Matt Stallworth

I fought off the urge to throw the phone through the window and pressed the green dot on the screen. “This better be good.”

“Or else what, bitch?”

“I’m not kidding. I’m busy.”

“Jesus, fine. I need to talk shop with you.”

I scrubbed a hand through my hair and anxiety ripped through my stomach. Kelsey looked up at me and I tried to shrug it off. Fuck, she was so perfect. I couldn’t believe I’d lost control and fucked her like that. Well, I could believe it, but it wasn’t how it was supposed to go. She deserved better than being manhandled the first time we had sex.

Jesus, Stallworth.

“It’s not a great time. Is it important that we do this now?” I held up a finger at Kelsey to let her know the conversation would be over shortly.

“Unfortunately, yes. I’m sorry.”

“Okay, give me a second.” I turned to Kelsey and covered up the mic on my phone. “I’m sorry, I have to talk about business stuff for just a minute. I won’t be long. I’m going to run to the kitchen and grab us something to drink.”

She sank back into the couch and nodded. It was obvious I didn’t want her to overhear the conversation and I hated being evasive, but she would be out the door in a heartbeat if she knew about the contract situation. The whole ordeal presented a perfect opportunity for her to bolt.

The choice was crystal clear and I was hell-bent on muddying the waters. If I told her she would leave. The fact was I’d planned to stay in Texas. But now I was worried she’d leave because I’d kept it from her. The whole situation, I just wanted to avoid it.

I walked around the corner and into the kitchen. “Okay, what’s up?”

“You fucked her, didn’t you?”

“What? Did you want to talk shop or not? You’re on a timer here.”

Ethan laughed. “Oh, you definitely got your dick wet. Jenny told me all about your little romantic plan.”

I stopped in my tracks and straightened up. “If you knew I was with her on a romantic evening, why the fuck are you calling me?”

His tone changed to serious. “It was unavoidable. I swear.”

“Okay, well, spit it out.”

“Don’t hate me. I’m just the messenger.”

My jaw tightened. “What happened?”

“The time frame for one of your offers has been significantly shortened.”

“Fuck.” My palm smacked against the refrigerator door. The boom echoed through the kitchen and reminded me I was not alone.

“Everything okay in there?” Kelsey asked from the other room.

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry. Be right back.”

Ethan sighed. “I’m sorry.”

I closed my eyes for a split second and then opened them. One of the ice-cold water bottles I pulled from the fridge helped ease the throbbing from smacking the door. “How much time do I have?”

“The Yankees need to know within two months.”

A fly buzzed around my head and refused to leave me alone. I stared out a window into my backyard and inhaled a deep breath. It could’ve been worse.

“I’m sorry. They’re impatient.”

“It’s okay.” I nodded. “Should have an answer by then.”

“Everything okay with you?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a lot on my mind.”

“Okay, well, let’s grab some beers tomorrow and we can discuss details.”

“Sounds good.”

“All right. Later.”

“Later.”

I hung up the phone and walked back around the corner with the two bottles of water. Kelsey was in the entryway striding toward the door.

My whole body stiffened. “Where are you going?” It came out all wrong, not a yell, but like I’d barked at her.

She whipped around with a glare that matched my own thoughts at the moment. “I was looking for my purse.”

“Oh.” I set the drinks down on the coffee table.

Kelsey marched toward me and stopped a few feet away with her hands on her hips.

I looked down at the floor. “Sorry about that. It’s just—”

“I may have enjoyed before, the rough play.” She nodded at the couch. “But I do respect myself and you won’t talk to me like that. I don’t care who you are.”

“I’m sorry. You’re right. I’m not usually—I mean—it just wasn’t a great phone call.”

God, you’re fucking this up.

Kelsey eyed me. “Do you want to talk about it?”

I took a step toward her. “Not at all.”

She grinned. “Oh, right, mister let’s talk it out.”

I shook my head at her. “You’re funny.” I leaned down and kissed her again.

“You’re good at segues,” she mumbled against my lips.

My hands ran down to her hips over the smooth fabric of her dress. How did she taste so perfect? I reached farther south and lifted her up onto me. She moaned lightly into my mouth.

“You think you can just pick me up whenever you want and carry me away?”

I looked her in the eye. “I swear I never talk like that. Especially to women. It won’t happen again.”

“I know it won’t.”

I quirked an eyebrow up at her. “How do you know?”

“Because I’ll tell your mother.”

My eyes widened. “She’d kill me.”

“Guess you better not do it again.”

“Never again. Promise.” I stopped and grinned at her. “But yes, I’ll pick you up and carry you away anytime I please.”

Kelsey kissed down my neck and hooked her legs around my waist. My cock surged to life in my pants. I was no stranger to carrying women to my bed, but this time it was different. Did I want to be inside Kelsey again? More than anything. Would I have been just as content carrying her to bed and falling asleep next to her? Absolutely, if I was being honest with myself.

When we reached the bed, I set her down gently on her back; my chest pressed against hers and our faces rested inches apart. “I’m sorry. Tonight wasn’t supposed to go like this.”

“How was it supposed to go?”

“More like this right here.” I stroked her hair gently on the side of her head and stared at her beautiful face.

Her eyelashes fluttered and she put a hand on my cheek. “I like the way you look at me, Stallworth.”

“I never want to look at anything else.”

“What will you do when you have to go on the road?”

“Think about this moment the whole time. Call you every chance I get. Maybe even send you letters in the mail. Beg you to come with me on every away series. Whatever I have to do to keep us close.”

Kelsey smiled and her cheeks tinted with pink hues again, like earlier. “Very smooth.”

I chuckled. “I mean, I thought so.”

She nodded and wrapped her legs tighter around me, grinding her pussy against my cock. “You’re pretty cute. Even when you’re not smacking my ass.”

I started to laugh and it turned into a groan as she ground her hips into me. Kelsey Martin always found a different way to surprise me and catch me off guard. I could feel the heat from her pussy through my slacks and my briefs.

I could see the needy look in her eyes. It practically begged for me to flip her over again, the same as earlier. Not this time, though.

I scooped an arm under her back and lifted her up so that she stood in front of me, then turned her around so that she faced my window that spanned the length of my bedroom wall. The skyline stretched across and its reflection shimmered across a huge man-made lake my housing edition was built around.

“Wow, I didn’t even look at your room. The view is—”

“You’re perfect.” I exhaled into her ear and watched the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Goosebumps pebbled down her arms. I kissed along her neck to her collarbone while simultaneously unzipping the back of her dress.

My heartbeat turned into a drum solo. Undressing Kelsey was like waiting to unwrap a present on Christmas. I slipped the strap from one arm and kissed down to her shoulder before working my way around to the other. I gave the last one a little nudge and pulled her dress down her hips until it fell into a pile around her feet.

I wrapped my arms around her and cupped both of her 34C breasts in my hands. Her head tilted up toward the ceiling. When I rolled her tight nipples between my fingers, she pushed her ass back against me. She moved up and down, slowly grinding while I groaned in her ear.

“I want you so bad right now.” She leaned forward, bending over the side of my bed.

“Climb up there.”

I watched her move one knee up to the bed, and then the other. Goddamn. I’d imagined her naked so many times, but nothing compared to the real version.

She turned over, lying flat on her back in the middle of my comforter. “Is this how you want me?” Her legs parted just wide enough for me to get a glimpse of her bare pussy.

“Yeah.” I unbuttoned my shirt, fighting the urge to rip the shit off. When I shrugged it to the floor, Kelsey gulped. I unbuckled my belt and stepped out of my pants until I was in nothing but a pair of dark gray boxer briefs. I stood there and regarded Kelsey, admiring every soft curve of her body, before turning my gaze to her face. In that moment I realized why it seemed night and day from any other girl I’d ever brought home.

It had nothing to do with the physical attraction, though I couldn’t remember ever being more attracted physically to another woman. It was a combination of everything with Kelsey—emotional, intellectual, physical—a trifecta of awesome that saturated my entire existence.

I crawled between her legs and watched her breasts rise and fall with each breath she took. Taking my time, I kissed her flat stomach and worked a trail up to her neckline and along her jaw.

Small tremors rippled through her with each touch like she was already on the cusp of an orgasm. I cupped her face in my palm and looked into the honey-colored eyes that owned my attention at all times.

“This is how I want you every night. In my arms. In my bed.” I dipped down and kissed her, softly at first, but before long our tongues made lazy circles around each other. My dick was rock-solid, aching to be inside her, but this was how the first time was meant to be—not just our bodies colliding, but us, together, truly connected.

I worked my way back down her soft skin, taking a moment to focus on each of her breasts. My tongue flicked across one of her nipples while I kneaded the other breast in my palm. It fit in my hand perfectly.

Kelsey’s fingers raked through my hair, her nails dragging along my scalp. It drove me crazy when she did that. I kissed my way across to the other. When I bit down lightly on her she let out a gasp.

I made my way down her stomach and spread her legs gently with each of my hands. Her arms went behind her head, and she gripped the comforter.

“Holy shit.”

I smiled against her stomach and made my way to her pale pink pussy. Spreading her open with my thumbs, I licked the entire length from the bottom and exhaled across her clit. Her thighs trembled against my hands, and her legs tried to close.

I glanced up to her staring down at me. “Relax, babe.”

She nodded and her head fell back against the bed.

I dragged my tongue slowly across her clit.

“Oh my God.” Her hands moved down to my head, and her hips started to grind against my face.

I slid one finger in, and then another.

Jesus Christ, she’s wet.

I worked in and out slowly and swirled my tongue in lazy circles at the same time. Kelsey’s fingers balled into fists in my hair and I could feel the energy building inside her.

“I’m so close,” she whispered through several deep breaths.

“Don’t come yet.”

I glanced up to a frustrated stare.

My fingers slipped out of her, drawing her wetness along with them. I reached down and pulled down my briefs, springing my cock from captivity. I kicked them to the floor and worked up between her legs until my dick was less than an inch from where I needed it.

I leaned down and pressed my forehead against hers. Kelsey’s arms wrapped around me and her fingernails dug into my shoulder blades. We were in perfect sync, communicating with our bodies, like she knew every move I was about to make.

The head of my cock pushed up against her and then slid over the top of her clit as I rolled my hips forward. I lifted my head for a brief second, long enough for her to give me a nod.

I shifted my weight onto one of my forearms next to her and cupped her face with my other hand before pressing my forehead back against hers, our eyes inches apart. “You are so fucking beautiful.”

She smiled and then reached down and lined my cock up. I eased barely inside her. Her pussy tightened around the head of my dick, her legs already quaking, begging for a release.

I stroked her hair and pressed my lips to hers. Her mouth opened and our tongues met. I eased in a little farther and she moaned into my mouth and pulled me closer to her.

Her hips tried to rise from the bed to take more of me, but I kept her pinned down with my weight. I slid in a little farther.

“Oh my God.” Her words morphed into gibberish by the end and I watched her eyes roll up and then back to me.

I couldn’t stop staring at her. Every reaction of hers logged into my brain. I wanted to watch her come unraveled beneath me.

“Please.” Her whole body started to shake, and her pussy spasmed around my shaft. “Please, Matt.”

“I love it when you say my name. Especially while you’re coming.”

“Oh God, Stallworth. Please.”

I felt her warring against her body, trying not to release. She writhed beneath me.

“Okay.” I pushed in all the way, as deep as I could. I scooted my knees up and kept myself buried to the hilt in Kelsey. She came undone and I watched every reaction on her face.

Her nails clawed into my back like daggers, most likely breaking the skin. Her slick walls squeezed around me and her thighs shook uncontrollably. It was the most intimate moment of my life, the two of us as one, fully connected and in tune with each other.

Kelsey’s arms flailed out to the sides and I reached out and grabbed both of her wrists and pinned them over her head. I kept as much pressure as I could, trying to push even deeper. I lifted up slightly and angled my cock. It made contact with the ridge buried in the depths of her.

“Fuck, Matt! I’m coming again.” Her words echoed off the wall, followed by loud moans intertwined with my name on repeat. Kelsey’s whole body stiffened and she struggled to breathe.

I glanced down and her toes curled, and I could already feel the tension building in my balls, simply from being buried inside her while she came. After a few seconds her body relaxed and I let go of her hands and crushed her mouth with mine.

Her chest heaved up into me and then back down, over and over, each breath a little less intense than the former.

A wry grin spread across her face. “Can you just leave your cock inside me forever? Holy shit.” She panted.

“There’s no place I’d rather be.”

“I think it’s my turn now.” She pushed on my shoulder, indicating for me to roll over.

I rolled us slowly to my back with Kelsey on top; my cock stayed buried inside her the entire time.

She leaned down close to my face, one hand on each of my shoulders for support. “Are you going to come for me now?”

I nodded and palmed her ass with both hands. She rolled her hips back and forth, grinding into me. Her natural, perky breasts dangled in front of my eyes, and her hair tickled the sides of my face. It played out exactly like the first time I fantasized about her on my couch, only this was a million times better.

“Jesus, your cock feels so good inside me.”

“I’m going to come faster if you say things like that.”

Her hips sped up a little. “You haven’t even seen dirty yet, Matthew.”

Christ, the way she says my name.

“Is that so?”

I tried to focus on anything other than Kelsey’s perfect body, and her hot, wet cunt gliding up and down on me. Anything that could prolong being inside her was a great thing.

“I can be pretty naughty. As you witnessed earlier in the living room.” She leaned down next to my ear and nibbled around my earlobe, all while riding me at a perfect steady rhythm.

I nodded. “You were a pretty naughty girl down there.”

She whispered, her voice devilish. “Can I ask you something?”

I gulped, because I wasn’t exactly sure what she might ask, and I was afraid I might accidentally blow inside her if she kept this up. “Sure.”

“Do you like spanking me?” Her hips sped up. “Pulling my hair?” She rose up and drove herself down on top of me, then wiggled her hips. “Pinning me down while you fuck me?” She moaned and squeezed her pussy around my shaft.

Holy shit!

I had no idea how it happened, but I was pretty sure my cock grew another inch at the sound of her words.

She definitely must have felt it, because she said, “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Kelsey licked around the shell of my ear, and I gripped her hips to push her off me before I came.

She squeezed her hot pussy even tighter around me and pushed down with all of her weight. “Not yet. Because you know what else I just love, Matthew?”

I groaned at the load building in my shaft. “What?” I groaned, loud.

“I love riding your thick cock like your good little whore.”

Holy.

Fucking.

Shit.

She bit my ear and whispered, “And I want you to come inside me.” Kelsey pushed off from my shoulders and sat upright on my dick. She bounced on top of me. Her perky tits followed in unison.

“Holy shit.”

Her hips sped up on me, and I could feel my load threatening to release at any moment.

“Are you sure?”

A million thoughts of attorneys and Ethan flashed through my brain instantly, all of them shaking their heads at me and screaming, NO! BAD IDEA!

Kelsey nodded. “I’m on the pill.”

Not exactly great pillow talk, but in the moment Kelsey seemed more persuasive than all the other suits combined. Plus, it gave me a quick reprieve and allowed me to fuck her longer.

I shook my head. “I don’t know.”

“Please come inside me. I want to feel it.”

Fuck!

I nodded. “Okay.”

“God, your cock feels so good. Fuck me, Matt. Make me come again.”

My animalistic instincts took over. I reached up and yanked her down into me, and then rose up on the balls of my feet.

I smacked her ass with both hands and she squealed.

“You want me to fuck you hard? Like a good little whore? Is that what you said you wanted?” I thrust as hard as I could into her right when she was about to answer.

She squeaked out some gibberish and her eyes rolled up for a second. When her gaze returned to mine she nodded. “Uh-huh. Like your dirty little slut.”

I wrapped her arms around her back and pinned them with one hand. My free hand fisted her hair and I plowed into her a second time.

“Shit! I want your come, Matt. Come inside me.”

I inhaled a deep breath, and fucked Kelsey relentlessly, just the way she’d asked me to.

Her moans turned into screams as I pumped into her. Somehow I managed to speed up even faster and my hold on her tightened to the point where I thought I might be suffocating her. Kelsey started to convulse, and then she stiffened and seized on top of me. My vision blurred and I shoved her down on my cock as I thrust up into her as hard and as deep as humanly possible. Kelsey bit down on my shoulder and screamed against my skin.

“Fuck!” I nearly blacked out as my load shot into her. I thrust into her with each new wave, until she’d milked every last drop from my balls.

I let go of her arms and she went limp on top of me, still breathing hard.

After a second that seemed to last an eternity, she lifted her head up from my shoulder and stared into my eyes. A huge smile spread across her lips. “Oh. My. God.” She had to take a breath with each word.

I grinned back at her, even though both of us were panting like we’d just run a marathon. “That was just—fucking incredible.”

“Yes, Stallworth. Incredible is fucking accurate.”

We both chuckled and I leaned up and kissed her. I shook my head and she collapsed onto her back next to me.

“What?” She flashed me a puzzled look.

We both stared up at the ceiling, completely spent. “Nothing. You’re just—that was the best sex, hands down, anyone on earth has ever had.”

Kelsey grinned and nodded. “I think I have to agree.”

I scooted around so that I was lying flat on my back with my head on a pillow. Kelsey sidled up next to me and nuzzled into the crook of my neck. I wrapped an arm around her and stroked her hair. If there was a time in my life more perfect, I didn’t know when it would’ve been.

“We fit together pretty well, Martin.”

Her fingers traced the ridges of my abs as they constricted with each deep breath I took. “Oh, I kinda like it when you call me by my last name. We may have to try that out sometime.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“What? Why not?”

I glanced over at her, not entirely sure if she was fucking with me or not. Her innocent stare told me she hadn’t thought that one through.

“Imagine you’re me, having sex with you.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh, this sounds fun.”

I rolled my eyes. “Okay. And so you’re a guy, right?”

“Yep, I am you.”

“And you’re talking dirty to you, using your last name.”

“Okay, so I’m you—a guy. And I’m fucking me and talking dirty. So I say, ‘Oh yeah, you like the way I’m fucking you, Mart—’ ” She froze and covered her mouth.

I nodded and said, “Yeah. Exactly. It might kill the mood a little for me. Nothing against that, it’s just not my thing.”

She reached up and pinched one of my cheeks. “Aww, I think you’d make a hot gay guy.”

I chuckled. “No offense, but I don’t think I have the style to pull it off. Now, Ethan on the other hand. I think he’d be pretty good at it. Dude looks like he walked right out of a fashion magazine every day.”

“Yes. Ethan would be perfect.” She laughed. “We are so wrong!”

I pulled her in closer to me and gave her a soft peck on the forehead. “Maybe two wrongs can make a right.”

I pulled into the parking lot in front of Sweeney’s, a bar that Ethan and I frequented on occasion. As usual, the parking lot sat empty, the way we liked it. Sweeney’s provided an opportunity to talk without yelling over live music or dealing with fans asking for autographs left and right.

I’d dropped Kelsey off at her place on the way. Waking up with her in my arms was fucking awesome. I must’ve watched her sleep, snuggled into my shoulder, for at least an hour.

A chilly wind hit my face when I stepped out of the car, but my entire world seemed like a new foreign place. I heard things I didn’t usually hear, like birds chirping and shit. Everything seemed brighter and more alive. Endorphins coursed through my body every time I thought about Kelsey, like my spirit was invigorated by this new possibility of a life with her in it permanently.

I walked into the bar and nodded to Sweeney. He was perched on the same stool as usual. Ethan hunched over the bar poking angrily at his phone with a pint sitting next to his elbow.

“Goddamn it.” A vein bulged from the side of his neck.

“Always so intense.” I grinned.

His head whipped in my direction. “About time, motherfucker.”

“Jesus, five minutes late. You’d think you’ve been waiting for hours.” I walked up and took a seat next to him.

“Beer, Matty?” Sweeney made a show of standing up from his stool.

“Whatever this asshole is having.” I nodded toward Ethan’s glass.

“Give him two thirds of a beer, Sweens. He doesn’t deserve a full one.” Ethan chuckled at his own joke.

I shook my head. “Why do you look like you want to throw that thing through the wall?”

Ethan sighed. “Just some work shit.”

I stared. “You haven’t stressed about work since Jenny came along. Stop bullshitting.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing.”

I grinned. It was obviously something he didn’t want me to know about.

“Let it go or I will bring you down with me, bitch.”

Sweeney set a beer down in front of me, filled to the top.

Ethan glanced up at him. “Traitor.”

Sweeney chuckled and walked off.

“He knows better than to give me a partial beer. That’s sacrilege.”

“Indeed.” Sweeney walked back down to his stool.

I took a drink, and even the beer tasted better today. Kelsey made beer better; who would’ve thought?

I stared at Ethan. “It’s wedding shit, isn’t it?”

“I have to go look at flowers.”

I burst into laughter and Ethan glared laser beams at me.

“So what are you guys thinking? For the arrangements?”

“I’m going to kick your big fucking ass. That’s what I’m thinking.”

I barely contained myself and patted him on the back. “Can’t you outsource that shit?”

Ethan looked away. “I tried.”

“Well, I think since day one we’ve known who wears the pants.”

“Says the guy who looks like Cupid fired a quiver of arrows up his asshole.” Ethan grinned.

Fuck, was it that obvious? “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yeah, right. Might as well have danced up in this bitch singing something from West Side Story.”

“Don’t do it, bro.”

Ethan’s arms flailed. “I feel pretty.”

“Hey, how is your arm? Can you still throw pretty good?”

Ethan cocked an eyebrow up. “Um, yeah. I’d strike your big ass out.”

I burst into laughter and smacked him on the back. “Dude, you couldn’t do that shit before the surgery. That’s funny, though. Good one.”

“Please. They used to issue tornado warnings before I’d take the mound. Big fucks like you causing hurricane winds from all the swinging and missing.”

I shook my head. “You are so full of shit. But I’m glad your arm is still in decent shape.”

“Why are you glad?”

“You’ll be able to toss the bouquet extra high for my tall ass.”

Ethan chuckled. “Don’t you mean the garter?”

“No, Jenny will have already pulled that off your leg from underneath your dress. Probably with her teeth.”

Ethan struggled not to laugh and shook his head. “Such a prick. How long you been saving that one up?”

“A while.” I took another swig of beer and stared at him, deadpan. “Don’t be a cheap ass, either. Spring for the roses. Nobody will be fooled by daisies and sunflowers and shit.”

“I don’t know why I put up with you.”

“Because you love me.”

“It’s true. I do, sweetie.”

“Thanks, hon. Now, what do you need to talk to me about?” I took in a deep breath.

I knew it couldn’t be good. Ethan kept the jokes running far too long. His ass was stalling, something he rarely did.

“I told you the Yanks want an answer sooner. But there’s more.”

I sat my beer down and stared off at the wall, away from him. “More?”

“I spoke with the GM of the Rangers. They’re worried they’ve offered too much. Have a few guys they’d like to call up to spring training, but they’re not sure. It’s all a waiting game to see what happens with you.”

I ran a hand through my hair and stared down at the floor. Why did everything have to be so difficult? It was a fucking game, for crying out loud. That was life, though, always complicated, always a risk of upsetting or hurting someone no matter what choices you made.

“So a quicker decision would help them, too?”

“Exactly.” He took another gulp of his beer. “Look, don’t pressure yourself trying to please everyone. I know how you are. This is a fucking monumental decision for your career.”

“I know, but—”

He grabbed me by the forearm. “No. No buts, Matty. This is your life. This decision affects you forever. I’m not just saying that to hear myself talk. It’s the truth.”

“Fuck.” I crushed one of the cardboard coasters in my palm. “You know I don’t want to go to New York. We’ve hated them since we were kids. But you played the game, too. You know what it means to be a Yankee. Contender every year. The history.”

“I know. They’re dicks. But they are indeed glorious dicks.”

I chuckled. “And the money. It sounds so fucking selfish, man. It’s tearing me up. I mean, let’s be honest, you know I’m going to care about what people think of me, the fans in this town. They won’t understand.”

“I’m not being a smartass when I ask this next question.”

I laughed a little. “Sure.”

“I mean it. I’m being a hundred percent real with you, because I know it matters.”

“You gonna ask the fucking question?”

“Fine.” He took in a huge breath and turned to me. “What does Kelsey think about all of this? I mean, you told her, right?”

Anxiety ripped through my veins and landed in my stomach. My eyes darted away.

“No, no, no. Matty?”

I couldn’t face him.

“Look at me.”

I finally turned to face him.

“Why?”

“It’s not like I haven’t wanted to talk to her about it. But you know how she is. You know her. The timing is always wrong.”

Ethan nodded. “Sure, I get it. But—”

“There would be no Kelsey if I brought it up. She’d roadrunner out of my life so damn fast for not telling her sooner.”

“I mean, you don’t know that.”

I stared at him. “Yeah. I do.”

“You need to talk to her. This will not end well.”

“It won’t end well no matter what. But if I wait, I have more time to win her over. Maybe to a point where she won’t spook when I tell her what’s going on. Because I’m going to stay.”

“Jesus, man. Listen to yourself.” He looked up at the ceiling and back at me. “Does that sound like a good fucking plan? Have you said that out loud to yourself? Two seconds ago you were telling me about the Yankees, and the prestige. It didn’t sound like you were sure. Now all of a sudden you are? You’re a fucking mess, bro.”

“I didn’t say it was the best plan. I’ve been dealt a shit hand and I’m playing it the best way I know. And it sounds even more awful that we’re talking about a nine-figure deal and I’m calling it a shit hand.”

“So what is your plan?” He emphasized the word plan. “No bullshit, like is your mind made up?”

“I was hoping to wait until after the wedding. I don’t want to cause any problems.”

I watched Ethan and could practically see the wheels spinning in his head. “Maybe it’d work either way. Like she’d go with you. If that’s what you decided. You can’t wait that long, though. The wedding is still a long way off. She’ll find out before then, and not from you.”

I gave him a side eye that told him everything he needed to know. His phone buzzed against the bar at the same time.

Ethan glanced down to it. “Shit, I have to go.” He downed his beer and clapped a hand on my back. “I’m pretty good at reading people. You know this. My gut tells me you aren’t going anywhere. But if there is a chance you’re seriously considering New York’s offer, you need to tell her as soon as possible. Scratch that, you need to tell her regardless. I don’t give a shit about problems it might cause with the wedding. Jenny and I want you and her to be happy and we can figure that stuff out.”

I shook my head. “Go pick out your flowers. I don’t want to be the reason you show up late. I’d prefer to stay on Team Bridezilla.”

“Good idea. The best one you’ve had today.” His hand gripped the side of my neck. “Tell her what’s up. She may surprise you. I’ve got your back no matter what. It’ll kill her if she finds out from someone other than you.”

My stare turned down to the floor and I mumbled, “It’ll kill her no matter what.” I looked up at him. “But thanks, man. I’ll think about it.”

“You know where to find me if you need me.”

“Bye, hon.” I joked, but gave him the look that said, thanks.

“Bye, sweetie.” Ethan strode toward the door.

“Get the roses, ya cheap prick!”

A middle finger shot up over his shoulder as he pushed through the door.