“I don’t see why you need to go,” I said.
“So, you two can talk in private about a big decision,” he added.
“Nope,” I told him. “You can stay. Maybe you two have some insight. Let me give you all the info Seth gave me.”
I did just that. Each team was offering something different that could be a selling point.
“I think I speak for everyone when I say Jacksonville is out,” Mallory said, looking at the three of us.
“I agree,” I said. “They have a nice team, and it’d be fun playing with Gerard again, but I don’t want to live there.”
“And then there were two,” Stacey quipped.
I focused on Mallory. “If it were all up to you, where would you choose?
“No,” she said. “We’re not doing it like that.”
Malik chuckled, and Stacey shook her head.
“So how are we doing this?”
She tapped her chin for a moment. “Okay, here’s what we do: on the count of three, we both say the team we want you to go to.”
“I’ll count down,” Stacey volunteered.
Malik was laughing, and I knew I had no say in the matter. The two of them decided on a course of action and getting them to change their mind was pointless.
“Let me know when you’re ready,” Stacey said.
“We’re ready. Start the count down, bestie,” Mallory said.
“Okay,” Stacey said. “3… 2… 1…”
“New York,” Mallory and I said in unison.
A big smile overtook her beautiful face. She hugged me.
“We’re going to leave you two to it,” Stacey said.
She and Malik stood up. Stacey gave me and Mallory a hug and congratulated us again. Malik hugged Mallory and held out his fist for me to bump. I watched as they walked towards the door together.
“Can you tell me why New York?” Mallory asked once they were gone.
“Cisco, Bradley, and I all had fun when we played together during our first years in the league. I’ve stayed close to them all this time. I think their team is closer to being able to make a championship run in a few years. They’re also offering the most money and a longer contract with a player option versus a team option like L.A. And one of the main reasons: it’s close to home. We’ll be able to come back often, and you could spend time here no problem when I’m on the road.”
“You’ve thought about this,” she said.
“I have. California has a lot of upsides too, but New York feels right.”
“It does to me too, for all the reasons you said,” Mallory agreed. “I feel like you could contribute more to their team since they need a small and power forward. With Francisco at the one, and Bradley at the two, and you at the three or four, you could make some noise next season. You could get far in the postseason depending on how things go. They have a good center too. I know you won’t be starting, but you can give them good minutes off the bench.”
“I love it when you talk basketball to me,” I joked, and she laughed. “But you make some good points.”
“So, New York, it is?”
“New York it is, Ace. We’re going to rule the world, and we’re going to do it together. You’ll entertain with your stories, and I’ll entertain on the court.”
She moved closer, wrapping her arm around my waist. “I can’t wait. And I’m sure my parents will be happy their first grandchild will only be five hours away by car.”
“My dad and Olivia will feel the same way,” I added. “And Mom told me they’re thinking of moving back to the States for good. The hospital in Burlington is offering Harrison a position. They’ll all be happy that they are close enough to visit us and vice versa.”
She agreed. “Now, call Seth and let him know.”
I did as she suggested. Seth was happy and agreed with us that it was the best fit for me. I knew this next chapter in our life was going to be a fun and interesting one. I couldn’t wait to see what Mallory and I accomplished.
Mallory stood up and held her hand out to me. I placed mine in hers without hesitation.
“We have some celebrating to do and an empty house to do it in.”
She waggled her eyebrows, making me chuckle as I stood up. I wrapped her up in my arms.
“Thank you for being with me. Thank you for being so willing to take this next step with me.”
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
Neither would I. I leaned down and captured her full lips. I was the luckiest man in the entire world. Mallory was my everything, and I still had basketball, with another addition on the way. Mallory broke our kiss first and pulled me down the hall to my bedroom. As she’d said, we had a lot to celebrate.
We were going to be okay, and I was happy I ran into her on my first day in Colebury at the Busy Bean. I hadn’t realized that she’d been what was missing, but someone knew and put us in each other’s path again. I was never letting her go again. Mallory pulled me into my bedroom, closing the door behind us.
T H E
E N D
Thank you for reading Doubletalk by Teralyn Mitchell! Want a bonus epilogue for Mallory and Zeke? Get it here.
You can get all the links to all the Busy Bean books here. Or turn the page for more great recommendations for Teralyn Mitchell and World of True North titles
You Will Also Enjoy…
More Busy Bean:
Sweetheart by Sarah Mayberry
Fireproof by Delancey Stewart
Sidetracked by R.L. Kenderson
And more!
Teralyn Mitchell’s books include:
Southern Boy
Between Two Moons
Love and Other Complications
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, I have to say thank you to Sarina Bowen for giving me the chance to write in this world. I applied on a whim with little expectation but I’m so glad I did! I have loved writing in the Busy Bean series and the World of True North. Sarina is amazing for opening her world like this and trusting us to write new stories in it. I’ve learned so much from her already and got the chance to meet so many wonderful and talented authors and people. I will forever be grateful for this opportunity. Also, thank you Jane, Jenn, and Natasha for always being willing to answer any questions and being so organized. I can’t imagine the amount of work it took to pull all of this off and I’m happy that you all kept it running smoothly.
As always, I want to thank my mother. She is my biggest fan and always believes I can do anything. She helped me like she always does coming up with the plot for this story as well as fixing plot holes and answering any questions I had about things not sounding right. She’s always willing to sit and talk out the entire plot and characters for any of my books and for that I am so lucky. I love you, Mama and I’m so happy I get to call you my mom.
During this publishing journey I’ve met some wonderful women who I am glad to call some of my closest friends and I would be remiss if I didn’t thank them too. Valerie Quinn was inspired by my good friend, Emily Goodwin who has always been willing to answer any questions I have writing and publishing wise as well as reading my work to give me feedback. She’s helped me tweak my blurbs and listened to me vent about some of the things we deal with in this romance world. Just like Mallory values Valerie’s feedback, I value Emily’s. I’m happy I reached out to her about her book almost three years ago and we forged a friendship because of it. We support each other every step of the way and I can’t wait to see what we accomplish in the years to come.
Emilia Court Brooks is a name I came up with in honor of some more of my friends who’ve had my back and always there for me. Emily R. King is an amazing young adult fantasy author who I met a few years ago when I was still living in Utah. It was a friendship forged by me asking for an ARC and grew into what it is today. She’s one of my closet friends who I can talk to about anything from my problems at home to writing books. We may not write in the same genre anymore, but we still support each other and a
re always promoting the other’s works. Courtney Young—writes under the pen name, Lyra Parrish, and is one half of the USA TODAY Bestselling duo, Kennedy Fox—has been a constant source of inspiration and help these past couple of years. I have learned so much from her YouTube channel, The Courtney Project. She provides real insight into what it’s like to be an author. Her live sprints helped me finish this book and a few others last year and were a bright spot in a year that had a lot of lows. She believes in supporting others no matter where they are in their journey and is your biggest cheerleader when you tell her about your accomplishments.
Brooke O’Brien is a new friend who I connected with last year. 2020 had so many ups and downs and some weird things happened. I offered my knowledge of basketball for Brooke’s sports romance and then when a freak natural disaster happened, I reached out to her. A month later my own freak disaster happened, and she was kind enough to reach out to me as well. From there a friendship grew and now we talk every day. Brooke supports me and encourages me to keep writing when I’m feeling uninspired or send me TikTok videos that either make me laugh, cry, or curse her (if she reads this, she knows which one I’m talking about). I’m glad that my friendship with Brooke was one of the good things that came out of 2020.
I want to thank my beta readers—Brittnie Becker, Becky Howard, Jasmine Cage, and Letanya Parker—who were kind enough to read early copies of Doubletalk and give me feedback that helped me make this book stronger and better. I also want to thank my family and friends who have always been supportive and encouraging as I continue this publishing journey. They are always willing to read my work and tell everyone they know that I am a published author. I am so lucky to have the kind of support I have from all of you. Also, thank you to my editors who helped me shape this book into what it is now!
And lastly but certainly not least, I want to thank all my readers! I hope you enjoyed Mallory and Zeke’s story and continue with me on this journey!
Doubletalk (The Busy Bean) Page 27
