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My brow creases slightly.

Then she signs something else entirely.

One hand.

Three more words.

I love you.

And that does it for me.

I don't even have to think before I'm copying her movement. My heart beat bouncing against my ribs like it's reaching for her.

Lenny loves me.

Hell, I love her. I never fucking stopped. Not for one second—not really. Maybe I convinced myself I did—the same way I convinced myself that CMU was always our plan. That she abandoned us. That some things don't need to be said outloud:

Come with me.

This doesn't have to be the end.

Stay in Golden City.

But two things can be true at the same time.

Vienna can hear and still be proud to be deaf.

Baseball can be important without being everything.

I can let people get close without them leaving.

Lenny can know that I love her—that I want her here—and still need to hear it.

Same as I did.

In perfect timing, the music starts to fade. The crowd erupts as my heart is pulled in two directions, but I run to V first.

When she spots me, her face lights up.

We both run toward each other, meeting at the pitcher's mound as she throws her arms around my waist with enough force to take me down.

I wince, smiling. "Hey, V," I murmur.

She pulls back and instantly leans into her hands. "Did you see me? I did it! Not one mistake." She pauses just enough to scrunch her face. "That was so cool."

"You were perfect," I sign. My chest tightens in the best way. "Always have been."

She nods once, her cheeks slightly pink.

"Lenny's here," she says next.

Now it's my face that flushes.

"I know."

"Did you tell her that you want her to stay yet?" she asks.

My head tilts. "How did you—"