by Alice Ward
I couldn’t help it, I snorted. “You didn’t think it was so disgusting last night when you—”
She slapped a hand over my mouth. “It’s not funny,” she hissed. “Your semen was supposed to be in a condom, not There’s Something About Mary. Gross. I’ll have to really wash it now. I’m not going.”
She was adorable. I’d never met anyone who made me feel so many emotions at once.
“You’re going. Just put on a hat.”
She seemed to consider it. “That’s an idea. Of course, I’ll look like a moron wearing a scarf and hat in mid-September, Hoover boy.”
“Are you sure you don’t do stand-up comedy on the side?”
It was her turn to snort. “I’m only funny when I’m super nervous or when I take Benadryl. It’s supposed to knock people out, but it ramps me up for some reason.”
I laid a hand on her thigh. “There’s no need to be nervous. My parents and Nana already love you.”
She leaned her head on my shoulder. “They are very nice.”
“Yes, they are. And the brunch will go fine…” I looked at the traffic. “If we ever get there.”
Eliana glanced at the clock. “What’s taking so long?”
“Fire up ahead,” the driver informed us. “We’re locked in.”
“Shit.” Rolling down the window, I poked my head out. Sure enough, thick dark smoke was rolling up into the sky. “It looks to be coming from a walk-up at the end of the block.”
I looked around, trying to get a better grip on our location. I’d only lived in Long Island since February, and I didn’t know every part of the city… but this was familiar.
Eliana was already out of her side of the cab. “Zoe!” she screamed and took off.
I tossed the driver a hundred and sprinted after her. She’d gotten a head start but was wearing my oversized clothing, and her feet were bare. I caught up easily and grabbed her arm. She shook me off. “Zoe!”
When I couldn’t stop her, a firefighter did. “Miss, you can’t go near there. It’s fully consumed.”
And it was, I realized. Only three stories, the old building was flaming at each window.
“Zoe!” she was screaming, hysterical, fighting me as I pulled her in close. “I’ve got to get to her. She’s my best friend. Zoe!” she screamed again.
The sidewalks were chaos as additional emergency crews pulled in, accompanied by the clutter of rubberneckers and those who look dazed. Eliana’s neighbors perhaps.
“What does she look like?” I asked Eliana, trying to give her something to focus on. “She probably got out and is searching for you.”
Teeth chattering, Eliana nodded and started looking around. I gave her a little shake. “Baby, what does she look like. Do you have a picture?”
Her fingers were trembling so hard, I held the phone while it scanned her fingerprint. Taking over, I tapped to her images and began going through them. “There,” she said, and I enlarged it, taking in the pretty brunette with trendy red glasses. Her hair was a mass of dark curls all over her head.
“Okay, let’s walk around and look for her.” I couldn’t think of anything else we could do.
Tears streaming down Eliana’s face, she clung to my hand as we wove through the crowd. “I don’t see her,” she said.
“Let’s keep looking.”
Going around the side of the building, I caught a flash of massive curls. A woman was huddled on the opposite side of the street, a blanket around her shoulders, her face in her hands. I steered us in that direction.
“Eliana, is that her?”
I was holding my breath as she turned to look.
“Zoe!”
The woman looked up, and relief was like a full body slam. Eliana ran to her friend, who was now on her feet, crying hard as they embraced. Tears pricked my eyes as I witnessed their reunion. Giving them some privacy, I stepped to the side and took out my phone to call Dad.
“Hey, Kane. Glad you called. We’re running late. The traffic is hell. A fire someone said.”
“Yeah, that’s why I’m calling. It’s Eliana’s building that burned. She’s okay,” I added quickly, “so is her roommate, but it looks like a total loss. I’m going to hang out here and figure out how best I can help.”
“What can we do to help?”
I looked around at all the stunned and stricken faces. “People are going to need housing. Clothes. I don’t know. It’s really bad. I don’t even know if there was a loss of life. They don’t have the fire contained yet. Looks like other buildings are threatened and—”
“Don’t you worry about it, son. I’ll make some calls. You take care of your fiancée and her friend. I’ll do the rest.”
“Thanks, Dad.” My throat closed up, and I coughed to clear it. “Give Nana a big hug for me, and tell her I’ll be in San Francisco for a four-game stretch soon. I’ll come by and see her then.”
“Will do. Love you, Kane. Bring Eliana with you, if you can. I like that girl. She’s a keeper.”
Turning, I watched Eliana take off the NY Beasts hoodie I gave her earlier and put it on her friend. “Yeah, Dad. She is.”
***
“Need anything before I go?”
Eliana and Zoe still looked dazed, but they were at least clean now as they sat on my couch. They were in new clothes, complements of my mother and Nana, who skipped getting on a plane and went shopping for the newly homeless instead.
Mom was holding Eliana’s hand while Nana held Zoe’s, and they were all waiting for food to arrive from a local sandwich shop. Dad had to get back, but he’d texted me several times that he was working on securing housing for the tenants who lost everything.
The girls would be staying with me in the meantime. Mom and Nana would stay at a hotel and fly home tomorrow.
Eliana smiled up at me, her red-rimmed eyes still holding a well of sadness within their depths. She was devastated that she’d lost the pictures of her grandparents. I could tell the loss was sitting heavy on her. “It feels like I lost them all over again,” she told me.
But at least she was alive.
“Good luck today. I’ll be watching.”
I bent down and kissed her. “Promise?”
She pulled my head down and kissed me back. “Yep. Your good luck charm won’t let you down.”
Earlier, she’d said that I was her good luck charm too. After all, if she hadn’t spent the night with me, she would have been in the apartment when it went up. And because she hadn’t been there, Zoe didn’t want to stay alone and had stayed with another friend. Eliana said our night of sex had saved them both.
“Well, tell her you love her, Kane Bartholomew,” Nana ordered, rolling her eyes before muttering, “Men these days. They don’t know how to be romantic.”
Blue eyes met mine and something inside me twisted. I’d never said that to anyone outside of family. Truth be known, I hadn’t expected to say it for many years to come. But Nana had me in a corner, and from where I was standing, I could see her waiting impatiently.
“I love you,” I said, and that something twisted again.
She blinked several times, and the tip of her nose turned pink. “I love you too.”
It was hard stepping out of that door. Usually, before a ballgame, nothing came between me and the field. I was always early for pregame practice, stretching my body out and going through agility drills so I could catch anything that came my way.
But I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want to break eye contact with her. Didn’t want to leave the room that vibrated with her sweet spirit. I wanted to be the one holding her hand and ordering her food.
As if she could see the hesitation, she gave me a wink and the spell was broken.
I winked back and walked out.
On the sidewalk, Joey Something-or-other slapped a paper against my chest.
“You made the papers, Kane. Congratulations!”
I looked down. “The Beast Of First Base Is Off The Market.”
Belo
w the headline was a full-color photo of my girl and me, the huge ring sparkling on her finger.
We both looked really happy.
I grinned back at Joey. “Thanks.”
***
The guys were as boisterous as usual in the locker room, getting ready for the game. We’d lost twice to these bastards and didn’t want to fall to them again.
My phone pinged just before we headed out to the field. A picture text from Eliana. I laughed out loud when I opened it. Apparently, my fiancée had been in my closet, and the entire group of women were wearing Beasts gear. Nana looked quite fetching in one of my caps.
Eliana: The cheering section is ready.
Me: Four good luck charms. I’m a lucky guy.
Eliana: xoxo
Me: ☺
It was lame, but I was still dealing with everything that was happening and had been granted zero time to process it all.
“That the lucky lady?” A big hand came down on my shoulder, giving it a hard squeeze. Rhett Hamilton stood beside me, a society section in his hand and a twinkle in his eye. “Engaged, huh? Son, when I said to work on your public relations, I didn’t mean you had to slap a ball and chain on it.”
I laughed but said nothing.
“I’ve already checked her out. No skeletons in her closet that I can see. You did well.”
“Thank you, sir. She’s special. I’d planned to bring her to the game today, but her apartment complex burned down.”
He looked genuinely concerned. “Shit. I got caught up in that traffic. Is she okay?”
“Yeah, she wasn’t there. Neither was her roommate. Lost everything but their lives.”
He squeezed my shoulder again. “Then they kept the most important thing. Let me know if there’s anything they need. We have some empty team apartments. We could put them up for a few days, or weeks. Whatever.”
“That’s kind of you, sir. She’ll be staying with me for a while, but I’ll let you know if anything comes up.”
He eyed me closely. “You okay to be out on the field? Something like that can shake a man up.”
I shook my head. “I’m good. I’ll be playing in memory of the two people who lost their lives today. Gives me something to concentrate on. Plus, Eliana is watching. We’ve won every game but one since I’ve known her. And that loss was because she wasn’t watching. I blame her.”
Rhett’s brows furrowed. “So you’ve known this woman less than two weeks?”
I felt my face grow red and nodded.
“And for most of that time, you were on a helluva long road trip?”
I nodded again.
“And now you’re engaged?”
I lifted a shoulder. “When you know, you know.”
He looked up at the ceiling and exhaled a long breath. “Alright, son. I’m going to believe that you know what the hell you’re doing.”
I don’t have a clue.
“Thank you. Excuse me, sir. I’ve got a game to win.”
He lifted a brow. “She watching?”
I grinned and showed him the picture she’d sent me. “Yep.”
“Alright, go get ‘em.”
Get ‘em we did.
The first inning didn’t look like much. Calvin started out rusty, giving them two runs. A homer and one that got in from an error on my part.
That pissed me off, and nothing else got by me.
If it was over my head, I caught it.
At my feet, I caught it.
Once I had to practically lay in the dirt with my big toe on base, but I caught it.
For them. Those who perished and those who escaped.
And when I knocked a dinger over the wall… that one was for her.
CHAPTER TEN
Eliana
I didn’t know how it was for most people, but for me, when I slept, a bomb could go off, and I wouldn’t wake. It had been that way all my life. I slept like I was in a coma. I didn’t dream or have nightmares — usually.
I’d lived through nightmares though. I was grateful those deep internal memories didn’t play in my mind on repeat too often.
Sometimes, I woke up from sleep with a jolt, even when I wasn’t sure what had startled me. On the rare occasions I did dream, I’d end up bolt upright in a panic, going from a deep sleep to full wakefulness so quickly my body and brain had no time to process it.
But those times were better than when I became stuck in the darkness, attempting to claw my way back to reality. Then, by the time I finally woke, enough internal chemicals had flooded my system that my fight or flight response was in full gear.
Like now.
Even as I knew I needed to wake up, my eyes wouldn’t open, and I remained lost in the darkness. No, the fire. The heat. The smell. The pain of choking on the acrid smoke.
As I fought my way through the smoke, my fists pounded into something solid, and pain shot through my hands. I screamed as someone grabbed me, tight vices encircling my arms.
“Eliana, it’s me. It’s okay.”
A voice cut through the chaos in my head, and my terror escalated.
I opened my eyes, but could still see nothing but a dark shape hovering over me. He was coming to get me, of that I was sure. Just as he came to get Mamaw and Papaw. I was next…
“Eliana!”
Strong arms wrapped around me and I found myself pinned against a solid chest. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. My head was pounding as the blood from my racing heart surged through it.
“Please don’t hurt me,” came a small whimper and I knew it was from me.
“Shh, baby. Eliana, it’s okay. Shh. It’s Kane. I’m here now. Everything will be okay.”
The voice was deep and familiar, and the quiet words began to penetrate my panic. When I shuddered in his arms, and my teeth began to chatter, a warm blanket was pulled over me.
“I’ve got you.”
I began to calm. Began to warm as the truth of his words brought light to the dark place I’d been lost in.
“Kane?”
I hadn’t realized how terribly tense he had been until he relaxed when I said his name. His hold on me loosened, and I pulled back, looking up at him, almost afraid of what I’d see.
Would he think I was weak for allowing my subconscious to take over so completely? Would he pity me? Think I was crazy?
I could see none of that in his face. Worry, yes, but there was also compassion. He kissed my forehead and pushed my hair out of my face. “It’s me, baby. I’m here. Everything’s okay. Breathe with me.”
Clutching him, I focused on slowing my breath until it was even with his. As I did, my heart rate slowed too, though not as slow as the one beating under my ear. The sound was soothing. An indication of life, and I found myself relaxing against him.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“For what?”
“It’s been a long day, and you didn’t need to come home to this mess in your bed.”
He lifted my chin until I was forced to meet his eyes. “I happen to like the mess in my bed. And I’m worried about what happened. Want to talk about it?”
I didn’t but knew I owed him an explanation.
“Remember when I told you about my grandparents dying in a fire?”
He nodded.
“I was there, but I was able to get out.” I swallowed hard. “They didn’t.”
“Baby, I’m so sorry.”
“I don’t dream about it much anymore, but I guess the fire today triggered it. And not being able to find Zoe. And my neighbors. They…” I shuddered as I thought of the elderly couple who hadn’t been able to get out in time.
“Shhh. It was a terrible thing.”
“Thank you for being so understanding, and for letting me and Zoe hang out here until we figure things out.”
He grinned. “Any self-respecting fiancé would do the same.”
“Fake fiancé,” I reminded him and the grin faded.
“Yeah, that.”
I cleared my thro
at. “Congratulations on the big win. You were amazing. How did you catch the ball in the dirt like that?”
He wiggled his eyebrows. “Skill, baby.” He laughed. “Actually, that was just plain old luck. No way should I have been able to reach that.”
I sat up. “It was so exciting. The ball landed in your glove just milliseconds before that batter guy touched the base. You wouldn’t believe how many times they played the rerun, looking at the timing and zooming in to see if your shoe was on the base.”
“Cleat.”
“Huh?”
He grinned and brushed his lips over my hair. “I’ll show you sometime. Ready to get more sleep?”
I nodded and patted the bed beside me. “You?”
“Let me take a quick shower and wash off some dirt. I didn’t take the time at the stadium. Be right back.”
He stood up and began to strip on the way to the bathroom. Hoodie, t-shirt, basketball shorts were all tossed into a hamper in the corner, most of them making it.
Desire stirred, which came as a surprise since I was still sore and had just gone through such a traumatic experience. As the water to the shower turned on, I realized I didn’t care about any of that.
I wanted him. Or at least to be close to him and the comfort he provided.
Pushing through the door, I leaned against the jam, admiring Kane’s fine body through the glass shower.
Be brave.
Pulling his t-shirt over my head, I pushed my panties down my legs and walked closer, my heart picking up speed. Did he want this too?
My question was answered as he turned when I opened the door, shampoo in his hair. His eyes moved slowly down my body, and his cock jumped and began to fill. I felt beautiful and sexy at his immediate reaction.
“May I?”
“Please.”
He turned another knob and a second shower head opened, raining down enough water for us both. “Smart.”
He grinned and turned another one. I jumped when a stream hit me in the butt. He turned me around until I was facing it. It hit me there.
“Ooohhh… I like this one.”
“Are you still sore?” he asked, pressing against my back, his soapy hands on my breasts.