Reflection (Game On Trilogy #2) (14 page)

Derek

The night has progressed just as I’d imagined it would. What it all boils down to is, my sisters are crazy. Maybe not as insane as Kelly, but without a doubt they do top the charts on the crazy scale.

“I like them,” Chelsea walks up behind me and runs her hands up and over my shoulder blades, back down and around until they rest against my stomach.

“You mean, loathe?” I tease. I love my sisters. Their friend on the other hand . . . well, I just haven’t quite figured her out yet.

Chelsea playfully smacks my arm. “No. They are so much fun and just think, you’ll get to see them more often.”

“Yeah, I guess.” It does make me happy that I can keep an eye on them. “But, why does their friend have to move here with them?” I complain.

Chelsea pulls the kitchen towel out of my hand and tosses it on the counter. She tugs my arm and pulls me to the living room where the stereo is still playing from earlier in the evening. “Dance with me.”

“Mmm, I’d love to.” I take her right hand, “May I?”

“You may,” Chelsea lays her delicate fingers in the palm of my hand. I give it a brief slow kiss, while gazing longingly into her eyes.

Lifting our conjoined hands, I take my other hand and rest it gently on Chelsea’s left hip. Pulling her close, she tucks her head under my chin.

For the first time, in a very long time, this is the most relaxed Chelsea has felt in my arms. She’s finally able to let her guard down.

I kiss the top of her head and then wrap my arms around her tiny body.

Chelsea looks up at me, her green eyes sparkling bright. “This feels goods.” She says.

“The best feeling.” I whisper back.

Chelsea smiles as she lifts up on her toes and kisses my lips. “Thank you for believing in me.” She murmurs against my mouth.

“Always,” I never doubted what we had. “It’s always been you.”

Chelsea snuggles her head back under my chin.

“Are you sleepy, baby?”

“Not in the slightest,” her hands roam the length of my back. “I could stay like this forever.”

Trust me, baby, there is nothing I want more. I still haven’t gotten it out of my head that I want Chelsea to be mine forever and I’m struggling beyond belief right now not to ask her to marry me. She finally just got on board with this whole idea of dating me. I’d be a fool to mention it to her right now. The last thing I need is to freak her out, again.

“I could too, baby.” Shit Derek, don’t push your luck. Now is not the time.

“Derek?”

“Yes, sweetheart.”

“I’m sorry about what I said to you back at my condo.” I know exactly what she’s talking about. It was the one thing that burned a hole in my chest.

“We don’t need to talk about that right now, babe.” Not only is marrying Chelsea on the top of my list, having children with her is a close second. However, having gone through what she did, I’d completely understand why she wouldn’t want to go through that again. One child can’t replace another and that’s the last thing I would ever want her to feel. I’d be perfectly content with the just the two of us. If that is what we are destined to be then so be it. I’d be the happiest man on Earth.

“I didn’t mean what I said.”

I gently grab and raise her chin until her eyes meet mine. “I get it, baby. I mean, at the time, I didn’t. But, I get it now. I do.” I try to explain, but I can tell she has more she wants to say.

“I hurt you when I said that. I won’t ever hurt you again. I promise.” Her chin quivers and her eyes fill with water.

“I know you didn’t mean it, baby.” I kiss her lips and pull back to look in her eyes.

“I want it all again.” She whispers and her gaze is full of wonder. It’s like she’s trying to gauge what my reaction is going to be to what she just admitted to.

I have to bite my tongue because if I open my mouth right now, I just might get down on one knee and propose to her. My only problem is, I don’t know what else to say.

Instead, my emotions get the best of me. She pretty much just admitted that she wants to marry me and have kids. I have been waiting to hear those words from her for what seems like forever. And, when I thought I lost her the other day . . . it nearly killed me. I just never thought I would ever have the chance to bring those dreams to fruition. Hell, those things weren’t even in my foresight before I met Chelsea. I never wanted to be tied down let alone have children. But now, it’s all I want and I only want it with one person.

“Babe?” She wipes a tear that rolls down my cheek.

All of a sudden, her whole demeanor changes and I can see the wall going up. She thinks I changed my mind. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

Chelsea’s arms fall from me and land at her sides. No, baby. Please don’t retreat back into that shell. I need to do something. Sadness fills her face and there goes another crack to my heart. I need to bring her back to me.

I do the only thing that I can think of. I fall to one knee and reach for her left hand. Chelsea’s eyes fly wide open as she brings her right hand up to cover her mouth.

“Baby, please don’t ever doubt my love for you. There is nothing I want more in this life than to make you mine.” I pull her hand to me and kiss the back of it before continuing. “Chelsea, you are everything I never knew I needed. Every time I am away from you, you are all that I think about. Every time you are near, you are all that I want. When I kiss you, make love to you, it’s a feeling I never want to end. I know in my heart that we belong together and I know with all my being that you are the one meant for me.”

Chelsea drops to her knees and places the palm of her hands on either side of my cheeks. Her eyes fill with tears and I have all the faith in the world that they are happy tears.

“Sweetheart, there is only one person that has ever captured my heart and I thank God that it’s you. You are my everything and I can’t imagine going another day without you by my side.”

Her eyes are wide and she bites into her lower lip making my gaze fall to her mouth.

Here it goes. “Baby, will you marry me?”

My heart nearly stops when I see her chin quiver. Did I misread her? Did I just screw everything up?

“Yes.” She simply says and it is the best damn word I have ever heard. “I love you.” Well, I was wrong, those are the best words I have ever heard.

“I love you, too, baby.”

Chelsea

I am not sure how I was able to open myself up to love again, but I did and I can’t be happier. Bryce will always hold a special place in my heart and Derek knows that.

Derek also knows that Laila will forever live in me. I see her reflection every time I look in the mirror.

I took Derek to meet them. That was another emotional day, but Derek took it all in stride. He even laid a bouquet of daisies on Laila’s grave and I swear a light breeze blew through when I introduced them.

Derek has willingly accepted my family into his heart. He may not see them like I do, but the fact that he encourages me to keep them alive in my heart and our conversations makes me love him even more. If that’s possible.

After Shane and the team returned that week from Atlanta, Chicago and Kansas City, we invited Shane, Alli, Summer, Sonny and even Kelly and Cal over for drinks and appetizers. We broke the news of our engagement and Alli cried more than I did. She has been worried about me for years and always wanted me to settle down with one guy. The fact that it was Derek, made my best friend extremely happy.

Alli is routing for a double wedding, but I haven’t thought that far in advance just yet. This is still all so new to Derek and I and we just want to make sure everything fits into place.

Besides, Derek has other things on his mind lately. Ever since Summer, Sonny and their best friend Kelly moved to town, he has been a nervous wreck.

Apparently, Summer and Kelly have had their eyes on Cal and nothing irks him more than that. We all know that Cal is a bigger player than Shane or Derek ever were.

Sonny on the other hand, has been chatting it up with Rob on the team and as nice of a guy as he is, he can’t help but feel bad for the poor guy.

Derek knows his sisters and he loves them no matter what, but he swears he gains another gray hair every time he hears another story about them out on the town.

I cannot be happier with where my life is heading and I thank God everyday for the people that surround me.

Unlove Me, book 3 in the Game On trilogy is due to release September 2016.

Will Callihan, “Cal”, finally meet his match? As much as he makes his way around town, or the country for that matter, Cal finally meets his match when he finds himself in the constant presence of Summer, Sonny and Kelly. Will life outside of coaching baseball and dating every woman in town, finally come to a halt?  Or, will Cal remain who he is despite his growing feelings for one of the girls?

First, I would like to thank my family. My husband and four children put up with my freakishly crazy hours of reading and writing that mainly takes place during the wee hours of the night.

A huge thank you to Jillian Crouson-Toth and Keri Quinn for all your help in proofing/editing Reflection. Both of you are amazing and I appreciate all the comments and suggestions you give me.

I also need to give a very special thanks to Ninfa Zito-Maisano for all her whip-cracking. Without Ninfa, I’d be slacking something furious. The amount of time Ninfa puts in to help pimp my work is something that I cannot thank her enough.  You are truly amazing for all that you do and I appreciate you so much.

My favorite book junkies, Beneath The Covers Blog (Kelly, Alison, Sonal & Summer), you girls are amazing and I love you to pieces. I appreciate your encouragement, support and love so much. Thank you for being you and one day we will get Sonal to the States and have a big party.

Kristina, Gina, Lexi and Ninfa, you girls rock, big time. The fact that we can bounce stuff off one another is so awesome and I look forward to many more years of our continued friendship and shenanigans.

Once again, I was given the opportunity to work with an amazing photographer, Shauna Kruse, who I respect immensely. Your opinions and suggestions mean the world to me and I love being able to bring your images to life with my covers. Don’t ever change.

Working with Shauna gave another opportunity to work with two beautiful models, Lance Jones and Kim Wright, who graces the cover of Reflection. These two bring chemistry to the table in this picture and I knew I needed to have it the moment I seen it. Thank you both for allowing me to have you on my cover.

Kelly Emery, you are beyond wonderful and I cannot thank you enough, again, for bringing to life such an amazing cover. I love it so much. I am so glad that our paths have crossed. Love you bunches.

CB Wickland, thank you again for helping me write the blurb for Reflection. I appreciate it so much.

To all the bloggers out there, without your support with the cover reveal and the release of Reflection, it would not have been as successful as it was. There are too many to list but please know that I am indebted to all of you.

A big thank you goes out to all my Facebook friends and Goodreads followers who keep asking for more. I have the most awesome readers who continually let me know of their love for my books.

My friends are also my true supporters who let me write what I want without judging me. We all know my life or the lives of my friends truly don’t measure up to the crazy stories I come up with. Otherwise, we’d all be insane.

Lisa Sommers resides in a small town just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Even though she was born and raised in San Diego, California, Lisa feels that Pittsburgh is her true home. She has a degree in Business Management. She is happily married with four children that fulfill her every day busy life.

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