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Back The Sweet Spot Save as PDF
Chapters (50)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  3. DEDICATION
  4. CONTENTS
  5. CHAPTER ONE PALMER
  6. CHAPTER TWO PALMER
  7. CHAPTER THREE COLE
  8. CHAPTER FOUR PALMER
  9. CHAPTER FIVE PALMER
  10. CHAPTER SIX PALMER
  11. CHAPTER SEVEN COLE
  12. CHAPTER EIGHT PALMER
  13. CHAPTER NINE PALMER
  14. CHAPTER TEN PALMER
  15. CHAPTER ELEVEN COLE
  16. CHAPTER TWELVE PALMER
  17. CHAPTER THIRTEEN PALMER
  18. CHAPTER FOURTEEN COLE
  19. CHAPTER FIFTEEN COLE
  20. CHAPTER SIXTEEN PALMER
  21. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN COLE
  22. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN PALMER
  23. CHAPTER NINETEEN PALMER
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY COLE
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE PALMER
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO PALMER
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE PALMER
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR COLE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE PALMER
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX COLE
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN PALMER
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT PALMER
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE COLE
  34. CHAPTER THIRTY PALMER
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE PALMER
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO COLE
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE PALMER
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR COLE
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE PALMER
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX COLE
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN PALMER
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT COLE
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE PALMER
  44. CHAPTER FORTY COLE
  45. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE PALMER
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO COLE
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE PALMER
  48. EPILOGUE PALMER
  49. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  50. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I touch my lips as I remember the taste of Cole’s. I shiver as I remember the way his hands felt as he caught me from landing on my ass. It was a brief moment, part humiliation and part foreplay, but it’s a moment in time I won’t forget, because for that split second, I felt something that I’ve never felt before.

I was safe.

Even though I know the feeling is fleeting and I can never find permanent safety with a man who doesn’t reside in my world, I relish it. I recall the warmth and the support and strength . . . and then let it go.

There’s no use getting too comfortable in that memory. He’s not a permanent fixture in my life . . . or Ethan’s.

My heart sinks as I slip back to reality.

Ethan has already formed an affinity for Cole. I have to be very, very careful. I can’t set him up for heartbreak either.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN COLE

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

COLE

That’s it,” I say to myself.

I steer Dad’s truck into the narrow gravel driveway beside the bright-blue mailbox. The address matches the one my mother gave me when I realized that I don’t know where Palmer lives.

That was probably a mistake.

Mom’s entire being lit up at my inquiry. She was far too willing to assist. My repeated lines of It’s for baseball, She’s the team mom, and Don’t read anything into this were intentionally ignored.

That’s a conversation that will have to be continued another day.

Rocks crunch against the tires. I drive around sedan-size potholes and cringe as tree branches scrape the top of the truck. I pass a barn that seems to be holding on by sheer will. A basketball hoop hangs lopsided just above the doors.

I park next to Palmer’s burgundy compact car and cut the engine. The silence is deafening.

The truck door squeals as I open it. My shoes hit the soft earth with a thud. I look around and breathe.

I’ve heard people say they can feel oxygen fill their bodies. Fish says it every time he visits the mountains. The only time I’ve ever experienced anything like that is when I’m getting oxygen as a part of the recovery process after a game or training session—and now.

Leaves flutter above my head as I take in Palmer’s house. It’s a mossy-green, two-story home with reddish-hued wood trim. A light glows beside the deep-brown door, inviting me onto the porch.

A swing hangs off the rafters, moving gently in the breeze. I make my way past it and to the door, then knock twice.

My mouth goes dry as I stand on the welcome mat and wait for Palmer to answer. A thought, a brief one, races through my mind and asks me if I should be here.