Forked Roads Back

68 - TESSA

BY THE TIME JAMIE and I step out of the Uber, both of us too tipsy to take the train from Stratford, it's past midnight.

Tiptoeing into the house, we breathe sighs of relief as we make it up the stairs without waking Dad up.

Once we're in bed, we snuggle together, finally able to catch up about our day, just the two of us.

"So you had a good first day then?" I tip my head up to lean on his shoulder.

"Oh yeah, it was ace. I'm just glad I actually managed to get away at a decent time to meet you guys."

I want to question his idea of 'on time' when he met us at half eight. However, when I catch the size of his smile, I keep my comments to myself. The fact he had made it out at all was a bonus.

I listen as he describes his meetings, the people he met, his managers, his bullpen mates, and it's really making me miss working, even if it was to do tennis and swimming lessons at the leisure centre to keep me busy. I'd sent in dozens of applications so far and I hadn't heard anything from anybody, so maybe I would have to give in to the leisure centre's pleas for me to come back, even for the sake of my bank account. It was still early days, but it would be nice to hear something.

"Danny and Charlotte must be excited about December," he says, pulling me tighter. "It made me think we should start thinking about ours."

"I know!" I sit up and run my hands through my hair. "She was listing everything that needs doing and it made me spiral into a panic at how much there is to think about!"

He chuckles, sits up and kisses my shoulder. "It's nothing we can't handle together."

I turn around and look at him. "I'm sorry for jumping the gun, telling them without you."

"It's okay, she's your best friend. I actually figured you would," he chuckles. "I know she wouldn't tell anyone else, so no harm done."

He shrugs again before tickling me. I try to stay quiet, but by the time he starts tickling down my stomach, there's no way I can contain myself. But as the tickling turns to kisses, it isn't long before his fingers tickle at the bottoms of my t-shirt as his lips press into mine as he pinches the skin at my hips.

"I love you," I breathe, running my fingers through his hair.

He kisses me, soundly and deeply, but when his fingers slow and move away from the hem of my shorts, I know it's because it's late. Instead, he leaves my t-shirt where it is and pulls me back into his shoulder.

"I love this," he mumbles, his voice sounding like it was on the edge of sleep. He smacks his lips a couple of times, but after a few minutes, I hear the telltale sounds of a familiar snore, his strong heartbeat pumping under my ear.

I smile and roll away from him, letting him sleep. I sigh as a notification lights up my phone, and smile wider as a text from Charlotte comes through, saying they were home.

As I lock the screen, the number in Danny's phone plays in my mind, and before I know it, my fingers are dialling them into the keypad. I stop myself, locking my phone, before I accidentally do call Archie, and I put it face down on my bedside table. Only... I stare at it for hours, instead of sleeping, before I finally give in to it.

Carefully getting out of bed so I don't wake Jamie, I put on a pair of tracksuit trousers and a jumper before heading downstairs to the front porch, sticking a shoe in the door to stop it from closing on me.

The sun is just starting to think about peeking over the trees on the hill, so it must be about five, and not long before Jamie had to be up. Looking around me, I unlock my phone as I take a seat on the porch swing, hovering my thumb over the call button.