I Never Let You Go
One word was all it took to change everything. For years, Lauren Lawson believed happily ever afters didn’t exist for everyone—especially her. Now a decade after watching the love of her life walk away, he’s back.
Finn Reynolds is determined to win her back, but Lauren is scared. She keeps her feelings locked up to protect her fragile heart from being shattered again. But Finn has a way of getting her to open up—he always has.
Can Lauren leave the past behind and move on to a future where she never lets him go?
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Excerpt
Once we are both settled, I start the truck. “So, where are we headed?”
“Well, I thought we might swing by the diner and pick up some burgers and then hit up the batting cage.”
“The batting cage? You do remember high school, right? You know, where I was a football player and not a baseball player.”
“Oh, trust me, I remember.” She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth, and I want to be the one to bite it. I turn quickly away from her before my cock wakes up.
“But you mentioned yesterday that you had a rough day, and over the past few years, when Kate and I have had a bad day, we go to the batting cage and whack some balls.”
I raise my eyebrow and glance over at her at the stoplight. “Whack some balls? Is that a technical term?”
She crosses her arms. “Yes, that is very technical.” She laughs, and yep, that sound definitely wakes my cock up. I squirm in my seat, trying to rearrange myself casually. “As you said, you were a football player, not a baseball player, so how do you know it’s not an actual technical term.” She sticks her tongue out at me, and I see a glimpse of the old Lo.
“Valid point, Lo.” I drive us to the Honey Bee Diner, where we order two cheeseburgers, two fries, and two root beer floats.
I lean back with my hands over my stomach, “Okay, Lawson, I don’t know what your endgame is, but I’m not sure how I’m supposed to move to do anything let alone ‘whack some balls’—” I use air quotes—“as you technically say.”
“Oh, come on, stop being a baby.” She reaches into her purse, retrieving her wallet.
I reach across the table and stop her when she pulls out her credit card to pay. “I’ve got this.”
Slipping her hand from my grasp, she lays the card on the table and flags over the waitress. “No, I invited you, it’s only fair I pay.”
I shake my head. “Then I wouldn’t be very gentlemanly.”
She scoffs. “Oh, you’re a gentleman now?”
I lay my hand on my chest as if offended. “Just for that, I’m going to pay for this and the batting cage.” I quickly throw enough cash to cover both of our meals and a tip on the table and extend my hand to her, mainly to help her up from the booth, but if she wants to continue to hold it, I wouldn’t be upset. She takes my hand but quickly releases it once she is standing and adjusts her shirt.
Baby steps.
We drive the ten minutes over to the batting cages, and once again, she fights me when I go to pay. “I told you, I’m showing you I’m a gentleman tonight.” It earns me an eye roll and a smile. I’ll take one since I got the other.
“Lane six is open. You can pick your bats over there,” the kid who looks barely old enough to drive says from behind the counter.
“Thank you,” we both say at the same time before we make our bat selection.
“All right, how much harder can this be. Let me show you how it’s done.” Outside of high school gym class, I can’t say that I’ve ever spent much time with a baseball bat with my hands.
Lauren holds out her hand for me to go first. I walk into the cage and look back at her over my shoulder. Lauren is leaning forward against the fence with her arms raised above her head. The slightest sliver of skin is showing between her shirt and jeans. Is this part of her plan to distract me?
“Let’s see what you got, hotshot,” she taunts.
I point the bat in at her direction and smile at her before turning to face the machine. I press the button indicating I’m ready and assume the position.
The ball shoots out of the machine and flies right past me, hitting the area behind me with a loud whoosh. Lauren laughs softly. I glare at her, and she quickly covers her mouth. I shake it off and retake my position.
Three more balls pass without making contact with my bat.
I can now hear her howling with laughter. I hold the bat in position and focus on the ball. The machine release the ball, and I follow it till it’s in front of me and swing—and another miss. “Damnit!”
I exit the cage to see Lauren standing there with her arms and ankles crossed with a smug smile on her face.
“Oh, what like this is so easy. Let me see you do better.”
“With pleasure.” I want to pull her into me and kiss that smirk right off her face and show her better pleasure than hitting baseballs.
Lauren enters the cage and hits the button. She holds the bat in position and shakes her ass slightly, just enough for me to notice.
Clink.
Clink.
Clink.
Clink.
Clink.
Damn, she hit every ball that came at her. She swings the bat in a circle before planting it on the ground in between her feet. She leans over on it and teases, “You were saying?”
“Oh, it is on, babe.” I accentuate each word. I don’t miss the way she stares at my mouth when I call her babe. We have slowly fallen into our old banter, but I’m still not sure where we stand. She didn’t slap me though when I called her babe, so I think it’s about time I find out what this is happening between us.