“You think I should?”
“Yes. While you’re at it, how about two rings?” She flashed her left hand at him, devoid of any jewelry.
A lump of happiness clogged his throat. “I think I could manage that.”
“I’ll kick your butt if you don’t.”
“Now that sounds like something I’d say.”
“This girl learned a lesson or two from the nice boy and quite a few from life itself. Zach, I’m sorry I shadowed you at the gala and didn’t trust you to handle yourself.”
He nodded.
“Could the nice man ever find it in his heart to love the selfish girl?”
“No, he couldn’t. But the nice man finds his heart bursting with love for the nice girl.”
She smiled, one of those smiles straight from her heart to his. “I love you, too. My big, warm, kind, well-mannered man.”
“I wouldn’t go that far.” He snorted, then turned serious. “I love you, Kel. With all of my heart and every cell in my body, including the dense ones in my head.” He wrapped her in his arms and held on.
Forever.
Chapter 28—For the Love of the Game
Kelsie and Zach stood side by side, arms around each other in their manicured yard near Gary’s memorial. Kelsie couldn’t stop the smile spreading across her face. Spring flowers raised their colorful heads toward a sun that warmed the chilly salt air and promised warmer tomorrows.
So much had happened. Zach signed a two-year contract with the Steelheads. They accepted an offer to work with Tyler and Lavender to create a unique vacation opportunity for veterans and a summer camp for children in need. Kelsie brimmed with ideas for the camp and veterans’ retreat. In keeping with the when it rains, it pours adage, Kelsie had gotten a call from Veronica just that morning hiring her to do some work with a couple players the Steelheads drafted, definite challenges both of them. Kelsie accepted, but on her terms, not Veronica’s. And a few days prior to that, she’d been contracted by a Major League Baseball team to offer some classes to their players.
Side by side, she worked with Zach at the homeless shelter. Kelsie’s training program for the unemployed homeless was gaining national recognition, not that it mattered to her. What mattered was all the people who benefitted by finding gainful employment.
She glanced at Zach, and her heart filled with love. Giving was so much better than receiving, and she wouldn’t have changed a thing in her past because it’d gotten her where she was today. She’d purged that former selfish bitch from her soul to find the true Kelsie underneath. Being a good person was so much more fulfilling than being a bad one, except in bed.
Zach had proposed to her on a weekend away at Tyler Harris’s mansion on Madrona Island.
They’d raise their children with love and discipline, better than they were raised. And if life threw them bumps along the way, she’d pull out a page from their pasts and remember that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
And better.
And more loving.
With Zach all things were possible, and Kelsie knew there wasn’t anything they couldn’t face together because they’d already faced the worst life had to offer and become better citizens and partners for it. And someday, parents. Yes, someday soon.
They’d name their first son Gary.
Kelsie leaned into Zach and stood on tiptoes. He lowered his head and captured her mouth with his. They kissed in a silent promise that they’d always have each other.
No matter what.
Love was the ultimate bond for the beauty and her beast.
~ THE END ~
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Complete Booklist
The following Jami Davenport titles are available in digital and many are available as trade paperbacks. These books can be read as standalones.
Gone Missing Investigations
Gone Missing
Evergreen Nights Series
Save the Last Dance
Who’s Been Sleeping in My Bed?
The Gift Horse
Seattle Sockeyes Hockey
Skating on Thin Ice
Crashing the Net
Love at First Snow
Melting Ice
Hearts on Ice
Bodychecking
Goaltending
Penalty Play
Shutdown Player
Shot on Goal
Deflected
Seattle Skookums Baseball
Bottom of the Ninth
Men of Tyee
Sacked in Seattle
Tackled in Seattle (Summer 2019)
Seattle Steelheads
Kickoff (July 2019—The Originals)
Snap Decision (The Originals)
Offsides
Blindsided
Game Changer
Fumble Recovery
Standalone Books
Madrona Sunset
About the Author
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USA Today bestselling author Jami Davenport writes sexy contemporary, new adult, and sports romances, and has recently dived into Romantic Suspense with her new series, Gone Missing.
Jami lives on a small farm in the woods near Puget Sound with her Green Beret-turned-plumber husband, a Newfoundland drool monster, and a prince disguised as an orange tabby cat.
Jami worked in IT for years and is a former high school business teacher but recently achieved her life-long dream and is now a full-time author. A horse lover since birth, Jami showed dressage horses for over thirty years. Now she gardens and goes RVing in her green Winnebago Minnie, along with other travelling adventures. She's a lifetime Seahawks and Mariners fan and is impatiently waiting for the day professional hockey comes to Seattle. Jami still misses her SuperSonics. An avid boater, Jami has spent countless hours in the San Juan Islands, a common setting in her books. In her opinion, it's the most beautiful place on earth.
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Offsides: The Originals (Seattle Steelheads Book 3) Page 28
