Love Me Like I Love You

by Willow Winters

  “I think I would’ve liked him,” she said.

  “He would’ve loved you. I’m not…I’m not sure I should say this because it’s not my story to tell. This whole town lost something that night, even if their own kids were grown or weren’t there. It changed everything. It changed the fabric of our lives. I know he would’ve loved you because he loved Makenna. God, he was so obsessed with her. He loved her like he loved baseball. I never really got that, didn’t think I’d ever meet someone who could interest me as much as baseball, until I met you.”

  “Makenna?” She gasped.

  “They were together. Had been for a couple of years, she grew up with us. Everything changed when he died. Makenna refused to see me for a while. I don’t blame her though. It was hard for me to look at her and see her without him by her side. It still is.”

  “Oh my god,” she whispered. “I had no idea.”

  “Let her tell you in her own time.”

  She nodded and pressed a kiss against my shoulder.

  “I’ve never even said half this shit out loud,” I admitted as we came to a stop in front of the white cross markers. Third from the left was Declan’s name. Delilah brushed away a tear as we stood in front of his marker. A baseball was painted on the top, and a glove sat at the base.

  “You are the first person outside of my family that knows the truth about Tuck. I didn’t expect to tell you. I’ve never believed in fate or things happening for a reason, but I think…I think that when we’ve encountered these things, it was meant to happen in the presence of each other. I’ve never trusted someone with all my demons, and I’m not sure why you’re still here with all the baggage I’m lugging around on a daily basis.”

  I turned to her and embraced her, not even leaving enough space between our bodies for air to pass through. She tilted her head back and looked at me. I framed her face with my hands. “They aren’t demons. This is just you, and I want you as you are. I don’t think I can walk away from this.”

  “Me either,” she whispered.

  I kissed the tip of her nose. “Never hide who you are from me. I’ve only gained respect with everything you’ve shared.”

  I kissed each cheek. “You’re the strongest woman I’ve ever met.”

  I kissed her forehead. “A fantastic mom even if your baseball skills are severely lacking.” She laughed and wrapped her fingers around my shirt.

  I bent my head and kissed the side of her neck. “You’ve got a fantastic ass.”

  I relished the feel of the vibration against my lips as I placed another kiss on her neck.

  “You’re worth everything.”

  And finally, I kissed her lips.

  Chapter 26

  Delilah

  Gunner tucked me under his arm, and I melted into his side as we used the moonlight to guide us down our street. Nervous anticipation hummed in my belly. I wanted Gunner to stay the night, but I had to find the nerve to ask him.

  Which seemed ridiculous. I’d bared my soul to this man, but asking if he’d like to stay over was too much for me?

  I rolled my eyes at myself and huffed.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Do you want to stay over?” I spat out the question before I could change my mind or convince myself it was too soon.

  Gunner stepped in front of me to face me. “Why’d you make that annoyed sound before you asked?”

  I shook my head. “I was nervous about asking.” It felt impossible to lie to him; every unfiltered thought came out freely.

  “I want to be anywhere you are.”

  I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his lips. Gunner grabbed my hand, lacing our fingers together, and we strolled to my house. We were silent as I opened the front door and went inside.

  “Want a beer?”

  “Sure, buttercup. Let’s sit on the back patio for a while.”

  I handed Gunner a beer and snagged one for myself before following him outside. He sat on the swing, lifting his arm for me to slide in next to him, just like last time. I loved leaning into his muscular body. My soft curves melted into his hard planes.

  The lake below glittered under the moonlight, and the moon’s reflection rippled with the waves. Distant laughter came from the north, where the larger cabins were.

  Gunner’s fingers skimmed my bicep in a tantalizing pattern. I laid my legs over his and placed my head on his chest.

  Gunner tugged lightly on my hair, which was falling down my back, tilting my face toward him. His eyes shot back and forth between mine. My body hummed to life. Every angular feature of his face brought my gaze to his soft lips.

  “You’re so fucking tempting.”

  I inched closer to him and our breaths mingled. Electricity was popping between us, and the tension was mounting to see who would break first. I needed his lips on mine, but I knew we were standing on the edge of a cliff and the next move would send us hurtling over. There would be no stopping it, not until we fell completely.

  “Gunner,” I whispered.

  “Fuck.” It came out as a breath, both of us panting.

  We crashed into each other in a bruising kiss, meeting in the middle, together. My fingers slid along his neck and the scruff on his jaw before weaving into his hair.

  He sucked on my bottom lip as I moaned. My body was already strung so tightly I was about to explode from a kiss that had just gotten started. Gunner’s hands tightened on my hips, lifting me and shifting me until I was straddling him. I ground my hips over the long erection I could feel through our jeans.

  My nipples pebbled beneath my bra, and my breasts were heavy and full, straining to be free and be felt by Gunner’s rough hands. His tongue massaged mine, and his hand slid down to squeeze my ass. I moaned just before he ripped his mouth away from mine.

  “Which room is yours?”

  “Back hall, first door on the right.”

  Gunner stood with me still wrapped around him. I moved my lips to his neck and kissed down the column of his throat, licking along the way. He was cursing and groaning as I skimmed my teeth over the space where his shoulder met his neck.

  The door slammed closed behind us as I kissed my way back up his neck to find his lips. It didn’t matter that he probably couldn’t see where he was going. The only thing that mattered was that I needed him. Now.

  He found my room and set me down on the edge of the bed and kneeled in front of me. He brought one leg up, placing it on his shoulder, and slowly unzipped the knee-high boot. The sound of the zipper in the otherwise quiet room sent my blood pressure even higher. My heart was about to beat out of my chest, and he’d only unzipped one of my boots.

  This man would be my undoing.

  Gunner undressed me, piece by piece, never taking his eyes from mine until I was sitting on the edge of the bed completely naked. His gaze fell to my mouth before returning to my eyes. A wicked smile tugged at the corners of his lips, and his eyes started roaming down, down, down.

  They snagged on my breasts, and his breath hitched in his throat. After a moment he slid back on his knees and kept his roving eyes moving downward. I slowly spread my legs as his gaze moved further south.

  I was fully bared to him, and when his gaze reached the apex of my thighs, he closed his eyes and groaned. When he opened them again, they met mine. “You’re fucking gorgeous. Every goddamn inch of you is better than everything I’ve been dreaming of.”

  “I need you,” I whispered.

  Gunner stood and shed his clothes much more quickly and with less care than he’d removed mine. There wasn’t a soft inch on his body. Every part of him was muscular perfection. Part of his chest and one arm, from fingertips to shoulder, was burned. I’d only seen part of it that day in the kitchen; he always wore long sleeves.

  Nothing about the scars on his body took away from his beauty.

  I shook as he stepped closer to me. I wanted to bottle this moment and revisit it every day. When people said perfection didn’t exist, I wanted to show them a naked picture o
f Gunner.

  Because damn.

  Perfection does exist.

  His long arm snagged me around my waist as he lifted me and smashed my body against his. My breasts were pressed against the planes of his chest, and his calloused, work-roughened hands were sliding down my back to my ass.

  “You’re beautiful, Delilah.”

  “So are you.” My fingers skimmed along the burns on his arm and his breath hitched in his throat. My tongue glided up his neck and sucked on the space beneath his ear. Gunner’s hand covered mine that was sliding up his burned arm.

  “You don’t have to touch that,” he whispered.

  “I want to.”

  “No one ever has.” He licked his lips and cleared his throat. “Most people ignore it or try not to stare.”

  “I want you exactly as you are, Gunner. I’ll never ignore any part of you.”

  Gunner lifted me and walked the three steps to my bed, and he came down on top of me. His long, thick erection was nestled against my thigh, and I ached to have him inside me. Gunner’s fingers tangled in my hair as he kissed me spearing his tongue into my mouth and swallowed my moans. I writhed against him and every nerve ending caught on fire as my body ached for Gunner to touch me everywhere.

  “I need you, Gunner.”

  I reached out to my nightstand and opened the drawer. He snagged a condom from the box I kept there, just in case. He rolled the condom down his length as he kissed my lips.

  My mouth opened as he slowly slid inside. He stretched me more than I’d ever felt before. He trailed his lips down my neck to my chest and sucked a nipple into his mouth.

  “Yes,” I hissed, bucking my hips and running my hands along his body. My nails scored his back when he pulled almost all the way out and slammed back in.

  “Fuck, Delilah,” he hissed and pounded into me again. My breath hitched and caught in my throat as he hit the sweet spot over and over. Gunner ran a hand down my stomach and massaged my clit with his thumb while sucking a nipple into his mouth.

  I bowed off the bed. My entire body felt like exposed nerves. Everywhere he touched sent me closer to orgasm. The hair from his scruff scratching against my sensitive, puckered nipples. His rough fingers digging into my hips. His tongue tasting every inch of my mouth. He didn’t let any part of me go unnoticed.

  I’d never felt more satisfied, more powerful, more desired, or more beautiful than I did in that moment with Gunner. I should’ve expected it; he’d trailblazed his way into my life and heart.

  “I’ll never get enough of this,” Gunner groaned. “I need you to come, buttercup.”

  He kissed me and kept rubbing his hands all over me. I met his every thrust until I exploded around his pulsing cock, calling out his name as we tumbled over the inevitable cliff together.

  Chapter 27

  Gunner

  Perfection. I didn’t want to move. Delilah’s ass was pressed against me, and my hand was cupping her soft breast. My face was pressed against her neck, and every breath I took was all-consumingly Delilah. Nothing better than this. I planted my lips at the base of her neck and plucked one of her nipples.

  She shifted against me, snuggling deeper, and I caught the smile on her face. The sun was barely peeking through the blinds, and she looked gorgeous in the early morning light.

  I felt renewed. It was as if a decade had passed between standing in the field yesterday, so caught up in my past, and lying in a king-sized bed, on soft sheets, with Delilah. The guilt and bitterness that had consumed me weren’t magically gone because I’d experienced the heaven of Delilah’s body, but this was my easiest morning in ten years.

  “Morning, buttercup.” I felt her giggle as I rumbled the words against her smooth skin and rubbed the scruff along my jaw on her shoulder and neck. She squirmed and slowly rolled over, hooking one of her legs over my waist and her arm around my shoulders.

  She gave me a sleepy smile and leaned forward, kissing up my chest toward my jaw. When she reached my lips, she whispered against them, “Morning, handsome. Are you hungry?”

  I arched an eyebrow. “Oh, yeah.”

  She chuckled and shook her head. “Didn’t mean it like that. I never wake up this late and I’m starving.”

  Her stomach rumbled on cue. The lazy morning I’d pictured would have to wait until after breakfast; I needed to get my girl fed. I wrapped my arms around her, and I slid us out of bed and stood in one movement as she squealed and laughed.

  A deep, guttural groan escaped my lips as she slowly slid down my body, caressing my skin with hers. Seriously. Nothing fucking better. She left my arms and crossed to the dresser on the opposite wall. “You don’t need clothes,” I joked.

  “I need some bacon, and frying bacon naked is never a good idea.”

  I searched the floor for my jeans and found them thrown into a corner. As I approached, my phone started ringing in the pocket. I pulled it out and glanced at the screen.

  Zeke calling.

  “It’s my agent. I’ll meet you in the kitchen?” I glanced over my shoulder at Delilah, catching her lifting her gaze from my ass. I smirked and winked. She blushed and warmth spread through my chest.

  I watched her leave the room before I picked up the phone, cradling it between my shoulder and ear as I pulled on my jeans. “Hey, man. Tell me you’ve got some news, because if you don’t, you interrupted a really good morning for nothing.”

  “A chat with me is never for nothing. I always bring a little sparkle to your day?”

  “Sparkle?”

  Zeke chuckled. “Why is it a good morning? How’s your mom?”

  “None of your business. She’s a fighter and keeping her spirits up. If you have good news, I bet it would raise her spirits even more.”

  A distinct clicking sounded through the line, and I knew Zeke was clicking the end of his pen. Normally it didn’t bother me but right now, as he was keeping me on edge, it was grinding my nerves. I opened my mouth to speak, but his words stopped me and froze me in my tracks.

  “You have four offers on the table, and I know I could use these for leverage and get more. I know—”

  I cut him off. “If one of those is from the Rattlers, the others don’t matter.”

  Zeke sighed. “I understand where you’re coming from with family. I get it, I respect it. I don’t know if this is the best career move for you. I will say the Rattlers are making unprecedented moves this off-season, and they have a shot at making a run for it. You have to think about the future.”

  “I am thinking about the future. I need to be closer to home. Do I have an offer or not? If not, you’re keeping me from something that means more than any of this.”

  “You have an offer.”

  “Details.”

  He listed the terms of the offer. It was more than I’d thought they would offer. The Rattlers have a center fielder. I was better, but they still had a center fielder in the middle of his contract. Every term I wanted was there, including the most important one—a no-trade clause.

  I cleared my throat and squeezed my eyes shut. “Take it.” My voice was hoarse with the unexpected emotion. “Fuck. Thank you, Zeke. Thank you for making it happen. Take it,” I repeated and hung up the phone.

  I walked to the kitchen in a slight daze. This was my first time as a free agent, and I was making demands that were a little out there. I was a fantastic player with the reputation and the pedigree to back it up. Still, I knew not all teams would work with my conditions, especially since I only wanted one team. I knew Zeke had powers and skill, it’s why I worked with him, but there had been a fear in the pit of my stomach that it wouldn’t happen and I’d have to choose to walk away from baseball or leave behind not only Mom, but Delilah and Tuck as well.

  Delilah looked up with a smile plastered to her face as she heard me approaching. Her hand whipped around and around as she mixed something in a teal bowl. Her smile slowly slipped off her face. “Everything okay?”

  I walked toward her without answer
ing. She stopped mixing and turned to face me. I walked into her space, hugging her against me, pressing my face into her neck and inhaling the scent I wouldn’t have to leave. “I’m staying,” I said.

  “You’re staying where?”

  “I’m signing with the Rattlers. I’m staying home.”

  She sucked in a breath and I leaned back, looking at her face. Her small hands framed my face. “That’s amazing, Gunner. Tuck and I will for sure come to a game.”

  “Or every home game,” I countered.

  She laughed and I attacked her mouth, capturing her lips and laugh with mine. We celebrated on the floor of her kitchen as the batter was forgotten and the bacon burned.

  “Let’s go get Tuck,” I said as I scraped the burned pieces of bacon into the trash. We were dressed again, and I was still riding the high of the morning with her and having gotten the news I’d been waiting for. “I want to tell him and see his face when I do. Also swing by Mom’s so she can hear it too.”

  I looked up as I brought the pan to the sink. Delilah’s hand was pressing down on the waffle maker, she was biting her lip, and her eyes were shiny.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “You want to tell Tuck? You thought about him?”

  “Yeah. He’s one of the first people I want to tell.”

  She didn’t answer for a moment, only stared at me, taking in all of me. Her gaze flittered around my face and fell to my naked chest, down my jean-clad legs to my bare feet, and back up again. Her eyes were still shiny as she stepped away from the waffle maker and wrapped her arms around my neck, planting a long, wet kiss on my lips. “Let’s go get Tuck.”