Slowly We Trust (Fall and Rise #3)(67)
Author: Chelsea M. Cameron

“Okay, I got it. Loud and clear.” For some reason, hearing about the sexy things I did with Will when we were in bed made me blush outside the confines of the bedroom.

“So where are we headed?” he said, pulling out of the parking lot and turning toward campus.

“Well, you’ll need to pull over first.” He gave me a look, but pulled the truck over. “And now you need to get out and switch seats with me.”

“That’s not going to be easy, Aud. But I’ll do it for you.”

We switched seats, battling the balloons the whole time. Once he was in his seat, I made him turn around and I put the blindfold on him.

“Yes, I’m totally stealing your thunder and using the blindfold. This is also payback for earlier.”

He whined, but I got the blindfold on him and then it was time to actually drive the truck. It took me a few tries to get the finicky gearshift in the right spot. This could be an interesting trip.

“I can hear you hurting my truck,” Will said as the truck made a really horrible sound.

“Please work with me,” I whispered to the steering wheel. “You want to make Will happy, don’t you?”

“I can hear you talking to her,” he said, fiddling with the blindfold.

“Stop that. She and I are going to get along fine.” The truck made a protesting noise as if to add a “hell” to the “no.”

29

I freaked out the entire time Audrey drove my truck. Not that I didn’t trust her, because I definitely did. I’d trust her with my life. My truck, however, was another story.

“Please don’t hurt her,” I prayed under my breath.

“I heard that. And it’s fine because we’re here.” With a horrible sound that was like my truck’s heart getting ripped out, she turned the engine off.

“Wait there.” I waited and she got out and did the same routine with me that I’d done earlier with her.

“I feel like a total dork.” She laughed as I stumbled my way toward what I hoped wouldn’t be the edge of a cliff.

“That’s exactly how I felt a little while ago. Payback is a bitch.” I’d asked for this. I really had.

As soon as we got through the door I heard clanging. It sounded familiar and it only took me a second to realize she’d brought me to the batting cages just off campus.

“I f**king love you, Audrey.” It wasn’t the classiest way to say it, but I didn’t think she’d care.

“I f**king love you back, William.” With that, she whipped off the blindfold and revealed the indoor batting cages.

“Now if I suck, you can’t make fun of me. That’s my only rule,” she said, grinning from ear to ear.

“You’re not going to suck. Not with me teaching you. Come on.”

“Okay, you need to lean a little this way and put your shoulder like this,” I said, standing behind Audrey and moving her body into the proper batting position. It gave me an excuse to put my hands all over her in public. She was definitely enjoying it because she kept leaning into me and purposely not posing the way I instructed, so I had to move her.

“I hope you’re enjoying this as much as I am,” I said in her ear, before kissing the side of her neck and causing her to inhale sharply.

“No, I’m hating this. I never, ever want to do this again. Ever.” She backed up into me and wiggled her hips back and forth. Shit, if she did that much longer, I could give her another bat to hold.

“Okay, I’m going to go and start it. You ready?”

She nodded and bit her lip.

“Sure. Yeah. I’m ready. I let hard objects fly at my face all the time. It’s cool.” She had a helmet on (which she looked adorable in), but she was definitely still freaking out.

“I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise.” I stood back and waited. The first ball came and she swung and missed.

“It’s okay. Just focus.” She swung and missed again, but she was getting closer. The third ball made contact with the bat with a satisfying clang. She turned around and threw a grin over her shoulder at me.

“Don’t get too cocky, slugger.”

“I’ll get as cocky as I want.” God, I loved it when she said that word.

She hit a few more balls and then it was my turn.

Her ringtone blasted from her purse, which she’d set on the bench where I’d been watching her.

“Hold up, let me see who that is.” I put my own helmet on and took the bat from her as she dashed to catch the call before it ended.

Her eyes went wide with shock as she looked at the screen. Wow. I turned and waited. Her eyes flashed toward me and she turned her back and put her finger in her ear so she could hear whoever it was.

I couldn’t see or hear her voice, and clearly she wanted privacy, but I was dying to know who it was. Probably her mother.

She shook her head and then she put the phone down. I could see her shaking from several feet away. Shit.

I dropped the bat and jogged over to her.

“Aud?”

Eddie had the results, but he didn’t want to tell me over the phone. He wanted to do it in person and I couldn’t talk him out of coming to where I was. I gave him the address of the batting cages and he said he’d be over soon.

I could feel Will watching me, and I had no idea what I was going to say. How I was going to explain Eddie showing up.

“Aud?” His worried voice and his hand on my shoulder made me turn around.

“What’s wrong? Did your mom call?” I opened my mouth, but I couldn’t find my voice. I’d lost it somewhere.

“Seriously, you have to talk to me. I know you have some shitty stuff in your past, but you can trust me. You know you can trust me. I’m not going anywhere. Even if you try to break up with me, I’m always going to be there for you. No matter what. I’m your friend first. So talk to me.” He’d begged me so many times to trust him, to tell him, to talk to him.

I just . . . I couldn’t.

“I need to sit.” Will walked me a few steps backward and I collapsed on the bench. Ruined. This whole thing was ruined, and I’d been the one to ruin it.

Will rubbed my back in circles as the noise of other people hitting fake home runs and celebrating echoed around us.

I took off the batting helmet and rested my head in my hands. I’d cried earlier when Will had surprised me, but now I couldn’t.

“I f**ked up, Will. I f**ked everything up. Why did you have to fall for me?” I’d asked myself that so many times.