Windy City

Read MILE HIGH's bonus chapter, which takes place right after MILE HIGH's epilogue. This is the same bonus chapter that was included in the Deluxe Edition paperback in North America and the UK paperback reissue.

____________________

“Zee, I don’t know what to wear if you don’t tell me where we’re going,” Stevie calls from the closet.  

“Wear whatever you feel most comfortable in. Maybe leave the dirty Nikes at home, though.” 

“That’s the only part of my outfit I have picked out.”   

I smile to myself. Rosie and I are lying on the bed at an absurdly early hour while Stevie gets ready to go.  

This isn’t how it typically happens. Usually, my girlfriend is the one waiting for me, but I’ve had this day planned for months, even down to every detail of the outfits I’m going to wear.  

Yes, I said outfits. Plural. 

Nashville, South Florida, and D.C. all have drastically different climates for this time of the year, so one outfit simply isn’t enough for a day like today.   

I’ve also had Stevie’s bag packed since last night, though she has no idea it’s waiting in the car.  

“Does this work?” she asks, popping out of the closet in her typical tee, flannel, and baggy jeans. 

Fucking perfect.  

“Beautiful, Vee.” 

A confident smile lights up her face. My favorite smile that I’ve worked hard to see more often.  

“Thank you. Now tell me where we’re going.” 

I sit up on the bed. “Can’t.”  

“Is Rosie going?”   

I give our girl a scratch between the eyes. “Not today.” 

Stevie’s lips fall into a pout, which is exactly why the most important part of our night will happen right back here. In our home, with our pup.  

Rosie’s dog sitter is coming by to pick her up for the afternoon, so with Stevie finally bundled in her winter coat, we hop into my G-Wagon.  

“Are we meeting up with the Maddisons?” is the first thing she asks once we get on the road. It’s so early in the morning, the rising sun barely beginning to break through the darkness. 

“Nope.” Not yet. 

“Ryan?” 

I shake my head. Tonight.  

Stevie’s brother and I coincidentally have the same day off, which is a rarity for either of us midseason. And for that reason alone, this date has been circled on my calendar since we got our game schedules. I knew I couldn’t do it without him there. 

“Indy?” 

I chuckle to myself, shaking my head. “Can you just let me surprise you?”  

She reaches across for my hand, linking our mutually ring-covered fingers in her lap. They look good together, and they’ll look even better with another one added to her collection.  

It’s not until I pull off the exit for the airport that her confusion begins to clear. 

“Are we flying somewhere?” 

“Yes.” 

“Commercial or private?”  

I take the turn for the private side of the airport, answering her without words.  

“Zee, where are we going?” So much skepticism laces her voice.  

I park the car and give her my full attention. Blue-green eyes are narrowed in my direction, but I can’t hide my cheeky smile from beaming back at her.  

“Even if I don’t tell you where we’re going, you still gonna follow me?”  

She softens, her head leaning back on the headrest behind her. “Always.”  

“Good.” I hop out of the car so I can get her door. “Let’s get going, then. We’re running late for our first stop.”  

“First stop?” 

When her feet touch the ground, I cup her face, bending down to take her mouth with mine. “First stop.”  

“Evan Zanders, did you rent out a private plane just to join the Mile High Club?”  

“To be honest, it was the easiest mode of transportation for today, but I’d be lying if I said that thought didn’t cross my mind a few times when I was booking it.” 

I grab our bags from the back seat, but Stevie doesn’t say anything as we walk hand-in hand to our ride for the day. 

“Welcome,” the flight attendant at the top of the stairs says, ushering us inside.  

“Thank you so much.” Stevie’s voice is bright and cheery as she walks onto the plane.  

I simply give the attendant a nod in greeting before following my girlfriend.  

Four custom seats face each other at a conference table in the front of the aircraft, followed by couches flanking either side. A mini bar centers the plane, with a bedroom in the back.   

I’ve been on smaller chartered flights other than the big plane the team uses, but this one is stunning.  

“Can I get you anything?” the flight attendant asks as we take our seats at the table toward the front.  

I look at the pretty girl at my side. “I’m okay right now, but thank you,” she says.   

“I’m good, as well.”  

“I’m Heather, if you need anything. We’ll be taking off to…” She hesitates, eyeing me. “We’ll be taking off soon.”  

Glad the crew got the memo about keeping today’s stops a secret.  

“No sparkling water with extra lime?” Stevie asks, brow raised. 

“Nah. That’s a Stevie Shay special. I wouldn’t want this flight attendant to dislike me or anything.”  

“Okay.” She laughs in disbelief. “Where was that attitude last October?” 

I take her hand in mine, kissing the back of it. “I don’t want to annoy this one the way I wanted to annoy you.”  

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?” 

“Absolutely. You drove me so fucking nuts all I could do was follow you around, pestering you in hopes you’d give me some attention.” 

“You do love to follow me.”  

“That I do, sweetheart. That I do.”  

The plane begins to taxi, headed for the runway. 

“Do you remember Nashville last season?” Stevie asks through a yawn. 

I freeze at the question. Because what the hell? Why is she bringing up Nashville right now?  

“When we ran into each other at that bar on Broadway,” she continues. “And I pretended that I didn’t know you?” 

How could I forget? But I’m glad she didn’t either. Those memories are needed for today.  

“Yeah, talk about an ego check, Vee. I was already desperate for your attention at that point, and you couldn’t give me a second glance.” 

She sneaks a peek toward the front, but the flight attendant is strapped in for takeoff and out of hearing range.  

“I was already into you, too.”  

My head whips in her direction, because that’s news to me.  

Her attention dips to my lips, and her voice is only a whisper when she says, “I had gotten off just thinking about you only a few minutes before I walked into that bar.”  

Leaning over the armrest between us, I keep my volume equally low, my mouth only inches from hers. “Really now? Glad to know the infamous vibrator was still working that night.”  

“But the real thing has proven to be so much better.” She gives me a sleepy smile. 

“Care to test that theory?”  

Both of our gazes dart to the back of the plane, where the private bedroom is.  

“We are absolutely testing that theory at some point today.”  

The plane takes off, and once we hit cruising altitude, she’s out like a light, asleep against my arm. She got more sleep than I did last night. In fact, I’ve barely slept in days, far too amped up for this moment.  

But I’m glad she’s getting some rest. Between our flights today and the party tonight, it’s going to be a long day, and I can only hope it ends with the answer I want.   

Stevie stirs awake just as the plane begins to descend into Tennessee. She peeks out the window, and like the frequent flyer she is, realization hits when she spots the skyline.  

“We’re going to Nashville?”  

She’s confused, and I can understand why. She doesn’t particularly love coming back to her hometown, but it’s the place where we have our first memory together outside of the plane. Well, there’s Denver, too, but all I did there was cockblock another guy from hitting on who would eventually become the love of my life. Nashville, though, was the city where she decided to seep into my veins and inevitably fuck me up forever.  

“Are we here to see my parents?” 

“We’ll see your dad in a bit.” 

“Not my mom?”  

That was a hard decision. Neal and I got together last month when I asked how he felt about me proposing to his daughter, and we discussed this. Stevie and her mom are working on their relationship. Things have been better over the last few months, but I wasn’t ready to start our day on that foot. 

“No.” 

“Oh.” Her face slightly falls.  

“I can call your dad and see if she’s free?”  

“No. It’ll be nice to see just my dad.” 

She’ll see her mom tonight, so hopefully that’ll be enough. 

Stevie’s demeanor slowly shifts, a genuine smile pulling across her lips. “I think this might be the first time I’m actually excited to be in my hometown.” 

“You don’t even know what we’re doing here.” I laugh. 

“I know, but this is the first time being back here that I feel good. I used to dread it here. Now all I can think about is when you pinned me in the back alley behind that bar and told me you wanted to fuck me.”  

She laughs, but that laughter settles when she looks over to see me wearing a knowing smile.  

“Zee, are we going to that bar?” 

____________________

Thirty minutes later and our driver drops us off at the front entrance of that very bar. Thankfully, Nashville is a party city with bars opening at ungodly hours.   

“What are we doing here?” Stevie asks. 

Pushing her curls out of her face, I cup her jaw, keeping her attention on me. This is where she figures out what’s going on. There’s no way it’ll take her until we’re back home tonight to catch on.  

“This is one of our first memories together. I was already gone for you that night and will be until the day I die.” I press my lips to hers. “I’m just hoping this time you’ll give me the time of day and let me buy you a drink.” 

Realization shines in those blue-greens. 

“One of our first memories.” 

First memory. First stop. 

“Well, first memory outside of the airplane or you stalking me at the Maddisons’ apartment.” 

She smacks my chest. “I lived there. You were the creep who stopped using the private elevator, trying to run into me.” 

My mouth gapes.  

“Logan told me.” She links her hand with mine, turning back to the bar. “Come on, boyfriend. Buy me a drink.” 

Boyfriend. It was a title I once loved to hear, but now I’m just counting down the minutes until I get a new one. 

____________________

After a round of mimosas and an early morning make out in the back alley of the bar, we met up with Stevie’s dad for breakfast. He was all teary-eyed and excited as we left, but he has his own flight to catch in a bit. Knowing Neal, he’ll be just as teary-eyed and excited tonight in Chicago. 

Another two hours in the air, and then we land in Fort Lauderdale. We change into the cooler clothes I packed for us, not needing the winter layers in Florida’s perfect seventy-degree winter, and Stevie and I grab a car straight to the beach. 

Toes sinking into the sand, we walk along the same shore we did that night last season. The night I got to finally tell the team we were together.  

Well, I didn’t exactly have permission to let that secret slide, but it came out anyway. 

It’s midafternoon now, the sun at its fullest peak. Last year, it was dark when we sat on this beach, so I’m not exactly where we were, but I find us a spot and take a seat, guiding Stevie between my open legs.  

“Still can’t believe you’re willingly sitting your ass in some sand right now,” she teases. “And just how long did it take you to pick out all your outfits today?” 

God, it’s scary how much she knows me. 

I wrap my arms around her shoulders, pulling her back into my chest, kissing my way over her exposed shoulder. “Weeks.” 

She shakes her head, but I can just imagine that smile sliding across her lips. “I love you, Zee.” 

I breathe her in, my forehead dropping to her shoulder. “I love you, sweetheart. So fucking much.” 

“Remember last year we were here and Indy throw up all over Ryan’s shoes?” 

My chest rumbles in laughter I can’t contain. “He was so scared of her.”  

“And now they live together, fake dating to prove some agenda, and trying to act like they’re not entirely into each other.” 

“Thank you!” I burst. “You see it, too.” 

She looks at me over her shoulder. “Absolutely. Ryan acts all annoyed with her stuff in his apartment, but he’s out buying her flowers every other day. He’s a goner even if he doesn’t want to admit it.”  

“You’d be okay with that?”  

I already know the answer, but I think someone should ask her. 

“Someone needs to break down his walls. Can’t think of anyone better than Indy to do it.”  

Leaning in, I kiss her, because it’s just another thing I love about her. She wants her people to be happy, even if that means her twin brother might be interested in her closest friend.  

“They’d be cute together.” 

Her brows furrow. “Did you just say cute?” 

“I don’t know. Don’t judge me. I’m a dog dad now. I say weird shit.”  

She smiles. “They would be cute together.” 

“But not as cute as us.” 

“Oh, absolutely not as cute as us.” She quickly shakes her head. “They’d make some attractive kids, though.”  

“They would. Not as attractive as our kids, though. I mean, if we had any.”  

We’ve skirted around this topic since we got together. Not for any specific reason. It’s that I think we’ve both been content with our little life, just the two of us and Rosie. But tonight, I’m going to ask her to spend the rest of her life with me, so it’s probably best we make sure we’re on the same page.  

Though my page is whatever hers is. I’m happy with whatever she wants our future family to look like. No kids, one kid, or a hundred. I’m good.  

“Do you want kids?” she asks. 

“I want whatever you want.” 

She turns in the sand, fully facing me. “No really, Zee, do you want kids? I see the way you are with Ella and MJ.” 

God, I fucking love those kids. Ella is the only reason I’ve even allowed myself to picture having a kid someday.  

“I’d be happy without, but yeah, I think I’d be even happier if we did.” 

She smiles that sweet Stevie smile.  

I keep my arms over her shoulders as she faces me. “But do you?”  

She nods. “I think I want one.” 

“Yeah?”  

“Yeah.” 

“Yeah?” I ask again, my voice all high-pitched and excited.  

She laughs. “Yes.” 

“Oh, hell yeah!” I pull her onto me as I fall back onto the sand. “He’s going to have the best style, and I’ll be buying him his first pair of skates the day he learns how to walk.” 

“He? What about a she?” 

“I can’t handle a girl.” 

“You’re in love with Ella. She’s got you wrapped around her finger.” 

“Yeah, and I worry about her every single day. Imagine when she’s older and some idiot kid tries to date her. Fuck no.”   

Stevie goes soft next to me on the sand as I lean on my elbow, hovering over her. She runs a soothing hand across my cheek. “I think you’re going to be a girl dad. You’ve got Rosie, Ella, and me. All your girls.”  

All my girls.  

I lean down to kiss her, the chain around my neck dangling between us. “But no matter what, you’ll always be my number one girl.” 

“Damn straight.”  

My lips part, sinking into her kiss. And it’s her soft little moan that reminds me we’re in public and I’ve got to keep this day going if I’m going to get her back to Chicago before our party.  

“Next stop,” I whisper against her. 

“Where are we going?” 

“It’s a secret.”  

“It’s already the afternoon. Are we staying somewhere overnight?” 

“No.” I shake my head. “We’ll make it back tonight, but first I need you to take a dip in the ocean with me. You know, for old times’ sake.” 

She smiles, her curly hair falling over the sand like a curtain below her. “This is the place I knew I was in love with you.” 

Oh, fuck me up, Stevie Shay. My heart physically aches at her words, but the rest of today is going to be emotional as it is, and I want to keep things light and fun for now.  

“I’m pretty sure I was in love with you after that first blow job, but I’m glad you caught up to me eventually.” 

She hits me in the chest with a laugh. 

“What? It’s just a testament to your skills. For a man who was afraid to let somebody love him, all it took was that tongue.” I kiss her jaw. “Those lips.” I trail my mouth down her neck. “That throat.”  

“I’m over here trying to be sentimental and you just wanna talk about sex.” 

“I always wanna talk about sex when it comes to you.” 

She just shakes her head at me, but I already know I’m going to be sentimental as fuck later tonight.  

“Let’s get in the water,” I suggest. 

“At least we have suits this time, unlike last year.” 

My brows shoot up. “If you want to authentically relive last year, I won’t argue.” 

She slips the sundress she’s wearing over her head and tosses it at me, revealing the skyblue two-piece bathing suit underneath. She’s fucking perfection. Thick thighs, big ass. Mine. So fucking mine. 

With a sneaky smile on her lips and all the confidence in the world, she nods toward the ocean behind her. “You following me?” 

Always. 

___________________

Nicky’s band isn’t done playing yet, but it’s getting late, and we’ve got one last flight to catch back to Chicago. He finishes a song, and I reach up toward the stage where my old college friend puts his hand in mine. I wish he could make it tonight, but if we don’t hurry, we won’t even make it to our own party on time.  

“The city where we had sex for the first time,” Stevie says over the music as I usher her outside of 18th Street Lounge in downtown Washington, D.C. “My romantic man.” 

“The city where I knew I was completely and utterly fucked, sweetheart.”  

She holds her coat tight to her body as I open the door of our car for her. I slide into the back seat next to her, and then quickly slam the door shut behind me, blocking out the East Coast chill. We were just swimming in the warm Atlantic Ocean only hours ago and now there’s snowflakes in Stevie’s curly hair.  

“The same city,” I continue. “Where I chased you butt-ass naked into the hallway, then locked myself out of my hotel room.” 

She chokes on a laugh. “I almost forgot about that.”  

Sliding across the back seat, I take the middle to be closer to her. 

“I didn’t. Maddison gave me shit for months after that.” 

“I wish I had that hotel’s security footage.” 

“Yeah, I bet you do.”  

“God, you probably even looked good doing that walk of shame, huh?” 

“Oh.” My head jerks back. “So fucking good.”  

Her mouth curves in a nostalgic smile as she leans my head on my shoulder while on our way back to the airport.  

“I brought you here,” I say softly so our driver doesn’t hear. “Because that night changed my life. I know we thought we were just going to be a one-time thing, but I gained a new addiction that night. One that I’m never going to recover from.”  

Stevie looks up, searching my face. “I only slid into your DMs that night because my vibrator died.” 

I burst a laugh. “Goddamn, yes, I know. Thank you for the reminder.”  

An explosive smile covers her mouth, and God, do I fucking love that smile.  

“Regardless of your reasoning, I was buzzing when I got your message.” 

“No, you weren’t.”  

“Are you kidding? I was freaking out.”  

“You only responded with an address!” 

“I was playing it cool! And you never responded. I was staring at my phone for a half hour after that just hoping you were actually on your way.”  

“You were surrounded by women when I got there.” 

“Yeah, and I was the desperate motherfucker who couldn’t peel his eyes off his phone screen while sitting in a crowded club.” 

“Oh my God.” Her head falls back with laughter.  

“Then you ran out on me after one of the best nights of my life.” 

“I’m sorry, Zee.” She tries to contain her laughter when she wraps her hand around the back of my neck and pulls my lips to hers. “I had no idea.”  

“That’s alright. Best thing I’ve ever done is chase you.”  

She settles back into my shoulder for the rest of the ride.  

____________________

As soon as we’re at cruising altitude on our flight back to Chicago, Stevie unbuckles her seatbelt and grabs my arm to follow her.  

“Where are we going?”  

She rolls her eyes. “Where do you think we’re going?”  

Stevie takes off toward the back of the plane, and I follow her after giving the front galley one more look. The flight attendant must have figured it out, because she has the curtain closed, blocking off the entire cabin from where she and the pilots sit.  

There’s another set of doors that close off the bedroom, and as soon we’re past that threshold, I close and lock them behind me.  

Without hesitation, Stevie drops to her knees. 

“Jesus,” I hiss just at the sight. 

Licking her lips, she makes eye contact as her nimble fingers work at the button on my slacks. “You gonna keep it quiet?” 

“Fuck no.” 

Her lips curve. “I don’t want them to hear us.” 

“I don’t give a fuck.”  

She shakes her head at me, a little chuckle rumbling her chest and as soon as my pants are on the ground, her lips are around my cock. 

“Fuck,” I moan much louder than she’d want me to.  

Her tongue swirls and licks before she takes me all the way to the back of her throat. Her watery eyes are fucking stunning when she looks up at me, and I’m about to blow at 30,000 feet.  

She grips my thighs, using them as an anchor as she bobs her head. Her curls bounce around her, so I gather them in a fist to get them out of the way and give me a better view.  

“Good girl, baby.” 

She hums a moan around my cock as my hips push into her, meeting her tempo, and I catch her thighs clenching together, trying to ease the ache building there.  

Tightening my grasp, I tilt her head up to look at me, pulling my cock out of her mouth with a lewd pop. 

“Wanna join the Mile High Club with me?” I can feel my smile being way too fucking 

excited.  

She nods with just as much enthusiasm, pushing up from her knees.  

I unbutton my shirt while she undresses, leaving a discarded mess of our clothes on the way to the bed.  

She climbs on, sitting up on her knees and showing off that body I’m fucking obsessed with. 

I grip her ass in both my hands. “We should throw away your birth control when we get home.” 

A startled laugh bubbles out of her. “What the hell?” 

“C’mon. Let me put a baby inside of you.”  

“Zee—” 

“What? We agreed we wanted one. Let’s raise them with Ella and MJ. We don’t know how long it might take me to get you pregnant.”  

She hesitates, eyes bouncing between mine. “Are you being serious right now?” 

“Yes, but no pressure. Let’s just have fun and if it happens, it happens.”  

“That seems casual enough.” 

“Just me casually trying to knock you up every free second I have.” 

She laughs. “I could work with that. How long until we land back in Chicago?”  

I check my watch before removing it and tossing it on the small bedside table. “Two hours.”  

A sneaky smirk lifts on her lips. “Then let’s start practicing.”  

She pulls me into her as I stand at the end of the mattress, but instead of falling back with her, I lift her off the bed, wrapping her arms and legs around me. 

She’s wet, her pussy writhing against my cock as I hold her, and with one hand I lift her a bit and center myself before letting her sink down on me.  

“Fuck, Vee,” I hiss, my head falling back.  

Her chest pounds against mine as we both try to find our breath, and when I feel the tilt of her hips, I grip her ass, sliding her up and down my length.  

“Yes, baby, ride me just like that.”  

She whimpers into my ear.  

I work our bodies together as I stand, but a jolt of turbulence shakes us. 

“Geez.” She nervously laughs. “Can you put me on the mattress and fuck me hard enough I forget there’s crew on board that knows exactly what we’re doing.”  

Wrapping my arms around her back, with me still inside of her, I lean over and get us on the bed. The plane levels out, the turbulence stopping just in time for me to find my leverage on my knees and push into her. 

“Oh my God,” she says in a tone louder than the whisper she intended. 

With every thrust, her tits bounce. My chain hits her chin. Her curls fall around her shoulders.  

It doesn’t take long before I can feel her pussy tightening around me, right on the brink, so I slid a hand between us, finding her clit. 

I rub with tight circles, and it only takes a moment before Stevie’s entire body contracts, lifting her back off the mattress and her mouth falling open.  

“You gonna come in the air, baby?” 

She can’t respond, can’t even nod, because she’s fully on the brink, right on the edge, about to fall into her orgasm.  

“The flight attendant getting fucked on the airplane. Filthy.”  

I hold her thighs to me and roll my hips, hitting the spot that sends her over.  

She wraps her arms around my shoulders, pulling me into her as I thrust again and again, letting her grip me so tight I can’t help but come with her, bare and inside of her.  

Her name is the first and only thing on my lips. And when consciousness finds me again, I bury my head in the crook of her neck, trying to quiet some of my sounds. 

God, I’m going to have to tip the flight crew extra for listening to that.  

Our bodies rock together as we come off our highs, and I sigh in relief. 

“Fucking finally,” I breathe out against her skin.   

Because I just joined the Mile High Club with my favorite flight attendant.  

___________________

Stevie sheds her coat as soon as we walk through the front door of the apartment, and I can’t wait any longer. Right there, before she’s even turned around, I drop to one knee in the entryway. 

Rosie rushes for me, because she assumes anytime I’m on the ground, it’s for her, and Stevie’s attention follows our dog only to find me on one knee with a diamond ring between my thumb and forefinger.  

She covers her face with both hands, her head tipping back. “No way.” 

“Vee,” I say gently. “Can you look at me.” 

She continues to hide her pretty face as she shakes her head to tell me no.  

“Sweetheart, I need you to look at me. I also really need that left hand of yours.” 

Finally, she looks down, all shiny eyes and flushed skin under her freckled cheeks. “I knew this was coming, but goddamn, Zee. You look really good on your knees.” 

I fall forward in laughter, and she joins me, wiping at her face as she tries to control her breathing. 

I attempt to slow my heart rate. I’ve been planning this for months, trying to memorize the words I wanted to say to her, but it’s all flying out the fucking window with her standing in front of me and crying because she’s happy. 

Rosie circles around me, unable to get over the fact I’m at her eye-level as I take Stevie’s left hand in mine. 

“Stevie Renee Shay.” 

She sucks in a deep breath. “Yes?”  

“I’m obsessed with you.”  

She laughs. 

“No, I’m serious. I think about you every second I’m awake. My soul feels only half the size when I’m on the road for work and you’re not there. You’re the best person I know. My favorite person I know. I have loved you long before I knew I was capable of loving someone other than myself.” 

She nods frantically. “I love you.” 

“I know.” A soft smile runs across my lips. “How could you not, right?” 

She laughs, but it’s watery and overwhelmed. “This is the most you proposal of all time.”  

“I took you to all those cities today because they were our beginning, but I wanted to do this here, at home, because this is our future. Chicago, sure. But this, you and me. It doesn’t matter geographically where we are, because you’re my home. You gave me someone to miss, and how lucky am I that I love someone so much that I get to feel the agony of missing them when I’m away? 

“I want to come home to you. I want to have a baby with you. I want to go thrift shopping with you—” 

“I can’t believe you just said that.” 

“Tell me about it.”  

She only smiles, so I continue.  

“I want to adopt all the dogs with you. I want to throw away your dirty-ass shoes. I want Ryan to be my brother, too. I want to change your last name.” 

More tears fall down her cheeks, her blue-green eyes rimmed in red. 

“Stevie girl, I want to marry you.”  

She falls forward, her curls brushing against me before she collects herself, a disbelieving smile overtaking her face. “Zee, you have to ask.” 

I chuckle, kissing the back of her left hand. “Stevie Renee Shay, will you marry me?” 

She nods excitingly.  

“Gonna need you to say the word, Vee. For my ego’s sake.” 

“Yes. Absolutely.”  

An audible breath of relief escapes me as I slip the pear-shaped diamond ring onto my fiancée’s left hand. It’s the only bare finger of hers at the moment, and the diamond is unique enough that it reminds me of Stevie but big and flashy enough to scream that it’s from me.  

There was no part of me that was worried she’d say no, but I can’t explain the blinding bliss flowing through me from hearing her say yes.  

As I stand, I pick her up.  

“God, I fucking love you, Vee.”  

“I love you, Zee. Thank you.” 

I pull away to get a better look at her. “For what?” 

“Choosing me.” 

“I’ll choose you every day. Every single day for the rest of my life.”  

She nods, pressing her lips to mine.  

I get to marry this woman. Grow old with this woman. Hopefully have kids and more dogs with this woman.  

“We’ve got an engagement party to get to,” I quietly inform her.  

She shimmies her way down my body, getting back to her feet. “What?”  

“All our friends and family are waiting for us, so thanks for saying yes. Would’ve been super fucking embarrassing for me if you didn’t.” 

Her eyes are wide, her lips parted.  

Okay, she’s in shock, apparently. Maybe today held too many surprises.  

“There’s a white dress hanging in the back of the closet.” 

She takes off down the hallway to find our room.  

“It’s Versace.” 

Stevie barks a laugh. “Of course, it is.” Her eyes find me over her shoulder because I’m hot on her heels as we head to the bedroom, wanting to see her face when she sees it. “You following me?” she asks. 

I can’t hold back my knowing smile. “Oh, sweetheart. I’ll follow you anywhere.” 

Read CAUGHT UP's Bonus Chapter! For the best reading order, this bonus chapter takes place after PLAY ALONG (book 4) but before thePLAY ALONG Epilogue. This is the same bonus chapter that was included in the Deluxe Edition paperback in North America and the UK paperback reissue.

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“That smells amazing, Mills. What kind did you make?” 

“It’s a ginger pear pie. New recipe I’m trying.”  

I groan and the sound immediately gains my fiancée’s attention. 

Over her shoulder, Miller shoots me the kind of smile that will inevitably make us late. Because it’s a little sly, a bit seductive, and makes me want to close her in our bedroom for a couple of hours.  

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I ask, slinking over to her as she sets the pie on the cooling rack, closing the oven door at the same time. 

“I’m always looking at you like that. You’re hot, and that noise you just made has me eager to drop to my knees to see if I can make you replicate it.” 

“Jesus, Mills” I chuckle.  

It doesn’t matter that we’ve been together for nearly two years, her lack of a filter will never lose its shock value.  

From behind, I slip my hand into the opening of her overalls, running my palm over the smooth skin of her stomach and pulling her back to my chest. I drop my lips to the side of her neck, working a slow path up until I turn her face back to me so I can properly kiss her. 

We’ve been a little bit feral for each other lately. Though I suppose that’s not too far off from how we typically are. I’ve been told that trying to make a baby can sometimes take the passion out of the act, but fuck. That certainly hasn’t been the case for us.  

“I love you,” I say against her mouth. “But we’re going to be late to family dinner if you keep looking at me like that.”  

“I don’t care. They can wait for us.”  

“Really?” 

“Take me to our room.” 

Eyes bouncing between her green ones, I can tell she’s serious about the offer and that only gets confirmed when she pushes her ass back into me.  

“Yes, Chef.”  

I’m about two seconds from pulling her into our bedroom at the end of the hallway and get to work on giving Max a sibling, not caring that all our friends are going to have to wait for us, when our son slips his body between me and his mom’s. 

“Mama, snack.”   

My sweet, funny, full-of-personality son who is also becoming the ultimate cock block as he gets older.  

Love the kid, but damn.  

I run my hand through his hair, and he tilts his head up to look at me. “Maxie boy, you’re killing me.” 

Max laughs, though he has no idea what’s so funny, which only makes Miller laugh before she picks him up and sits him on the counter. 

“You hungry, Bug?” she asks. “What do you want to eat?”  

 “Bluebs!” 

“Of course you want blueberries,” I say dryly. Opening the fridge, I pull out the fresh fruit Miller already washed, and pour some into a small bowl, handing it over to him. “I’m going to have to take out a second mortgage on the house just to support your fresh berry habit, Bug.”  

He giggles before popping a few berries in his mouth and I can’t help but smile at him. I fucking love this kid and would gladly go into debt if it meant I get to continue hearing that happy sound.  

He just turned three and I can hardly believe it. It feels like just yesterday I found him sitting on the counter, staring up at his mom as they baked together for the first time, similarly to the way he is now.  

How that was almost two years ago, I’ll never know.  

Miller bends over the counter, leaning on her elbows and making herself eye-level with our son. She opens her mouth, silently asking for a blueberry and he happily drops one into her mouth. 

“Are you excited to see Isaiah and Ken tonight?” she asks him. 

His blue eyes go wide with excitement before he quickly nods in agreement.  

“Spring Training was long, huh?”  

Again, he nods. “Why we don’t go with Dada?” 

Fuck, that’s a gut-punch if I’ve ever felt one. 

There’s no way he understands what it means that I retired from baseball at the end of last season, but I do. 

It means that I’m home now with my two favorite people in the world.  

It means for the first time in my adult life, I was home all of February and March. As I will be year-round now.  

Miller looks to me to answer. 

“Well, Bug, I’m not playing baseball anymore, so I don’t have to go to Spring Training.” 

His little face scrunches up in confusion. “Why not?” 

“Because I missed being home with you and Mama.” 

He doesn’t say anything as he tries his best to put the pieces together of what that means. “We don’t go to baseball anymore?” 

Fuck. Me. 

That sweet little voice sounds devastated.  

Miller’s not looking at either of us, but I watch her throat move through a thick swallow as if she were swallowing down the emotions of this conversation. 

We’ve talked to Max about this before, shortly after the season ended. That his dad was no longer playing, which meant we would only be going to the field when we go to visit Kennedy, Isaiah, and Monty. But I don’t think it really sunk in during the off-season since I was always home during that time anyway.  

But I won’t lie and say I’m not missing the game. It’s an ingrained part of me, my first love, and it feels like I just quit a life-long habit cold turkey. 

“Do you still want to go to baseball?” I ask.  

His demeanor instantly shifts. “Yeah! I go work with you and see my friends.” 

Miller’s lifts a brow in my direction, and without saying a word, I know exactly what she’s communicating. 

I told you so. 

Then Max’s sweet smile finds its way to me. “I love the baseball team.” 

Jesus.  

Miller chuckles and it’s laced with self-satisfaction. “Do you think your dad should still be around the baseball team?” 

“Yeah,” he says as if it were the most obvious of answers.  

“I do too, Bug,” she adds. “I do too.”  

I was already leaning towards that decision when I woke up this morning, but I won’t lie and say my son’s words aren’t fully pushing me to say yes.  

From the moment I brought up the idea of retirement to my fiancée, she’s been the biggest advocate in making sure it was something I was really ready to do. And it was. It is, but that doesn’t mean I automatically stopped loving the game.  

So, when Monty called last week and proposed the idea of me joining his pitching staff this season, Miller was equally as supportive, knowing how badly I was already missing it.   

I shut down the idea immediately, but she’s continued to open up the conversation every day this week, wanting to reiterate that she’s on-board for whatever is going to make me happy. Wanting to reiterate that Max deserves a parent who has balance in their life. That it doesn’t have to be all or nothing.  

When I was playing, I was at all 162 games. There were hardly any off-days. My life revolved around baseball and that meant so did Max’s.  

But if I were to join the coaching staff, I could have both. Life at home and the game I love. I don’t have to travel all the time if I don’t want to. I don’t have to be at every game. I don’t have to sit in the training room for hours afterward getting my body worked on.  

After this wild woman talked some sense into me, I realized that this offer means I could have it all. 

“Max,” I begin. “What would you think if I helped Monty with the team? I wouldn’t be playing like I used to, but I’d be coaching like him.” 

“With Zaya too?”  

“He’ll still be playing, so he’ll be there, of course.  

“And Auntie Ken there?”  

“Yep.” 

“And I come see you?” 

“Absolutely.” 

“Yeah, Dada, you do that. Zaya like that too.” 

I softly laugh. “Yeah, Bug, I think you’re right. He would like that, huh?”  

Yes, I talk to my brother daily anyway, but this last month, when our nightly phone calls turned into me asking for every single detail of his games and the team, it became fairly obvious to both of us how much I was missing that piece of my life. 

So, tonight at family dinner, I’ll get to tell him that while we’re no longer playing together, I’m still going to be a part of it all. I’ll still be there with him.  

“It’s settled then.” Miller stands straighter, taking Max’s empty bowl and setting it in the sink. “Dada and Monty are coaching together.”  

“Yes!” Max cheers. 

Miller shoots me this all-knowing, satisfied smile before helping Max off the counter. 

“Bug, can you go get your shoes on so we can go to family dinner?” 

“Taylor coming?”  

“She’ll be there.”  

With the confirmation that Taylor Zanders, his little best friend, will be there, Max races off to his room to slip his feet into a pair of shoes that I’d bet good money will be on the wrong feet next time I see him.   

“Are you sure about this?” I ask my fiancée, sliding a hand over her lower back and pulling her into me. “Work is getting busy for you. I don’t want this job to take away from your goals.”  

She wraps her arms around my neck. “I’m positive. We have a huge support system around us. And if you believe you’re not going to find yourself going to the field almost every day anyway, you’re lying to yourself. May as well be there in an official capacity.” 

My eyes bounce between hers, looking for any form of hesitation. If Miller ever had even a moment of doubt towards me continuing my career in this new direction, I wouldn’t delay to reject the offer.  

But she doesn’t. She wants this as badly as I want it for myself.  

“I’m really doing this?” I ask. 

“You’re really doing this.” Leaning up on her toes, she presses her lips to mine before smacking my ass playfully. “Baseball Daddy is officially Coach Daddy.” 

“Please, God. No.” 

She’s laughing to herself as she starts down the hall for our bedroom to get ready for dinner.  

Miller may be a mother now, but she hasn’t lost her wild edge one bit. And me and our son both love that filter-less woman. 

While my family is getting ready, I fill the time by going out to the mailbox at the end of our driveway to grab the mail I didn’t pick up yesterday. On the way back to the house, I sort through it.  

It’s mostly junk mail—coupons and catalogues, that sort of thing.  

But before I reach the front door, the last envelope stops me in my tracks, right there on our front porch. 

I recognize the law firm’s logo in the top left corner near the return address, and without opening the letter, I already know exactly what this is.  

I’ll never forget the day Miller came to me—hesitant and completely unlike her confident self—and asked what I thought about her legally becoming Max’s mom.  

At the time, I didn’t know how I could fall more in love with her, yet in that moment I did.  

We had been discussing the idea of expanding our family, wanting to make sure our kids were close in age to grow up together, but we had hardly broached the topic when Miller shared her concerns regarding how Max would feel if he had a sibling that was biologically hers when he isn’t.  

That’s when the idea of adoption came up. She wanted to at least start the process before we started trying to give him a sibling.  

Obviously, Miller will never be the woman who gave birth to my son, but she is, in every sense of the word, his mom. She breathes life into him in a different way. She builds him up, comforts him when he’s upset, cares for him when he’s sick, and loves him unconditionally. No blood or paperwork is going to change the fact that she is already his mom.  

But this final step not only protects both of them if something were to happen to me, but it will also ensure our son, when he’s old enough to understand, that his mom did everything she could to make sure they’re family.  

Now, thanks to this finalized document in my hands, legally, they are.  

I don’t stop to open it outside. Instead, go right back into the house and down the hall to our bedroom, wanting to share this moment with her.  

“Mills,” I call out, swinging open the bedroom door. “Miller, look what came in the mail.”  

She peeks her head out of our closet, green eyes wide as if she got caught doing something she shouldn’t be doing.  

My brows sinch in confusion. “What are you doing?”  

“Nothing.” 

She quickly exits the closet, closing the door behind her. Her overalls are halfway off, showing off her stomach and bra, but catching her mid-clothing change is not what’s going on here. I see her naked every day, have every inch of her body memorized. She’s acting strange about something else.  

“Why are you being weird?” I ask. 

“I’m not.” 

She sure as shit is, but I’m too excited about what’s in my hands to push her about it.  

Holding out the letter, Miller’s eyes fall right to it. 

“What’s this?” she asks, padding over to me. She takes it, but I don’t answer, allowing her the space to experience the same realization I did. 

When it happens, her attention shoots up to mine. “Is this…?” 

“Yeah, baby.” 

Those previously suspicious eyes soften, and this woman who is not much a crier, starts to tear up instantly. 

“Hey,” I soothe, pulling her into my chest. She burrows into me, fingers gripping around the fabric of my shirt. “This is a good thing.” 

“The best thing.” The words are muffled. “But it’s a big thing too and I just love him so much and we’ve been waiting for this.”  

I drop my lips to her hair, swaying with her in my arms and allowing her to feel what she needs to feel. This woman was once self-proclaimed cold and detached, while now crying into my shirt about how much she loves our son while wearing my ring on her finger.  

I truly could not have been more blessed to have found her. 

“We’re lucky to have you,” I whisper. “You know that?” 

She nods her head against me. “You’re right. You are lucky.” 

Chuckling, I pull her into me even tighter. “There she is.” 

Peeling away from my chest, she looks up at me. “I’m lucky too.”  

Cupping her cheeks, I wipe under her eyes before dropping a soft kiss on her lips. “Today was a good day.” 

She doesn’t say what I expect her to say. She doesn’t give me the reminder that they’re all going to be good days the way we always do. 

Instead, she asks, “Can I make it even better?”  

I feel my brows furrow in confusion as I search her face for the meaning of that question. And even more confusion settles in when Miller starts backing her way into the closet. 

“You know, some of my best memories as a kid were going to the field with my dad as he coached.” She’s fully hidden somewhere in the closet now, moving something around. “I don’t remember seeing him play, but I vividly remember watching him coach and being so proud that he was my dad. I’m excited that our kids will get to experience that magic the way I did.” Hands behind her, she makes her way back to me. “I was hoping you were going to take the coaching offer, so I had this made just in case.”  

From behind her back, she reveals a little white pinstriped uniform, holding it out for me to take. I eye her cautiously as I unfold it, holding it up to reveal a little jersey in Max’s size with my number twenty-one on the back. But instead of our last name across the top, the way so many of his other ones are, ‘Coach’ is stitched in big block letters.  

“Mills.” My smile grows. “This is amazing.” Looking down at it, I run my fingers over the stitching. “You really think he’ll be okay seeing me in the dugout or the bullpen instead of on the pitcher’s mound?”  

“Well, if he’s anything like me, he’s going to be so proud that you’re his dad no matter what you’re doing. And in the same way I now understand what my dad did for me, he will one day understand that you moving into this new role did for him and for our family.”  

Hand sliding behind her neck, I pull her in for another kiss. “Thank you, Mills. I love it and I love you.”  

She smiles against my mouth before she pulls back just enough to be able to look me in the eye. “I had this one made too.” 

From behind her back, she pulls out another uniform. 

The same colors—white with a blue pinstripe. 

Which is strange. Because you’d think if she was going to get Max another uniform, it’d be one of our alternate jerseys in a different colorway.  

When I don’t take it from her, she keeps her eyes on me as she unfolds it, holding it up for me to see the difference from the one she got made for Max. 

Yes, the colors are the same. The numbers and the name across the top too.  

But the size. The size is vastly different than the one for our toddler.  

This one is tiny. 

This one could fit a newborn. 

My eyes immediately dart to Miller, finding those greens already glossed over again, stunningly excited smile stretched across her mouth.  

My instincts are screaming at me, telling me that I already know exactly what she’s trying to say, but I almost don’t want to let myself hope without hearing it from her lips.  

I’ve never had the chance to experience those words before. I’ve never heard them said to me. I didn’t know my son existed until he was six months old, so while I’m already a dad, this feels like a new first.  

“Mills…” 

She quickly nods. 

“What are you trying to tell me?” 

Again, she nods with so much excitement.  

I feel like I can’t catch my breath long enough to speak, to ask the question. Yes, we’ve been trying, but I don’t know if I ever actually thought about this moment happening.  

“Can you say it out loud for me?” I ask, my words coming out in hardly a whisper.  

She chuckles, but it’s watery and choked. “I’m pregnant.”  

Holy shit.  

I take the little uniform in my hands, delicately holding it up because it’s so tiny and fragile. “Are you serious?” 

“Yes.”  

“Miller.” 

“Malakai.”  

I feel like every part of our future flashes in my mind at that moment.  

Max is going to be a big brother. 

Miller is going to be the greatest mom in the world for a second time.  

But then I remember, what else this means.  

Miller telling me she’s pregnant now, means I get to be included from the very beginning. I get to take care of her. I get to go to every doctor’s appointment. I’ll get to be at the birth. Together, we’ll get to introduce Max to his sibling. 

It’s not that I’m still resentful towards the woman who gave birth to my son. Anger isn’t going to get me anywhere when she gave me the greatest gift of my life, so in a way, I’ve shut off that part of me that wishes I could change the past.  

But I didn’t realize how overwhelmed I’d feel being included from the very beginning. 

Until now. 

I also didn’t understand how relieved I’d feel, being told from the start. I didn’t realize that I held a bit of trauma from being excluded from knowing about my son.  

The sting in my nose is sharp. The burn in my eyes is sudden.  

My fiancé quickly becomes blurry thanks to my tear-filled eyes, but I can still see her enough to drop my head to her shoulder, hiding my face in the crook of her neck. She threads her fingers into my hair, holding me to her.   

“Are you happy?” she asks. 

“I’m happy, Miller. Overwhelmed. Excited. Fucking ecstatic.” I drop a kiss on her neck, whispering against her skin. “Thank you.”  

Miller just chuckles, but I can sense how emotional she is too with the watery sound coming deep from her throat.  

“No, Mills.” I pull back to look at her. “Thank you.” I’m sure to convey my seriousness in my tone. “Thank you for telling me from the beginning.”  

I watch as the understanding floods her.  

“Kai,” she whispers, and I don’t know if I’ve ever heard her voice so soft. “You are not just important to this family, you are essential. To Max. To me. To this little one.” Her palm finds her stomach and my eyes immediately track the movement as she rubs a small circle. “How you were not included the first time, I’ll never understand. But that will never happen again. I love you and I can’t wait to do this all with you.” 

My attention is back on her face. I look at her, this woman I love more than anything. This person I trust more than anyone.  

“I love you, Mills.” 

Reaching out, I place my hand over hers before she slips hers out from under mine, putting my palm directly to her belly. It’s absolutely wild to me that I’ll get the chance to watch her grow our family.  

“Today was a good day, huh?” she asks, looking up at me. 

I drop a kiss to her lips, smiling against her mouth. “Somehow they keep getting better and better.”