Page 117 of Last Fall

28

Zoe

As I Live andBreathe

Iwokeup to find a newspaper on the pillow beside me. At the top was the headline I expected.Mantas WinDivision!

What I didn’t expect was the picture under theheadline.

“Whoa.” I sat up, the sheetfallingaway.

For one, it was an awesomepicture.

For two, it was mekissingErik.

Whoadidn’t begin to cover it. We stood in the bottom right, me up in the air with my hands on Erik’s face. His name and number across my back clear as day. Behind us, and a little less focused, was the melee of players celebrating. Framing the shot were the stadiumlights.

It was like the cover of a sports romancenovel.

Except it was real and itwasus.

I flipped the paper over to read belowthefold.

Erik Cassidy, Mantas second baseman, getscelebratorykiss.

That was it. Thank goodness. I grabbed Erik’s shirt and wandered out to find him sitting on the balcony staring out at the city with a cup of coffee in his hand. I poured myself a cup andjoinedhim.

“You look lost in thought,” I said as I dropped a kiss on hischeek.

I loved the way he always reached up and pulled me backformore.

“Iam.”

I took the chair beside him. “What are you thinkingabout?”

“Do you reallywantthis?”

My stomach plummeted. “Excuseme?”

He seemed to realize what he said might have multiple meanings. “Shit. No, not like that. I am very happy being in a relationship with you. That hasn’t changed. What Imeanis—”

“Thepaper.”

“Yes.” He scrubbed his face. “It’s going to happen again. The further we get the more reporterswillask.”

“Maybe theywon’t.”

“You’re beautiful.” He smiled. “They always want to know about the beautifulwoman.”

“So you’re asking if I really want to come to your games and potentially end up inpapers?”

“Yes.”

I didn’t know the answer. I hid my identity because I was scared of Tony, but the more time I spent with Erik, the less I worried. “Tony hates baseball and he certainly doesn’t read novels.” I took a sip of my coffee as I thought. “The one thing I’ve hated these last few years is that even though he’s not here, he’s still controlling my life. His mark is still there, his influence. You said you’re a jealous man and you didn’t want to be together until his shadowwasgone.”

Erik reached for myhand. “Yeah.”

“Well, not coming to your games, hiding who we are, that feels like his shadow isstillhere.”