Collide (Collide #1)(74)

She swallowed nervously, her voice as low as his. "Gavin, we've talked about this before and - "

Cutting her off, he stepped closer. "I promise you this time. I swear to God I won't say or do anything to make you uncomfortable. I just wanted to get it out there - about the way I feel about you - but now I'm done." He shifted on his feet and took a step back, not letting his eyes stray from her face. "Yes, you've got me twisted for some reason that I can't understand, and I don't know if I ever will. I find you to be the most remarkable..." He drew in a deep breath. "I don't know. There's something about you that just...sets you apart from any other woman I've ever met. And, because of all of it, I'm willing to put my feelings aside just to be your friend." Just to be near you...

Not only did her heart pause with his words, but her stomach also curled in a disturbingly pleasant way as she gauged his face. True emotions swirled behind his eyes, and something deep down told her he was sincere. "Okay, we'll try this again. So you want me to hang out with you here for a little while?"

Gavin took in a deep lungful of air, the knot in his chest releasing, as he realized he had been holding his breath awaiting her answer. "You like baseball, don't you?"

"How did you know that?"

"The night that I found out you were really Emily and not Molly." She nodded and laughed. He grinned. "Before you came into the club, Dillon told me that his girlfriend was a huge baseball fan. That's how I know that little bit of information."

"You want me to play baseball with you?" she asked, furrowing her brows.

"You can take in all of the spectacular sights New York has to offer. However, you haven't experienced New York to its fullest until you've been to a Yankees game." He smiled. "Trevor was supposed to come to the one o'clock game today, but he canceled on me at the last minute." He pulled the tickets from his back pocket and held them up. "I have season tickets, but it would be a shame to let these go to waste."

A confused smile touched her mouth as she contemplated him for a moment. "You want me to go to a Yankees game with you?"

"I do."

"I don't know," she replied, looking down to the ground and then back to him. "That might be a little too much."

His smile was slow, making his blue eyes sparkle mischievously. "Surely, in a stadium filled with 50,000 people, I should be able to hold myself at bay from attacking you."

Emily screwed her mouth to one side. "True," she admitted. "But I'm not even a Yankees fan. I'll be rooting for the underdog. Is that something else you can handle?"

With widened eyes, he placed a hand over his chest, mocking a wounded heart. "Mmm, keep talking like that, and you may find a way to get me to not admire you as much as I do. I'm a die-hard Yankees fan, Miss Cooper," he laughed. "But, yes, I'm sure I could handle sitting next to a non-Yankees fan that I've brought with me."

She shook her head and laughed. "Okay, I'll consider this friendly outing under one condition."

"Anything. Let's go," he said, reaching for her backpack.

"Wait, you don't even know what it is."

He placed his hand on the small of her back and started leading her out of the park. "No problem. Whatever it is, I can most definitely handle it."

She came to an abrupt halt and laughed. "You will listen to me, or I go nowhere with you, Gavin Blake. Do you understand?"

A delicious grin slid across his mouth. "I'm all ears."