Page 118 of June: Jess' Story

I give Elodie a big hug back, then release her. “Yup, 5-2. She got an out and scored a run.”

“Woo whoo, now I have to pee. BRB.” Then Elodie bounds off into the locker rooms.

I smile at Damian and he smiles back, and with a wave, I turn to leave again.

“Would you go out with me?” he asks my back. “On a date that is. Would you go out on a date with me?”

I turn back around to find him with his hands in his pockets, rocking against his heels nervously. “Do you really think that’s a good idea?” I ask.

He starts, “I mean?—

“I actually ran into Summer,” I cut him off, “and she told me there was someone else, and really, I’ve done that before and I’monlyinterested in being with someone who isonlymine.”

“The someone else was you, Jess.” He pauses. “I amonlyyours.” His mouth sort of twists nervously at his confession.Oh.

“Umm…” is all I can get out at first. I’m speechless. “But what about Brit? The love of your life?”

“She can’t be the love of my life if I’ve fallen harder for someone else.” My cheeks flame, and my body thumps with each beat of my heart. “Do you ever wonder about what could have been…between us, Jess?” He finally asks the question he started in Spearhead.Yes.I nod in response, but I’m still speechless.

He takes a tentative step closer. “So, I’m asking again. Jess, would you go out with me?”

“You ran away from me…after Christmas…” That stung. More than I’d expected it to.

“I just couldn’t be around you and act normal anymore.” He pushes his moppy hair back. “Didn’t think you were ready for that.” I wasn’t. Probably. “And you were still married.” I was. I’m not now. “And I spent a lot of years pretending to be fine around you, and I was just done pretending.”

If we weren’t at a kids softball game I would kiss the absolute shit out of him. “How long, Damian?” I ask quietly, curiously.

“Since I checked yes. Since…always.” He says with a smirk.Fuck it.I launch myself into his arms and he catches me.PG, keep it PG.I drop my legs so it doesn’t look quite so bad, and instead of molesting him with tongue, I give him a safe-for-work kiss.

“One date,” I tell him. “You getonedate. We’ll see if you can make it to two.”

He laughs this big laugh that never fails to warm my insides. “I’ll win you over.”

“Did you just say you’re going to bend me over?!” I ask in mock shock.

He laughs again and says, “Well, that, too.”

I stopped counting after the sixth date because after that, he was just always around. Or I was always with him. We just never really wanted to not be with one another.

We started taking turns with who went to whose sporting events. Most of his clothes were now hung up in my closet. He even got a bigger car to fit Eden’s car seat.

Then we told the girls, and Brit, and our families. And at that point, we’d already talked about all the biggest things.

Marriage: Sure. Kids: Done. We were both done. Houses: Not in the city, but next door to the dads. Wedding: Small. Honeymoon: Big. Ring: Bigger.

And then one night, I woke up with a strange sort of unease that I just couldn’t shake.

“Babe.” I nudge him awake with a hand on his chest.

“Mmm,” he rouses sleepily.

“I don’t think you’ve ever made me cry.”

“Oh…” he says, running a hand down his sleep worn face. “Wait, are you breaking up with me?”

I laugh at him. “Oh my god, no.”

“Okay…do you want me to make you cry?” He reaches out for me, letting a hand drift into my hair.