Page 29 of Spending Forever With You

“Um… no. I don’t have one and why would I?”

Callie kissed her teeth as I approached the table with cups and the gallon of lemonade then turned to get my plate of fried fish, mac and cheese, greens, and hush puppies.

“Ugh, I swear I got all the common sense. Because that’s a part of the WAG life, but you know that already.”

I did and wanted to forget it so badly.

“Well, again, no. Can you remember with all that common sense that all this shit just happened yesterday?”

“Ooh, yeah. Damn, when is the next game? We have to get you a custom one for sure. Yes, it’s going to be your first official appearance at the Badgers field as Mrs. Deacon, but you ain’t new to this life as the wife of a baseball player and it’s critical that you step out wearing his name as yours.”

“But it’s not nor has it ever been,” I said with a mouth full of food.

“It is now and you need to move like it is or those women are going to see that you hate that man.”

I hated to admit she was right, so I didn’t, instead just made a mental note to order a custom jersey tonight with the new card Luke gave me. Shit, I wasn’t wasting my money on something I would be leaving here.

After we finished our food, we ended up downstairs in the theater room with popcorn and two kiddie movies back-to-back for Cami who passed out at the beginning of the second. Once they left, I decided to put on another movie since it was still early.

Along with a bottle of expensive ass wine from Luke’s cellar, I got comfortable watching a classic horror movie.

I went online and put an order in for my jersey. I wasn’t sure when I fell asleep or what time Luke came home, all I remembered was his scent filling my nose and invading my dreams.

And instead of fighting my horror fantasy, I lived it, allowing my husband to carry me away. Only because I knew it wasn’t real.

CHAPTER 8

Luke

I stood there staring at Hollis as she slept in the oversized recliner, allowing the dim light from the hallway to give me the perfect view. I had been home for about twenty minutes and had yet to wake her up. It was a selfish act on my part. I couldn’t remember how long it’d been since I had been able to steal this type of moment.

You should remember though.

That was on me. No matter how bad Hollis’s words cut me deep earlier, they were true. My baseball schedule kept me away, especially before I got scouted. After high school I tried playing in an open division league before I fully committed to doing summer leagues to help grow and keep my skills sharp, but it was traveling for tournaments consistently for two years that finally had scouts’ eyes on me.

To me, things were finally working for me and Hollis. I was finally going to be the man she deserved and described me as when it came to being a provider.

When draft day came, I had no idea what team would pick me up. I was already out of town, planning a surprise for Hollis when I got the call that Pittsburgh wanted me. Even though she celebrated with me, I believed that was the ultimate decision that forced us apart.

I knew the distance was a lot for her. Shit, it was a lot on me too. That was another reason I didn’t fight her on the decision to end us. I figured she had found another nigga to keep her warm at night since I didn’t.

That one major decision changed my life and now had me waking up the woman who owned my whole soul with a shoulder tap and not the kiss I longed for it to be.

I leaned down and briefly closed my eyes as I inhaled deeply.

“God, I missed how fucking good you smell, Hershey,” I said lowly, or so I thought. Hollis shifted and mumbled my name with a few chosen words that had my face twisting in confusion.

There’s no way she’s being nice to me.

I stilled, watching her face to see if her eyes opened. It wasn’t until a light snore moan combination slipped that let me know Hollis was having a sex dream. I chuckled lightly at the thought of her having it about me.

I decided to let her sleep and just carried her to bed myself. I almost forgot she talked in her sleep until more words came out.

I locked my arms around her body so I could lift her bridal style.

“Mmm… no, Luke, don’t kiss it right there,” Hollis moaned as we made our way out of the room. Of course I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t entertain her right now.

“Then tell me where, Hershey,” I said lowly as I climbed the steps, playing into her dream world.