Page 22

It was a blissful weekend that was far too short, and she cried when I dropped her at the airport.

I’ll be honest. My own eyes burned when I had to pull away knowing she was flying out of my reach.

Carla tracked down a replacement for me through Troy’s recommendation, and she tapped former outfielder for the Padres and homerun hitter Tim Williams. I’ve met him at several different events, and I have no doubt he’ll be a great spokesperson for local events. Plus he has four kids, and they’re all in the San Diego district, so he’s already somewhat familiar with the mission.

So now I just have to see if I can work something out between Gabby and Kaylee, and then Gabby and I might have opportunities to work together.

Maybe it’s a little crazy to even be considering that, but I know what I feel, and this is way more than just some fling.

When she said the words, I felt them in my chest.

We didn’t say them again over the weekend apart from that one time, and her words came out in the blissful moment when her body was racked with pleasure, but it didn’t matter. There they were, and she couldn’t take them back.

I wouldn’t let her even if she tried.

It was the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said to me.

With my ex, she said the words so often they lost their meaning.

When Gabby said them, it was because she felt them. She was in the moment, living and breathing that feeling, and the words just fell out of her. It was pure and beautiful, and that’s how I knew it was genuine.

And when I leaned down and buried my face in her neck, it was so she wouldn’t see the emotion in my eyes. I’m not an emotional man. I tend to be incredibly even-keel off the field. On the field…that’s a different story. I’m passionate, and I feel things, but there are only two times I can remember feeling enough emotions to cause me to cry: at my father’s funeral and when the doctor told me I’d need surgery that would take a year to recover from and I might never play baseball again.

The first was tears of sadness. The second was tears of frustration.

And when Gabby said those words, this strange sense of relief filled my chest that I wasn’t alone.

She made me feel like I’ll never be alone again because I’ll always have her by my side.

We’ve known each other a sum total of eleven days. It’s too early to be thinking that way.

But I’m also a firm believer that people are put in our paths for a reason.

It took me a long time to see why Stacy was put in my path. In fact, I’m not sure I fully realized it until this moment.

I wasted five years on her.

I knew she was wrong for me from the start, yet I continued to chip away and try to make it work.

I should’ve listened to my gut.

And that’s the reason she was in my life. To learn that lesson.

To listen to my gut.

To not waste any more time.

I want to be with Gabby. She wants to be with me.

We can take it fast, or we can take it slow, but the end result will be the same either way. There’s no other choice.

The week drags as I get busy training Tim and spending my post-work hours at the apartment complex gym. I’m not out of shape, exactly, but I’m also not in playing shape, but I remember the rebuilding process from my playing days. I’m in the phase that comes before training to train, a place I refer to as Phase Zero. My goal is to start running five times a week and to do a total body workout three times per week. Then I’ll take the weekends off to rest…or, better yet, to work on my endurance in other areas.

Wink, wink.

I drive to Coronado Island to run on the beach since the scenery is nicer than the workout room at my complex. I see Gabby everywhere I go, including on the small island where we went out to dinner Saturday night before driving to Torrey Pines State Park to stargaze in the back of my truck this time.

I start to change my diet, opting to only eat pizza once per week and getting back on the lean meats and veggies I used to eat.

I’m feeling a difference already, and even though I’m exhausted by the end of each day, I still call Gabby before I head to bed.

“I hate to cut this short, but I need to go to bed,” I say with a yawn on Thursday night.

“Can I ask you something?” she asks, and she sounds a little nervous.

“Anything,” I say.

“Are you…avoiding me?”

“ Avoiding you? Why would you think that?” My brows dip as I rack my brain to figure out some reason she’d ask that.

“Well, we said The Big Thing last weekend, and this week it just feels like you’re rushing through our calls and you’re not texting me throughout the day…I don’t want to sound juvenile or needy, but you set the expectation early and I feel like you’re fading away.”

My chest tightens.

I feel like shit that I’ve made her feel this way.

“No!” I say, vehemence in my voice. “No, that’s not it at all. I’m training a new guy at work to take my place, and I’ve been spending time away from work, uh…prepping for my new job. I’m wearing myself out, that’s all. My feelings for you haven’t changed, Gabby.”

“I just keep thinking how I’m going to start school and you’re going to start a new job, a job you still haven’t told me about, by the way, and I don’t know…I guess I’m just feeling insecure. The distance is hard when you’re still getting to know someone, but the feelings don’t go away, you know?” she asks softly, baring her very soul to me with her words.

I wish I could hold her in my arms right now. I wish I could kiss her and show her that nothing has changed. “I have never felt like this in my life, and your ass better be at the airport waiting for me tomorrow at exactly seven twenty-six so I can take you back to my hotel room or to your place or just to the back of your truck and fuck you until you can’t walk straight.”

A soft laugh falls from her lips. “I’m still sore from last weekend,” she admits, and I chuckle.

“I’m sorry, Sunshine,” I murmur. “I’m sorry I made you feel like I’m fading. I promise, that’s not what this is, and I appreciate you being honest with me.”

“Okay. And let’s go with your hotel, by the way. My dad will flip out when he finds out I’m dating someone twelve years older than me.”

“Oh great,” I mutter. “Something to look forward to.”

“You have no idea,” she says. “So listen, when do I get to hear about this new job?”

I’ve been thinking a lot about when to spring it on her, and I still think the best time to do it is to just take her to the stadium and show her in person like I told my mom. “I haven’t officially signed the contract yet, but I’m supposed to meet with my new boss September first to make it official.”

“So you’re telling me you quit your job, you’re coming to Vegas this weekend to look at places to live…and you haven’t even signed a contract yet?” I hear the disapproval in her tone, and it’s just one more thing to love about her. The way she asks the hard questions will prove challenging in the future, I’m sure, but it’ll also keep our relationship strong and healthy. “Cooper Michael, that’s a terrible idea.”

I laugh. “Normally I’d agree with you, but the contract and salary negotiations are purely a formality at this point. My boss and I used to be really tight. He’s a good friend, someone I could see becoming my best friend in Vegas, and it’s a done deal.”

She clears her throat. “Um…what now? Who is going to be your best friend?”

I laugh at her teasing. “You, of course, but what am I going to do when you have a big project due and you want me out of your hair so you tell me to just go have a boys’ night out? This way I know who to call.”

“I guess I can let that slide.”

Our conversation returns to lighthearted teasing, and it’s the dynamic where I find my cheeks hurting from smiling so widely.

I love how this girl makes me feel, and I can’t wait to get her back in my arms—and my bed—tomorrow.