Page 262 of Out of Left Field

Everett took my hand. “You should be mad. About all of it,” he said quietly. “I know my mom was doing what she thought was best. I wasn’t in a good head space. I scared her a lot in those weeks and months when I refused to pick up a baseball. I acted like I’d never played the game. I don’t know what she was thinking when she turned you away, but she was probably scared that you’d send me into a tailspin. Or…” he took a deep breath and let it out slowly, his eyes fixated on our hands. “Or maybe she was worried about what it would do to you.”

I jerked back. “To me?”

His gaze slowly raised to meet mine. “How would you have reacted? Would you have taken on some of my burden? Turned down an opportunity so you could be closer to me? Tried to fix me? My mom cares about you, Willa. Yes, she was worried about me, but when she made that decision, I’m willing to bet that she thought she was doing the best thing for both of us.”

I had never—not once—considered the prospect that Megan Anson thought of me that day.

The ground under me shifted a little.

Everett took my hand in his and pulled it to his lips, kissing the back of it with a long, slow press of his lips. It was tender. It was reverent. Then he brushed his thumb over the spot, sealing it in. “Whatever happens next, know that I’m here and I’m not going anywhere. I don’t like looking back because I’m so excited about the future, but if your mother is here then we might as well tackle our demons.”

I was excited for the future too. Maybe that was part of my anger. I didn’t like the feelings Beth dredged up or being forced to look at a past that I was more than happy having in the rearview mirror.

“Let’s stuff our faces, laugh our asses off, and then get lost in each other.”

Everett grinned. “Fuck, I love you. You’re perfect.”

And even though we’d told each other we loved each other a hundred times before, this time it felt different.

“She’s been living in Atlanta for the last five years. Her husband had some connection to the movie industry there and she appeared on one of those reality shows for two seasons.” Seth read the report from his security company on his phone. “They’re in the middle of a messy divorce and she’s been cut from the next season.”

“So she’s looking for another five minutes of fame.” I knew it and this confirmed it. I might not personally know the woman who gave me her DNA, but I was more than used to her behavior.

“It’s likely,” Seth agreed. “I’ll send you the full report. She’s staying at the Bayside Elite. Her reservation goes for two more weeks. So it’s not likely she’s taking your no for an answer.”

“Security has her blacklisted from all Tangerines facilities.” I gave Everett a thankful nod for getting that ball rolling.

“And I’d like to talk to the Mantas about doing the same thing,” he said with a nod back.

Annalise sat across from us with a huge grin on her face. It wasn’t as if we were keeping our relationship a secret, but Seth was so caught up in the report he hadn’t noticed that Everett and I were sitting so close I was almost in his lap, or that Everett had a death grip on my knee. Or that my arm was linked through his.

“I agree,” Seth said, still staring at his phone, his thumb scrolling through the information. “I’m not taking any chances with anyone anymore. It’s like deja vu all over again.”

My situation wasn’t anything like what Annalise went through last year, but I understood it was triggering to them nonetheless.

Seth finally looked up and frowned at his fiancée. “Why are you smiling like that?” He turned to us, then back to Annalise. “What did I miss? This isn’t a funny conversation.”

That made Annalise laugh and shake her head. “I really love you, you know that?”

“Of course I do. What is going on? Wait, you said you had something you needed to talk to me about.” He turned back to Everett. “It sounded serious.”

“It is.” Everett fought to keep his expression neutral. “We’ve got another problem.”

I wanted to turn into his shoulder and hide my face but I couldn’t. Not when we had Seth on the hook like this. It was too much fun.

Seth lowered down to the chair and leaned forward onto his knees, folding his hands in front of him. “What’s going on? How can I help?”

Annalise’s giggles multiplied. “Oh my god, Seth. You’re killing me!”

My own laughter started to bubble up so I rolled my lips between my teeth.

Everett was stone cold though. He could go into acting he was so smooth. He sighed dramatically. “Well, I told you about the woman I was seeing.”

“Yeah.” Seth’s eyebrow raised in curiosity.

“Well it’s going really well. I’m thinking of introducing her to everyone.”

“That’s wonderful. I thought this was a bad problem.”