Page 29

An Important Announcement

The sound of music and bowling balls colliding with pins greeted me when I stepped through the sliding doors into the slightly too cold bowling alley. They always kept the air conditioning on even in the colder months. I was also smacked in the face with the mingling aromas of nachos and pizza. I’d never realized how chaotic this giant room was or just how awesome.

I scanned the lanes, each one occupied by teams of people, some of them high-fiving each other. Children walked by, lugging balls under their arms, en route to the few lanes not being used by the Tuesday night adult league. One guy carried not one but two pitchers of beer.

I spotted Elizabeth first. The Ballbusters wore their blue and canary yellow bowling shirts tonight. With them, you never knew what you were going to get in the way of fashion. Like professional franchises, the Busters had multiple versions of their uniform, which made me smile. A moment later, I saw her. Kyle had her hair in a ponytail tonight and wore scrubs beneath her bowling shirt, which meant she’d likely just finished a shift. She was laughing at something someone on the next lane had said. My stomach went tight, my chest warm. All the feelings I’d kept tamped down for months moved through me in a burst. I loved this woman with every fiber of my being, and it was time I put my longtime fear of abandonment in a headlock and left it in a closet for all time.

I realized I was clutching my phone extra tightly, one part excitement, the other part nerves. I approached the counter where a bored-looking teenager was doling out shoes and waited until there was a lull in traffic. Finally, I leaned in.

“Hi, there. Could I possibly make a brief announcement?”

His eyebrows shot up.

“I promise it’s for good and not evil.”

That seemed to help. He relaxed into a grin. “My manager’s not here tonight, go for it.” He slid the mic on a stand my way.

“Not to bother anyone, but I need the attention of Dr. Kyle Remington for one moment. I suppose the rest of you can listen, too.” I watched. Kyle swiveled in my direction, her eyebrows pulled in curiosity, her lips pulled into a small smile. Elizabeth spotted me immediately and beamed like a lit-up Christmas tree. When Kyle’s eyes found mine, I saw everything in her soften, as it so often did when we connected. I would never get tired of that effect.

“Hi, Kyle.” Around her, bowling balls continued to be thrown down the lanes. Pins flew into each other in a blur. People tossed a glance or two my way, but for the most part we were alone. She raised a hand back to me with questioning eyes.

“So, I recently thought love was more likely to explode in my face before ever making me happy for a lifetime.” Okay, maybe not the strongest start. My voice shook and there was a slight echo on the speaker that I hadn’t been expecting. The teenager quirked his head in critique. “But that’s not why I’m on this loudspeaker. Bear with me.”

“Get it, Savanna!” someone yelled from across the room. Kyle folded her arms, waiting with her lips slightly parted in surprise, which made sense. “Thank you,” I said to the random voice. “Uh, I’ve learned a few things since then that I’d like to share. I’ve learned the kind of life I want to live and the kind of legacy I want to leave behind for my children one day.” That pulled in a few more audience members. The buzz of conversation in the room dipped. “And when I think of who I want to spend my days with, there’s literally no one but you, Kyle. You’re the first person I think of when I wake up in the morning and the last person on my mind when I fall asleep. I love you so much, Kyle, and I don’t just want you to know it, I want the world to.” I looked around to see all eyes now on me. “I give it about an hour until the rest of town does.” I heard a few folks laugh. “We’re gonna make mistakes and screw up all over the place. That’s part of life, but can we please move into the phase of life where we screw up together? Because I want nothing more in this world than to make you happy and call you mine.”

That seemed to have done it. Kyle began to walk in my direction, and the slightly tipsy bowlers she passed gave her a knock on the shoulder here or there while calling out things out like “Go get your girl.”

She arrived in front of me and smiled. “I don’t think I will ever forget you declaring yourself on the loudspeaker of a bowling alley.”

I laughed, my heart hammering. “I wanted you to know how seriously I take this.” I swallowed, searching her eyes for any sign of how she was feeling. For all I knew, I’d waited too long, and she’d embraced our newfound friendship. “I’ve had a lot happen today, and I’m going to tell you every detail. But there was no way I could go to sleep tonight without you being a part of all of it. I’m supposed to be here with you right now. I feel like we were meant to be together.”

“We were,” she said simply. “I’ve always known that. It’s why I never left town. That’s why I wasn’t in any hurry. Because something told me that the ending was always you and me together.”

My arms were around her neck in a burst. I needed to feel her pressed to me. All eyes were on us, and that was fine. I’d gone and made us into a spectacle and had no problem with every person in town knowing how much I loved Kyle. It was time that she knew it as well. Before I tugged her away, I leaned into the microphone. “And number twenty-six, your fries are ready.”

The teenager shot me a thank-you wink, and I laced my fingers through Kyle’s. “Follow me a minute.”

“Anywhere,” Kyle said, trailing behind me as I wound us through the whirs and pings of the small arcade section until we were alone in a sea of pinball machines. I didn’t mind the whimsical underscore because my heart soared with whimsy and a healthy dose of relief to be back where I’d always wanted to be. I went up on my toes and kissed Kyle slow and long, reveling in the feel of doing exactly what I’d longed to for too many ridiculous months.

“I have missed these lips,” she murmured. Next, she locked her gaze to mine. “And you’re sure?”

“I’m just as sure about us as I am about salad not being a romantic meal.”

Kyle laughed. “I love you. I don’t know if you know that or not, but it’s the biggest, most prominent thing I’ve ever experienced in my life. I’m head over heels for you, and tonight just confirms it once again.”

My eyes filled. I was planning to say the words myself, but hearing them from Kyle’s lips made me feel like the luckiest person alive. I wasn’t alone in this life, and I knew that now. Kyle wouldn’t be leaving me. I don’t know how I knew, but the confidence I had in us overflowed.

“I love you, too,” I said, trying to impart every ounce of that love. She smiled, gave my chin the tiniest victory shake, and kissed me again. Nearby, a pinball machine offered a fireworks show that was the most fitting finale I could imagine.

“Go finish crushing the other team. I’ll be here.”

She grinned, and the skin around her eyes crinkled. “Yeah? Me, too. For always.” She began walking back toward her lane before turning over her shoulder. “I forgot how much I like bowling. Maybe I should join one of these things.”

“I could buy you a bowling alley now.”

“What?”

“I’ll explain after your match.”

* * *

There were so many things I had to tell Kyle, so many ways in which I wanted to show her I loved her. The sheer number of items on my to-do list when it came to her and me practically overwhelmed me to paralysis.

In order to keep it simple, we decided on a peaceful evening at the beach house that night, in which we could talk, enjoy each other, and catch our breath. We had plenty of time to settle back in at my place, but tonight I wanted to hear the waves roll in and the seagulls overhead as I held Kyle in my arms again. And while every moment I spent with Kyle mattered, this one felt extra important: a promise that things were different now. We were no longer a question mark or a couple hoping to make it. Kyle Remington, savior of women trapped in doors, was the love of my life, and I wouldn’t forget it ever again. No matter what conflicts, obstacles, or salad disagreements came our way. And I fully expected some, too.

“I’m in shock right now,” Kyle said from our spot on her front deck. Spring had only just begun peeking its head around the corner, leaving the Bay with a moderate chill at night. “This is like something out of a movie. Your asshole of a boss winds up being your father, but he dies before telling you. But, oh wait, he leaves you his riches.”

“Yes. My life is quite cinematic.”

“And how are you doing with all of this?”

“Obviously, it’s not how I would have wanted it, but it’s my story now. The only thing I’ll never fully know is why Lindy didn’t give me that letter when I turned eighteen.”

Kyle paused. “Because she saw firsthand how awful he was and was trying to shield you from further trauma?”

I nodded. “I think so, too. It wasn’t the right decision, but I can try and put myself in her shoes. She was raising a child who’d lost her whole world. If I’d taken the information in that letter and run off to start a relationship with Faber, I would have been crushed by who he turned out to be.”

“Her heart was in the right place, at least.”

I laughed. “Lindy wanted me to leave my job so badly. She must have suggested it twice a week. Now it all makes sense.”

“I’m glad the pieces are finally assembling themselves.”

“Me, too. It feels like I can finally breathe again.”

We stared out at the darkened shoreline, listening to the sounds of the quiet beach. I snuggled closer to Kyle under the blanket. “And how are you these days?” I looked up and placed a kiss on her neck. “We’ve talked in passing, but I want to know everything.”

“Well, the headline is, I like it here. People know my name at the grocery store!”

“Imagine that!” We shared a laugh.

“It’s such a great fit at the hospital. I love the slower pace, but we have also faced a lot of trauma that, I’m happy to report, has been just fine. Even so, I’m continuing talking with my therapist back home once a week. She’s helped a lot with the little bit of PTSD I occasionally battle.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” I met her gaze and kissed her softly. “I’m here, too. Utilize the hell out of me if you ever need to talk, or not talk, or decompress with a glass of wine or some ocean staring. If you’ve had a hard day. Say so.” I popped up. “Did I tell you Charlie is up and around? He came into the store and gave me a great big hug. Jill wants to do a game night soon.”

She shook her head. “His recovery has been remarkable.”

“Thanks to you.”

“I’m just a piece of the puzzle.”

I looked up at her and lost myself in those eyes that never stopped. “You’re everything.” And that’s when it tipped, the lust scale. I’d fought it off as long as I could, but my hand was now making its way beneath the blanket to the hem of her top.

“You’re attempting to seduce me,” Kyle said with a raised eyebrow.

“Maybe.”

The smile dimmed. “You don’t have to. I’m so there.”

“Yeah?”

She shook her head, eyes dark. “You have no idea.”

We were making out like sixteen-year-olds on top of her covers in less than two minutes. One of the things I loved about scrubs was how easy they were to take off her. In fact, I brushed her hands away several times when she tried to help. “Uh-uh,” I said, catching her lips and devouring them. I had her beneath me in her bra and underwear, a matching set I’d yet to see, in record time. We kissed in long spurts, short gaspy ones, and my favorite of all, the ones where our lips sought and clung. Her mouth tasted just as sweet as it always had. The murmurs and moans of appreciation with each little thing I did made me feel strong and appreciated. I stroked her through her underwear as she gasped and pushed into me for more. “Savanna,” she pleaded.

“Right here,” I said. I removed her underwear completely just as she dropped her bra, and shortly thereafter mine, to the floor. We certainly had no time for the clothes tonight. I had one goal in mind, and that was to watch her come.

“You’re doing so many things to me,” she said at one point. “What are you doing to me? What?”

“Making up for lost time,” I said around the nipple in my mouth. If that wasn’t the damned truth. How had I been so foolish as to let so much of it go by when all the while we should have been kissing, touching, or anything without our clothes? We were so good together.

As I continued to stroke, my fingers moving through wet folds, Kyle arched her back and pumped her hips in the sexiest hypnotic rhythm. I wanted to taste her. I closed my mouth over her most sensitive spot and sucked softly and then not, until she cried out loudly, gripping the quilt beneath her like a lifeline to Earth. I hadn’t yet entered her and did so then, doubling her cry as I pushed her to greater and greater heights. Finally, she came back down in a whoosh, falling back against the pillow and searching for air. Still inside her, I continued to move to short little kicks of her hips.

“Are you trying to kill me?” she asked in a weak voice.

I continued my mission, pushing in and retreating slowly. To my surprise, she parted her legs further and began to move in tandem with me. First slowly and then very rapidly until she called out a second time, her head turning sideways on the pillow. “You are a menace,” she said finally.

“I think that was a compliment.”

“You’re also so hot when you get that determined look in your eyes. I swear I get there faster just watching you.”

“I happen to know from experience that you put on quite the show yourself.”

“What’s that?” she asked. “It’s time for my show now?”

I grinned as her mouth found my throat, sending sparks of heat. Her hips settled between my legs, and holy fuck, the world tilted on its axis. Kyle rocked into me, a move she knew I couldn’t resist. My hands were in her hair because it was too luxurious for them not to be. Her mouth was everywhere and also very focused, which was impressive in its duality. I didn’t know if it was how badly I wanted her or how amazing she was in bed—probably both—but I was already skittering close to the edge. The pressure between my legs rose and caused an ache I could scarcely handle. Kyle knew my signals and was right there for me, moving down the bed like naked Wonder Woman about to save my day. She settled between my legs and began to trace circles with her tongue that grew more precise by the moment until I broke and careened down the roller coaster in a wash of pleasure that shook my entire being. I exhaled, slow and shaky. It had been one hell of a ride.

I looked up at Kyle, who’d settled on top of me, and touched her cheek. “I love you.”

She smiled, and instead of answering right away, it seemed like she was soaking in the moment, memorizing my face. She intertwined her fingers with mine. “I love you, too. I will spend every day showing you how much. In fact, I can’t wait to get started.”

I pulled her down to me and held on, burying my face in her watermelon-scented hair as the waves rolled in nearby. Kyle was mine, and I was hers, and I knew without a single doubt that this was what forever felt like.