We laugh and I can feel all of us relaxing. We begin to tell stories of our parents. Annie tells of her college graduation where Mom cried through the entire ceremony. LA tells of the time she tried to sneak back into the house after staying out past curfew and blamed it on a power outage that she didn’t know the time. Our dad said it was a creative excuse, but she was still grounded. I told of my very first date when Mom and Dad just happened to end up at the same movie as my date and me. Felix laughs as do we at our silly antics and the tales of our parents.
Soon, the ice cream is gone and it’s time to go. Felix rides back with LA, Annie, and I to our apartment complex and helps me carry in the one box I saved. I hug both of my sisters tightly and go into my place where Felix is waiting for me.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m sad,” I tell him truthfully. “But we’ve been putting it off for years and we needed to do it. Now, how was your game?”
“Good. We lost, but overall, we did well. Anything else happening I should know about?”
“Oh,” I perk up. “I passed all of my classes this semester.”
“Outstanding. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind because I knew you could do it.”
“I’m glad for you because I had all kinds of doubts. Now,” I look up at him. “I’m very dirty and I need a shower.”
Felix moans.
“Care to join me?”
He smiles. “I thought you’d never ask.”
I OPEN MY eyes and Felix is still sound asleep next to me as I ease out of the bed. I pull one of his shirts over my head and go into the living room. The box still sits on the coffee table. I open it and pull out the blanket. I trace my fingers over the patterns and smile at all the times I curled up under it when I was young.
I pull out the pictures. Some are of me as a baby. A few are of my sisters and me, but there are more of my parents and a lot of them when they started dating. They looked happy and so in love. I don’t remember a lot of fighting between my parents when we were growing up. I only remember happiness and lot of love.
“Abigail?” I look up and Felix is coming toward me in his boxers. “You okay?” He kneels down and wipes my cheek. I didn’t even realize I had been crying.
“I’m okay. Just looking through memories.”
“May I?” He holds out his hand and I hand him the few pictures I’m holding. “Wow.” He takes a seat next to me. “You and Annie look like your mom.” He flips through them.
“Yes. LA looks like dad.” I point to the one with all of us.
“They look very happy,” he says after a moment of silence.
“They were. They loved each other so much.”
“I can tell.” He sits them on the table. “Are you okay?”
“I am now. Felix,” I take a second to compose myself. “I’m really happy with you, and I love you. I want you to know that.”
“I love you, too. One day, you’ll have a happy family like your parents had.”
“Do you think we have that? I’m not talking like marriage or anything, but happiness? I even saw it with your parents.”
“Yeah, I think we do. I’m never happier than when I’m with you.”
“I feel the same way. I love you, Felix.”
“I love you, too.”
About the Authors
LINDSAY PAIGE is a romance author from North Carolina who has published YA, NA, and Sports romances of her own. She is a huge hockey fan of the Pittsburgh Penguins and loves read. When not writing, Lindsay is focused on completing college.
MARY SMITH was born in Chicago, Illinois, but currently lives in West Virginia. She is an avid reader, co-founder of Book Nerds Across America, and author of NA, Paranormal, Sports, and other romances. She goes nowhere without her cell phone or Kindle. Mary loves anything to do with Chicago Blackhawks, Patrick Sharp, and hockey related!!
DESPITE THEIR LOVE for different teams and players, Lindsay and Mary write sports romances to vicariously live through their characters and their experiences with these hot athletes. Together, they have written The Penalty Kill trilogy, Oh Captain, My Captain series, and The Ninth Inning series.
Authors Links:
Facebook
Lindsay: facebook.com/authorlindsaypaige
Mary: facebook.com/authormarysmith
Twitter
Lindsay: twitter.com/lindsaypaige11
Mary: twitter.com/marysmith1980
Blog
Lindsay: authorlindsaypaige.blogspot.com/
Mary: authormarysmith.blogspot.com/
Coming Soon
The Ninth Inning series presents
Memphis Angels’ catcher, Blake Foster.
Blake Foster has a love/hate relationship with the game he plays for a living. On good days, he smiles and enjoys baseball. During the rest of the time, he’s battling his demons and looking out for his mother. He has a hard time keeping ahold of the good things in life no matter how badly he wants them.
Sofia Gardner might come from a rich family, but she has worked for the opportunity for a position on the staff for the Memphis Angels. However, when she meets Blake, she realizes there’s more to him than his constant grumpy expressions. She feels he needs a friend and in her good-natured way, she reaches out to him, only to find the demons he’s battling are much worse than she thought.
When the bases are loaded and it all comes down to the catch at home plate, can they get their out or lose it all when it matters most?
Blake, book two in The Ninth Inning series, releases October 25, 2015.
Felix (The Ninth Inning #1) Page 18
