“Everything.”

I sucked in a breath and blinked. Out of all the ways he could have answered, that wasn’t what I was expecting. I thought it would be more of a “let’s date” or “be my girlfriend” or… something.

In that way that was all him, like he knew what I was thinking and feeling, the corners of his mouth came up. But he didn’t say anything.

“Everything. All right. Okay.”

The corners of his mouth curled slightly, and I’d swear on my life he looked just a little nervous. Just a little. “I want you. I want your smile. Your hugs. Your love. I want your happiness.” He paused. “Every single thing.”

Was this what being shot in the heart was supposed to feel like?

I looked right into his eyes and I asked him, “Are you sure you know what you’re getting yourself into?”

His mouth stayed in the same smirking smile and he nodded. “One hundred percent.”

“You know I’m crazy.”

“You’re my best friend. I know you’re crazy.”

Why that felt like the best compliment I’d ever been given, I had no idea. But I gave him a serious look. “I’m a jealous bitch, Dallas. Do you understand that? I’m not saying you can’t talk to women or other parents on the team or anything, but if you cheated on me—why are you smiling?”

“If I cheated on you, you and Josh would kill me and bury the body somewhere no one would ever find.” He kept my story going, smiling so wide, his face had to hurt.

I blinked at him and shrugged. “Pretty much.”

“I would never cheat on you. We live across the street from each other, so you’d never have to get jealous wondering where the hell I am or who I’m with. Coaching Josh, we’d get to spend our weekends together. See? That sounds perfect to me.”

I was dying, slowly. Why did it feel like I was picking at threads that didn’t exist?

His mouth perked up even more, so much he was practically beaming.

“I have the boys, Dallas—”

“So?”

I hated when he used my words and tactics against me. He said the word like it was nothing. Like my worry about Josh and Lou wasn’t even a consideration into our relationship or whatever it was he wanted to have with me, and that unsettled me more than anything else he’d said before.

As I took a step back, he let my wrist go and I turned my back to him, reaching for the clippers in one of the drawers. This was happening. This was really happening.

“You told me you trusted me,” he reminded me.

I was sure my face was pink as I turned to him, the device in my hand. It wasn’t until I was right in front of him again that he spoke up once more, his fingers reaching out to touch a spot just above my knee.

“You can tell me anything.”

That was what scared me. It was the truth. I’d always felt like I could tell him anything. Now more than ever that seemed terrifying.

Like it could make me or break me.

So I told him, looking him in the eye before I took a step that brought me so close his breath hit my forearm as I leaned over him. I started with the clippers, going over the rounded surface of his head. “You just got divorced. I know you already said you wouldn’t cheat on me and that you know exactly what you’re doing, but… I don’t… this is serious to me. I don’t like or love just anyone, Dallas. I know you can’t promise you won’t break my heart someday, but—”

“This is serious to me too. I won’t break your heart, Diana. I’ve never been scared to work for things or wait for them. I know you, and I know that you’re it. I just had to wait to get divorced so I could do this right for you. Life is so fucking short, Peach, and I’m too old to not know and go for what I want. And you know what I want. What I’ve wanted. For a long, long time.” He paused. “You.”

Shit, shit, shit. There was only one more thing I needed to tell him before I forgot. And it was the most important one. “Okay. I want to get married someday. I’m not saying tomorrow or six months from now, all right? And I’m not sure I want to have kids anytime soon. Can you deal with that?”

Something nudged at my thigh. I could see the back of his hand, feel him rub his knuckles up and down. His hand drifted up another inch. He wedged his hand in more so that his palm gripped the back of my thigh. Those eyes I was more than a little in love with burned my retinas. “I’d be happy with just two boys.”

Was I tearing up? Was that why my eyes were watery? I blinked and the tears didn’t go anywhere.

And Dallas’s sweet expression didn’t help any. “You are the toughest person I’ve ever met, Diana, but you’re also the most vulnerable, and that drives me fucking crazy,” he said to me. He squeezed my thigh, his voice low and almost feverish. “I know you can take care of yourself, but I want to be there to help you out. I need you more than you need me, and that’s okay,” he told me.

This man was going to be the death of me. For the seventh or eighth time in my life, I had no idea what to say or even where to start.

That big hand squeezed. “Just like I tell the boys, we don’t play for one single run, we play to win the whole game. And I’m in it to win it.”

I clenched my hand around the clippers. “But there’re so many other teams to play against.”

The corners of his mouth curled, and one of the fingers on my thigh did a caressing little line. “The only team I’m ever going to worry about is the best one. I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life.”