Fielder's Choice

  Matt slowed to forty-five as he drove across the Golden Gate Bridge. No use getting a speeding ticket; he didn’t have time for the fuss.

  But as he sped up the freeway, he took his chances and hit the fast lane. Time felt compressed and instead of him feeling better as he clicked off the miles, his muscles squeezed tight around his ribs and a dull, leaden feeling sank into him.

  Sophie didn’t want to move back East and neither did he. He’d just get a bigger place in San Francisco, one with a separate apartment for a live-in nanny. And he’d accept his parents’ offer to help. It’d assuage their guilt over their absentee parenting of him and his sister. Just that morning his sister had texted that she’d been offered a job teaching at UC Berkeley. She’d been a doting auntie across the miles, but she couldn’t wait to spend more time with Sophie. And he could stay in the Bay Area and play for the team he’d come to love.

  As he considered what he could do, the actions he could take, the leaden feeling began to lift.

  Giving all was his own damned motto. And what had he told Alana, that the worst mistake a person could make was being afraid to make one?

  He might not have to give up his game, but he had to give over his heart. Hell, his heart wasn’t even his to give anymore. It’d crossed over into her territory weeks ago. He’d just have to suck it up if she shredded it and threw it back at him.

  He’d already made the first big mistake by letting his stupid ideas of the perfect mate get in his way, letting his prejudice about what sort of person he should be with block him from seeing the amazing woman right in front of him. He wasn’t going to let her slip away because of... not because of any reason. If she wanted him gone, she’d have to boot him out again. Really hard this time.

  He checked the clock on the dash. Four minutes after nine. He only hoped he wasn’t too late.