“Clair was right. You two could pass as twins in these photos.”

She was close enough that their hands grazed, and he hooked his pinky onto hers, feeling her go rigid in response. So he turned to face her, slipping his hand completely into hers. It was so quiet in there he could hear her breathing accelerate as she licked her lips and searched his eyes. They weren’t as welcoming as they had been in the car. She seemed alarmed now.

“Are you seeing anyone, Addison?’

“No,” she said as her anxious eyes shifted from his eyes to his lips then back to his eyes again.

AJ lifted her hand, placing it on his chest so she’d see she wasn’t the only one feeling the insane anxiety—another thing no girl had ever made him feel. All the weeks leading up to today he’d known Addison was a first for him. She’d be the first girl he ever felt inclined to ask for—needed to hear her say she’d be his exclusively. He just hadn’t anticipated being so fucking terrified about the real possibility of her saying no.

“I haven’t stopped thinking about you since the day we met,” he said as his eyes searched for clues of what she might think of that.

“I’ve thought of you this whole time too,” she said, even as the anxiousness in her eyes remained.

His apprehension began to drain a little, and he took a step forward. “I was really looking forward to getting back to see you again. You and Clair.”

Finally, the alarm in her eyes waned, and she smiled sweetly, her eyes dropping to his lips as he moved in closer. “Well, you know how much Clair was looking forward to having you back.” She peered up into his eyes. “I was too.”

“Were you?” he asked, a little confused, but he still couldn’t fight the temptation to slip his hand around her soft nape. Her brows pinched together at the question, even as she quivered slightly at his touch. “I kept wondering if what I’d felt from you the day of our Niagara Falls trip hadn’t been just imagined. Then you didn’t show last night to the game.”

Her eyes widened strangely, but only for a second, and then she shook her head. “I had a lot of work I needed to catch up on, and I knew I’d be gone all day today.”

AJ searched her eyes, not sure what to make of the strange flicker he’d seen in them. “When Clair told me you’d made the game today but didn’t come down with her on the field before the game, you have no idea how disappointing that was. I was dying to see you at that point. I almost turned Clair’s invite down to come with you guys tonight because I was beginning to think your feeling anything remotely close to what I was had to be all in my head.”

There was no flicker this time, but she did glance away for a moment. “I, uh,” she said, making eye contact with him again. “I stayed with my mom because she has a condition in her legs that acts up occasionally and she can’t be doing too much walking around. It was acting up again today.”

The unease he’d seen in her eyes moments ago was gone. A sudden softness permeated her eyes now as she brought her hand up and touched his face.

“I really did miss you, Andrés. A lot.”

AJ leaned his forehead against hers, closing his eyes. “God, I love hearing you say my name.” She giggled as he stared deeply into her eyes. “Does your missing me as much as I missed you mean I stand a chance of being more than just Clair’s best buddy who keeps you company on her play dates?” The pinch in her brows made him add one last thing. “Not that I think it’s a bad gig. I loved hanging out with you guys tonight. It’s just that”—he gulped before adding the most terrifying part of this statement—“I want more.”

The unease in her expression was back, but it was different this time. “I’ve had a longstanding rule about not getting involved with any of my dad’s players—baseball players in general, AJ.”

“Good,” he said, still curious about why that was, but he’d save that question for later. “But you’re standing here with me now so close I can almost taste your lips, and you just told me you missed me as much as I missed you. Please tell me that it means you’ll make an exception for me only.”

“That depends.”

AJ pulled his forehead away and peered at her. “On what?”

“On what exactly you mean by more. I’ve been around traveling baseball players long enough to know—”

“I’d never disrespect my coach or Clair by asking you for anything less than something serious and exclusive,” he said, making sure that was clear. “As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t want it any other way. I know it’s soon and we can take things as slow as you want, but it’s the one thing I’d need to know you’re on board with before anything else.”

She stared at him for a moment, a semblance of skepticism—or something—in her eyes.

“What about Miranda?”

“Who?”

She lifted a brow, tilting her head sideways. “The girl you spent the entire night with and then hung out with again after Clair’s birthday. The reason why you couldn’t do the zoo tour.”

Feeling utter annoyance that she still remembered that when he’d long forgotten the groupie, he frowned. “Look. I’ll admit, as a single guy, I’ve met and hung with girls who offer up no-strings-attached fun. She was one of those. But if I do this, all of that changes. In fact, I’ll be completely honest here. I admit that first night, the one she mentioned the day I first met you, I did spend with her. But after that, I made no further plans to see her. I would’ve hung around for the zoo tour. I was planning to because I didn’t have any plans with her that day. Only reason I didn’t was because I saw the exchange between you and Travis.” He took a deep breath before admitting the next part. “It pissed me off even way back then. But I’m telling you I wouldn’t dream of disrespecting you by spending time with any other women once we’re exclusive, especially because I’d be expecting the mutual respect in return.”

He stopped short of saying he’d demand it because, in time, he was sure she’d pick up on what his heart would be demanding. The way he felt now, standing this close to her and knowing he was but seconds away from claiming her mouth, he knew he wouldn’t be able to hide just how entitled his heart would feel if this happened with her.

“I couldn’t tell my parents or Clair for a while. You have to understand—”

AJ kissed her softly before she could finish, tasting what he’d been dying to since that first day he ran into her. Her mouth was as agonizingly soft and delicious as he’d imagined. It made him want so much more.

He pulled away with a smile, barely able to contain himself. If he didn’t need to get this absolutely straight and she hadn’t just finished saying she didn’t want Clair to know, he’d be all over her already. “How you handle things with your dad and Clair is entirely up to you. I’ll go along with whatever you ask. We can keep it on the down low as long as you want. It’s the other part I won’t compromise on. You don’t have to tell anyone you’re with me until you’re ready. I just need to know you’re in agreement with this being more than just a friendship.”

An expression of sheer relief came over Addison’s face, and she smiled, her gorgeous dark eyes sparkling. “You know when my father started training you full-time and he began telling me about you, I could hardly believe it. Everything else about you seemed so perfect. And then on top of it all, here was my dad calling you a class act.” She continued to smile with a small shrug. “Class act with a short fuse.”

Addison laughed softly but quickly went serious again. She still hadn’t agreed to anything, and the hesitation in her eyes made AJ anxious. She took a deep breath and squeezed AJ’s hand. “It’s not that I’m not attracted to you or that I don’t think that something more than a friendship with you would be anything but amazing,” she said, and he hung on her every word. “I’ve just always been terrified as it is to disrupt or complicate Clair’s life. She’s not your typical little girl. Like you said earlier, she worries about things she shouldn’t, and with her being so close to you and all, this could be even worse if things don’t work out between you and me than if you were just any other guy.”