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“You know how people say stuff is written in the stars? Do you think we are?” I watched them twinkling above us, one shooting across the sky. “Written in the stars?” “Yeah,” he whispered as he dropped a kiss on my head. “That we belong to each other. I’m yours, and you’re mine.”
I pulled the visor down to check I hadn’t turned into The Hulk from the thick, ugly green jealousy raging through my veins, but no. The same asshole I’d always been stared back.
I promised I’d give her space… to be her friend. I just didn’t realize how hard it would be, and I was only eight hours in. Fucking friends. I should have asked for a definition, because as of right now, I had no clue what it meant.
My bat was currently in the morgue undergoing autopsy. Cause of death: Jupiter Reeves and his inability to be chill about anything concerning Marnie Matthews.
Fourteen years I’d trained myself to function without her. Now less than a month in, and I could barely get through an afternoon. I was a notebook away from drawing hearts around her name while I listened to Adele on repeat and tried to be patient.
“Do you remember the first time you kissed me?” I couldn’t believe she even had to ask; it was burned into my memory, branded onto my heart. It was still one of the top five nights of my life.
“I’m gonna do more than kiss you, Marn, and you have to forgive me in advance.” “What for?” “Because I’m about to fuck you like I need to make up for the past fourteen years, and I have no plans to be gentle. Then I’m going to do it again.”
“We’re not teenagers anymore, Marn. Spread your legs. I want to see what I’ve been missing.”
She was going to know how much I worshiped her; I planned to show her every fucking day.
“Did you ever scream my name when your husband was fucking you? Did you ever think about me?” Her eyes flared, and I stopped moving. “I’m not letting you come until you tell me. Did you wish it was my dick sliding inside you… just… like… this.” Her head fell back with a groan which shook my bones. “Say it, Star,” I gritted out. “Yes. Yes, I did.”
“Tell me who your pussy belongs to. Who it’s always belonged to.” “You, Jupiter… always you.” “Mine is going to be the only name you ever scream again. Understand?”
“I don’t… I don’t think I can move. I think you’ve killed me.” “Funny,” I kissed along her shoulder, “I was going to say I’ve never felt more alive.”
That boy I loved was now all man; possessive, controlling and unapologetic. That toned body now rippled with muscle, thick from years of training. Harder, meaner, more refined, and capable of moves I’d never imagined in my wildest dreams.
Whoever said confidence was sexy had never met Jupiter Reeves. His confidence wasn’t sexy; his confidence oozed from him. It was in the air around him, and it possessed you like a demon the second you breathed it in. His confidence was why no one ever said no. How could they? Goddamn, I hated it when Jupiter was right.
“You can beg me again if you’d like. I’ll make it worth your while.”
“Jupe, do you remember when we were kids before you asked me to be your girlfriend… we basically made out for a month?” “Yeah, it was amazing.” I tried not to grip onto the doorframe; I didn’t want this to go the way of the friends suggestion. “Do you think we could do that again? Try it on for size?” “What?” His grin turned into a frown as he balked. “You wanna make out for a month? Just make out? After last night? No sex? I mean…”
“Um… yeah, I guess.” I cupped his face. “No, I mean, can we just see how things go?” He blinked slowly. “I don’t know what that means. Things are… we’re back together, right? We are, aren’t we?” “Jupiter, it’s been a long time. I want to take it slow, get to know each other. Is that okay?” “Okay,” he kissed me again, as though needing to check. “We can do that, but you’re okay, right? We’re okay?” “Yes, I’m good.”
“You don’t like kids? Or is this The Grouch talking?” I laughed. The Grouch, as she’d taken to calling me whenever I got, well… grouchy, but coming from her I only found it amusing, and it almost counteracted any mood I might have been in. I even managed to have a conversation with Ace yesterday without wanting to throttle him, because I kept picturing her.
“Do you want kids?” “Marn, are you asking me to get you pregnant? Because if so, I’ll pull over right now and do it.” “Jupiter!” “I’m serious.” I stopped at the light and turned to face her. “I want babies with you. I want you to have my kids, lots of them, so say the word...”
“I threatened anyone else with a beat-down if they so much as looked in her direction,” I grinned. “Oh, and I forced her to work with me.” “There it is…” My voice dropped. “It’s only been a week, but… shit, I dunno. I thought I was in love with her before, but getting her back… I feel like I’m falling so hard I didn’t even realize this kind of love existed. Like the whole world stops when we’re together.” Drew’s eyes got all watery; because while he might have been one of the meanest wingers in the NHL, he was also a massive cry baby. “Jeez, pull it together. There are kids here, man. It’s
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He spun his hat round so he could get as close as possible, burying his head in my neck. “I fucking love you, Marn. What a fucking day.” “I love you, too. I’m so proud of you.”
“Oh, Doctor Matthews, you drive a hard bargain,” he grinned, but stayed where he was. “Want to bring your lab coat home and play naughty patient and doctor? I could pretend to pull my hamstring during the game tonight, and you could make it better by sucking my dick.” I couldn’t hold back the snort of laughter, especially as it was clear he was being deadly serious. “Oh, dear God.”
I held my hand out, and he placed his phone in my palm. “Pinterest?” My face screwed up at the screen, and then up at him. “How do you know about Pinterest?” “Hey! I know about stuff!”
“Okay, I have to go for a meeting with my third base coach. I’ll call you when I’m done. Love you.” He stopped. I stopped. Time might have also stopped. His hand was hovering halfway to the door handle. I’m not sure I blinked. His eyes widened, and a broad grin broke through his shock as he walked straight back to me. Warm hands cupped my face, and I could feel the calluses on his thumb as it brushed over my cheeks. “I should have been a bit cooler with that, but hey, you already knew. I love you, Marn. I love you so fucking much, and getting you back...” His tongue did the rest of the talking
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“Hey, I know what it’s like if you stand between a woman and time. I’ve made that mistake before.” Marnie was halfway to the bedroom, but turned and stared at me with narrowed eyes. “Emerson! I meant Emerson.” “Hmmm.”
My body still swarmed with jealousy at the idea of her being married, so I’d decided to pretend it never happened. She was mine now, and anyone else was irrelevant.
“Maybe getting used to me being me as well.” “That’s understandable though. You’re a much bigger dick now than you were in high school, I’d imagine,” he grinned. “You’re lucky it would be frowned upon to reach across and slap you,”
She needed to see me when I spoke my next words, needed to see it in my eyes; see the love that coursed through them, that always had. That she was the fluid that ignited me, she was the fuel that burned through my veins and scorched my blood. “Fourteen years, three months, and thirteen days, Marnie. That's how many days I've loved you, and you've been my first and last thought for every single fucking one. So I guess the question is whether you’re going to let me.”
I peered around the kitchen wall to find her sitting at the telescope, which Jupiter had graciously moved nearer to the window. And that was only because he said he couldn’t ‘adequately fuck you in every inch of your apartment if this is in the middle of the floor’.
“The past month, I’ve been falling back in love with him. There was no way I could stop it, but he’s been buying houses, and telescopes, and a boxes of LifeSavers, and planning our future,
didn’t realize anything was wrong until I watched the game last night. The only time he plays that badly is when it’s to do with you.” She frowned at me. “Why are you smiling?” “Because I watched the game, too. He did play badly, didn’t he?”
“Hello, Marnie Matthews.” I blinked away the emotion in my eyes. “Hey.” He held his hand out. “I caught you a ball.”
Then I got to see the wavy line he drew in the dirt, the way he always did. But for the first time, I realized that it was more than a wavy line… much more than a wavy line. I saw it for what it really was. An M – for Marnie. How had I never recognized it? Though I knew a small voice, Jupiter’s inside voice, was telling me it was because I’d never truly acknowledged his truth, that he’d never stopped loving me, and his future was our future.
In fact, ‘excels at waiting outside for women’ should be put down on my résumé for whenever the time came for me to retire.
“Do you remember the first time you introduced me to the Milky Way? The first time we watched it together and I saw a shooting star?” She tore her eyes away from the sky and met mine, with a nod and a broad smile. “I wished for you.”
“What d’you mean?” “I’d never been in love before, but that night… laying there, drinking hot chocolate and eating popcorn… I never wanted it to end, so I wished for you forever. I knew that night I would fall in love with you, that we’d always be together. Even when we broke up, somehow I always knew I’d find you again, that we’d find each other. It wasn’t easy. I’d wake up some nights and miss you so much I could feel my heart cracking again, but all I had to do was look up to the sky, and I knew you’d be somewhere else doing the same.” I
