” He swallowed. “Sometimes I wonder if that’s what we are. If you showed me what I was missing so I could get better. And I hate that mistake I made, but I know I’ve become a better man because of the lesson it forced me to learn.”

My lips parted. I couldn’t find the words, only overwhelming feelings that came flooding through me at the memories. At the possibilities.

“I’m more patient with people,” he continued. “I don’t react so quickly, even if I do get hotheaded from time to time. I’ve learned to laugh through pain. Patience. God, have I learned patience. And most of all, I learned what it means to love someone and hope the best for them, even if it means you can’t live happily ever after with them like you wanted to.” He reached out and cupped my cheek.

And this time, I didn’t just stand still. I lifted my chin, looking into his eyes. “I’m afraid to fall for you.”

“You don’t need to be afraid.”

My voice felt thick. “Why is that?”