Nine
Silver Falls faded into the rearview mirror of my car and soon it was completely gone. I’d followed Adam to Boston and I now stood at the door to his townhouse in the new city I called home. I stopped myself suddenly, remembering it wasn’t Adam’s townhouse anymore. It was our home. Ours. Mine and Adam’s, and I felt him take my hand as he pushed the door open.
“Welcome home, Caroline.”
I turned to see him smiling at me. He was happy I was here and even though I’d been anxious, I knew I was happy too.
I stepped inside, my footsteps echoing in the hallway. I looked around as he walked in beside me and it felt different being here. I’d been in this place more times than I could count, but at this moment, I knew it was different.
“Let’s get your stuff upstairs,” he said, drawing me back from my thoughts. He picked up my two heavy bags effortlessly and headed towards the stairs. I walked slower though and when he’d climbed the first steps, he stopped and looked back at me. “C’mon, Caroline.” He motioned with his head that I should follow him.
“Coming,” I said, following up the stairs. He was already in the bedroom, the suitcases resting by the closet.
I looked around the bedroom and my eyes rested on the bed. I felt a smile slowly crawl on my lips as I realized this is where I’d be sleeping tonight and every night for the foreseeable future.
“What’s that look for?” he asked me and I shrugged my shoulders.
“I guess I’m finally realizing I’m moving in…that we’re living together.” My voice was quiet as he smiled over to me, closing the steps between us.
“I hope you’re okay with that,” he said, brushing my hair off my forehead and then taking my hand.
“I am,” I answered softly. “It might take some getting used to, but I’m definitely okay with being here,” I said, pausing before I reached up on my tippy toes, pressing my lips gently to his. “With you,” I added when I pulled away.
“And I’m definitely okay with you being here.” He smiled, kissing me sweetly once more.
He pulled away and then headed towards the closet. He appeared a moment later with the duffle bag he always took to the ballpark with him and set it on the bed.
“Leaving already?” I asked him and he looked up at me.
“In about an hour. Game starts at seven. I’ve got to get a workout in before then since I’ve been slacking the last two days.”
“You weren’t slacking,” I countered. “You were watching me graduate.”
“And you know I wouldn’t have missed that for the world, but almost two months into the season, two days off is an eternity.”
He had that look in his eyes. That intensity that only came from baseball.
“This is your life until October then,” I said with a quiet laugh. He stopped going through the bag and then closed the space between us, taking my hand with one of his while brushing the fingertips of the other across my cheek.
“You are my life. You have to know that by now,” he said softly with a sweet smile.
“I do know that,” I answered and he leaned in, resting his lips on mine for a few moments before pulling back.
“This won’t be easy with me being gone so much, Care, but I promise it’ll be worth it.”
I met his eyes again and slowly nodded.
“I’m not worried about that. I’m prepared for the lonely nights,” I said, trying not to think that in four days he left for a nine-game road trip to the West Coast and I’d be alone.
“You’ll make friends at work and I can introduce you to some of the guys’ wives,” he suggested.
“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me, Adam.”
“I’m not worried about you. I know you can take care of yourself. I just don’t want you to be lonely.”
“Like I said,” I told him, smiling up at him and resting my palm on his cheek, “don’t worry about me. You’ve got to work so there’s nothing we can really do about the situation, unless, of course, you plan to quit,” I said, a smirk spreading onto my face.
“If it’d make you happy, I would.”
I reached over and swatted him on the arm as he started to laugh.
“No, you wouldn’t and besides, it wouldn’t make me happy because I know what baseball means to you. It’s your whole world.”
His laughter faded and he reached for me, pulling me to him.
“No, it’s not. You’re my whole world, Caroline Hale.”
He pulled me even closer, our eyes locking as his lips hovered dangerously close to mine. My heart was pounding from being this close to him. I wondered if this would ever change. If there would ever come a time the feel of his body against mine wouldn’t send me into a frenzy. If ever I wouldn’t desire this man more than anything I’d ever felt before. As his mouth pressed against mine, I prayed it wouldn’t.
His breathing was heavy when he finally pulled away and when he looked at me, I could see the desire in his eyes.
“I wish I didn’t have to leave,” he said softly and I reached up, gently running my thumb along his jawline as I smiled at him.
“But I’ll be here when you get home,” I said and then he smiled too.
“Yeah. I keep forgetting about that. I could definitely get used to this.”
“Well, you’re gonna have to, because I’m here to stay.”
“And that’s the best thing I’ve heard all day,” he said and I started to laugh quietly. “What is it?” he asked.
“We really are nauseating, aren’t we? Just like Erica says.”
“Yeah, I guess we are,” he said, joining in my laughter. “It’s easy with you though, Care.”
My laughter stopped and I looked up at him again.
“I love you, Adam. Thank you for coming back for me that day. You never gave up on us.”
“You don’t give up on something you know is right. And,” he said, with a sweet smile as he gave me a quick kiss, “you and I are right.” He kissed me again and then turned back to the bag on the bed.
“Are you sure you’re okay with me not going to the game tonight?” I asked, sitting down on the bed while he finished gathering his stuff.
“I’m fine with that. I’m not pitching tonight and I know you’ve got to get ready for your first day tomorrow,” he said and I felt my stomach knot. His eyebrow raised as he looked at me. “You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I sighed. “Just nervous about tomorrow.”
“Don’t be nervous. You’ll be great.”
“I hope so. I just hope I’m not in over my head with this position.”
“You’re not. They wouldn’t have hired you if you weren’t qualified,” he said, looking up at me. “I love everything about you, Caroline, but if I could change anything about you, it would be that you have more faith in yourself.” I knew he hadn’t wanted to say it. I could see it on his face, but we both knew it was the truth. “You’re an incredibly sexy and extremely intelligent woman. You’re a dangerous combination. Now start believing it.”
I felt my cheeks warm at his compliment. Adam DeLain saw me in a much different light than I saw myself.
“You should’ve saved the pep talk for tomorrow morning when I really need it,” I told him and he grinned at me.
“I’ll have you covered then too, so don’t worry about that.” He pulled me to him then, holding me close. “You’ll be amazing tomorrow, Caroline. I know you will.”
I knew he believed what he said, now if only I could get myself to believe it.
~~~
I had the TV on, but the lights were out. I was tired, but I couldn’t sleep. It was strange being alone in the apartment this late. I never had been before. I told myself I was going to have to get used to it fast since Adam would be gone in just a few short days.
It was nearly midnight, but Adam wasn’t home yet. I’d watched the game. It’d ended at ten-thirty and I hoped he’d be home soon. I needed him to be home soon.
I sat up in the darkness when I heard the alarm chime. My heart pounded for an initial second from the startle of the sound, but I relaxed when I heard his footsteps coming up the stairs. His silhouette appeared in the doorway a moment later, peeking in carefully, afraid I was asleep. When he saw me sitting up and realized I wasn’t, he walked into the room. There was a smile on his face. I could see it from the glow of the TV.
“Hey,” he said softly, sitting down on the bed, the mattress giving below his weight.
“Hey,” I answered, reaching for his hand and we both looked at each other then. I think we both truly felt it then. That this was different. That our relationship was different now, since I was here, waiting for him, in his bed…our bed.
“I didn’t think you’d still be up,” he told me.
“I couldn’t sleep.”
“Too anxious for tomorrow?”
“A little,” I admitted and then a timid smile spread on my face. “And I was a little afraid being here by myself so late.”
He laughed quietly as he kicked off his shoes and then swung his legs onto the bed and stretched out beside me.
“If you can’t handle tonight, what are you gonna do while I’m on the road?”
“I’ll be fine. I’ve just got to get used to the sounds of the house and stuff when I’m alone.”
“Want me to pick up a nightlight for you tomorrow?” he teased and I swatted him on the arm.
“You’re such an ass sometimes,” I snipped at him and he laughed again.
“But, you love me,” he said, pulling me close and kissing me on the temple before standing up.
I wasn’t able to tell him that was the truth because I was too busy watching him as he pulled off his shirt, tossing it into the hamper before unbuttoning his jeans and sliding them off. I wondered if he knew what he was doing to me, standing there in just his boxer shorts while the light from the TV danced off his hard stomach. I was certain he did by the way he turned his head and looked at me with a confident smile on his face before he walked into the bathroom. I heard the water turn on and after a couple of minutes, the spitting of toothpaste into the sink. When I heard the water turn off, I looked towards the bathroom door where he stood, running a hand through his dark hair and sighing before he came back to the bed. He pulled the covers back and crawled in beside me. He settled onto his pillow before gently pulling me to him so my head was resting on his chest as I lay in his arms.
“You should get some sleep,” he said quietly as he reached for the remote, turning off the TV and plunging the room into darkness.
“Maybe now I will that you’re here,” I answered back as I began to run my fingertips over the hard muscles on his chest. “It was a good game tonight.”
“You watched?” he asked, sounding more surprised than I thought he would.
“Yes, I watched. I even caught a couple of glimpses of you in the dugout.”
“I wasn’t picking my nose or anything, was I?” he said with a laugh.
“No!” I sighed. “I swear, sometimes I think I’m still with that twelve-year-old kid that used to hock loogies at me.”
“I never did that,” he said defensively.
“Um…yeah, you did,” I shot back, quickly sitting up so our eyes met in the darkness. His eyebrows were creased as he looked at me with doubt.
“When was this?”
“I don’t remember exactly when. I just remember you and Sawyer chasing me around the yard, hocking up so much mucus into your mouths, I nearly threw up. Then you tried launching them at me like rockets.”
I felt his chest start to rise and fall quickly as he tried to suppress the laughter at the reawakening of the memory.
“Sawyer and I were pretty awful to you, weren’t we?” he said a few moments later, but I could still hear the laughter in his voice.
“Yes, you were,” I said, smirking at him as I looked firmly into his eyes that were getting easier to see now that mine were adjusting to the darkness.
A half-smile spread on his face and then he reached up and started playing with some of my hair that was hanging over my shoulder.
“Caroline Hale,” he began, the playful grin still on his face, “I wholeheartedly, one hundred percent apologize for terrorizing you as a child.”
“Perhaps I can forgive you someday,” I teased.
“I hope you can because I’m not a boy anymore. And you’re not that girl I used to tease mercilessly,” he said as a sexy smirk spread on his face. “I’m a man and you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.”
“Oh yeah?” I asked, raising a flirtatious eyebrow.
“Oh yeah,” he said, his voice deep and low as his eyes traveled over my body before coming back up to mine. “And you don’t want to know what I’m thinking about right now.” He reached up and brushed his fingertips over my cheek that was turning red at his insinuation. “You don’t want to know what I want to do to you right now.”
“What if I do want to know?” I asked softly, my heart starting to pound in anticipation.
“Then I can show you…if that’s what you want,” he added, his voice becoming even lower. “Is that what you want, Sweet Caroline?”
I thought my heart might fly out of my chest as I nodded slowly and the smile grew wider on his face. He reached up, pulling me to him, his mouth hovering so close to mine I could almost taste him.
“Let me show you then,” he whispered and it wasn’t long before we were completely lost in each other, taking each other to places only we could and I knew neither of us ever wanted to come back.
~~~
The room was quiet now, a far cry from earlier as we’d made love. I was tucked safely in his arms, my head resting on his chest and our legs tangled together. His breathing was low and deep. He was relaxed. We both were and as I glanced at the clock that read nearly two a.m., I wished the morning didn’t have to come. I wished we could stay like this forever, just the two of us alone in our world.
“We’re going to have a good life here. You and me, Caroline,” he whispered into the darkness.
“I know we will,” I said and I believed my words. The move to Boston had been scary, but now that I was here, there was nowhere else I’d rather be.
“You need to get some sleep, baby. You’ve got a big day tomorrow. I shouldn’t have kept you up the way I did.”
“For the record, you can always keep me up doing what we did tonight,” I said with a flirty laugh.
“I love having a girlfriend who is always such an eager participant.”
“You make it kind of impossible not to be,” I returned and I felt his chest move gently up and down in laughter and then he grew quiet for a few moments.
“I love you,” he said, the tone of his voice more serious than before. “And I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me too,” I said quietly as he pulled me closer, his arms growing tighter around me. He kissed the top of my head and then I felt his fingertips on my skin, tickling it softly as my eyes started to grow heavy. I’m not exactly sure when I fell asleep. All I knew was that I’d never felt more at peace, sharing this first night in our home and knowing he’d be there in the morning when I woke up.