Chapter 38 #2
“Warranted. It’s a lot, and nothing you were prepared for when you woke up this morning.” I tilt my head to catch her gaze. “Why don’t you nap while Loch does what he needs to do?”
“What about—”
“Max is having the time of his life. He’s in good hands.”
She peers out the window, and a sweet smile appears. “He slept a lot on the ride here, so it’s good he’s getting to run around.”
Loch returns, his eyes directed on Liv. “They’ll be here in the morning. Nine o’clock.”
She looks up at me with questions in her eyes. “Max has his stuff for the night and so do we. We’ll stay here, in my room.”
Delta says, “We might have bought a few things for Max and switched up the spare room across the hall from Noah’s bedroom.”
My dad gets up from the couch and laughs.
“It’s a nursery. Max is the first of hopefully many grandkids to come.
It’s a better use of the space than to keep unused rooms.” The pride hitting his eyes from the thought of a whole new generation of little ones running around is one I never imagined.
I wasn’t even able to broach that mindset before Max.
Now I’m all for it. He says to Liv, “The three of you always have a place of your own in our home.”
A tear hits the front of my shirt right before she turns and walks to him.
When they embrace, I realize how overwhelming it must be for her.
Although I know she’s touched by my parents’ acceptance of her and our son and the nursery setup, just as I am, I can’t help but think this is all she ever wanted from her father.
Fuck him.
She’ll get all that and more from mine. My family is one hundred percent behind her.
If I don’t cut in now, it will be a cry fest in here, and I think we’ve had enough tears for today. I say, “How about we rest before dinner?”
Harbor gets up from the barstool where he’s been sitting in the kitchen. “We’ve got Max covered. It’s uncle time.”
Loch heads to the back door with him, adding, “It’s time to teach our nephew the rules of basketball.”
Just before the door closes, I catch Harbor saying, “I was thinking we could teach him to drive.”
“They’re not serious, right?” Liv rushes to ask me.
I’m honestly not sure. They can be sarcastic bastards, but they might not be joking. I catch her hand just as she starts for the door. “He’ll be okay and probably have the time of his life. Don’t worry, they’ll take care of him.”
She looks between the door and me a couple of times before she exhales. “You’re right.”
“Nap?”
That wipes the concern right off her face. “Yes, please.”
I should have figured she’d be more invested in exploring my room than sleep.
I get it. I might do the same if I was in her childhood bedroom, so I undress and climb under the covers and watch her.
Even though it’s been one hell of a day that’s taken a toll on both of us, she’s fucking gorgeous.
Knowing who she is on the inside only makes our connection and the chemistry we share more potent.
So much of my life is on display that her eyes travel the walls and tops of the desk, over the shelves, and she even pokes her head in the closet.
Every part of the room has been thoroughly inspected when she strips her shirt and jeans off and slips into bed next to me.
Lying her head on my bare chest, she rubs the tips of her fingers over my abs.
“I love seeing this part of you, babe,” she says, seemingly more awake than ever.
“What do you love about it?”
“Seeing who you were before there was a we, an us. You did so much from playing baseball to working on the student foundation league for your university, president of the marketing club, and voted most likely for basically everything.”
“Including stealing another guy’s girlfriend.”
“I pretended I didn’t see that award.” Her laughter breezes across my stomach. Sliding her head up next to mine, she asks, “Did you steal many girlfriends?”
Running my hand over the soft skin of her arm, I shake my head. “I wish I could say no. There were a few over the years. My thought was can you steal something if it’s not yours in the first place?”
“No.” Her eyes stay fixed on mine, two lines deepening between her brows. “What do you think happened to the piece of paper with my number written on it?”
“I’m not sure, but I would have called you if I could have.
” As I think back to that night, the connection we shared—emotionally and physically—has always overridden all else.
I remember the moon appearing brighter than usual, the dunes built up from lack of trampling, and the wind active that night.
I close my eyes, and the details become clearer.
As sleep sweeps us under, one memory shoots to the forefront. My heart starts racing just as my eyes crack open. “The duffel.”
Under a drowsy haze, Liv says, “Huh?”
“Marina.” I close my eyes to rub them awake and slip out from Liv’s side. “Marina came to warn me that my parents were coming.”
Liv pushes to her elbows to watch me rush to my closet. “What are we talking about?”
“The night we met,” I reply from inside the closet.
I reach up and grab the old bag I haven’t used in years from the top shelf.
“I woke up when Marina had come to the house to warn me my parents were going to be there shortly.” I return to the bed and set the bag down next to her legs. “You were already gone.”
“Okay, but what are you doing with the bag?”
“This is the bag I used that weekend.” I sit, the reason I was in the Hamptons by myself returning as well.
I look at her. There’s no part of me I can’t share with her.
The disappointment I felt that day comes back as if it were today.
“I was asked to try out for a minor league team. It could have led to playing for the Yankees if I got pulled up to the majors.”
She lies back, smiling. “Really? That’s amazing. When was that?”
On the surface, people will always think the best, but knowing I failed .
. . I still feel the humiliation seeping in when I fucked up my chance to play professionally.
“The week we met. I had a final on the morning of tryouts. Tired from staying up to study all night, I was late to the field and performed like shit.”
She sits up, resting her chin on my bicep and watching me. I look at my feet on the floor. “What eats you up most about that event?”
“I know it’s nothing compared with what you endured with your father, but I’d never failed at anything before.
” I glance at her, and say, “I was told I had the Midas touch. Everything I touched turned to gold, especially those awards I was accruing. I felt invincible, but track record couldn’t save me.
I choked when it mattered most. I failed under pressure.
They cut me right after that. No second chance. ”
“It was one time, Noah.”
I’m not sure why this is hitting me so hard. Being in my room again? Opening my heart? “That’s all it took.” It feels good to get this off my chest though.
“You’ve achieved so much to fall prey to one failure. It made you fight harder. Look at your GPA, the job offers.” Her hand sways in front of her. “Look around this room at all of your success, babe.”
I know my greatest success isn’t in this room, but playing in the grass outside.
She asks, “I’m the first person you’re telling this to?”
“My little sister was there, but we’ve never spoken of it.”
“I love that you invited her.”
“I didn’t. She just knew. I don’t know how. She was always in my business, but I’m glad she was there that day.” I clear my throat. “Other than Marina, no one knows about the tryouts or that I went to the house in the Hamptons to get away from it all and think.”
“Thank you for sharing with me. I’m sorry you didn’t make the team.” Wrapping her arms around my ribs, she smiles. I chuckle and then ask, “Are you enjoying my failure?”
“No, not at all. You could have been playing professional baseball, but we would have never met. You could have your name in lights at Yankee Stadium or be Max’s dad.
” She massages the back of my neck, and says, “Everything happened exactly how it was supposed to. You’re in our lives, and we’re grossly entangled in yours.
” She laughs to herself. “All because destiny knew where you were needed.”
I caress her face and kiss this woman. And then again because I fucking want to. “You’re right. I don’t need thousands of fans screaming my name. I have more than I could have ever dreamed of with you two calling me your boyfriend and Dada.”
Boyfriend? That’s just not going to do for much longer . . .
I look deep into her eyes, always finding comfort there. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” She giggles. “Now what’s in the bag?”
“Right.” I dig my hands in the bag, stretching out the empty compartment to look inside. Nothing. Running my fingers along the edge of the removable base, I pop it up and search the insides.
And there it is.
I don’t know how to feel—happy she left me her number or gutted that I had it all this time and didn’t know. I pull it out and see her smile return. It’s not smug as if she needs to rub my nose in the fact that she was right. It’s relief in seeing the small piece of paper.
“I’m not sure what to say other than I’m sorry for not calling.”
This time, she caresses my face. “The number didn’t matter. Nothing was going to keep us apart.”