Page 42 of Walk Off

Kyle slowed his treadmill until he was doing a slow jog. “There’s a lot going on, and you’re right, I was trying to clear my head.” Then he figured fuck it, since it was going to come out sooner or later. “I have a daughter with a woman who lives here.”

Noah didn’t miss a beat. “The blond you were talking to at the wedding? The one Zara seemed protective of?”

“You know Zara?” he asked, curious how Noah was even at the wedding.

“I just switched to her firm. That’s why I'm in town. Although she’s too busy to take me on so Hannah is going to represent me. Which, thanks to her, is how I somehow got a last-minute invite to the wedding.”

“No one better!” Heath yelled over the music.

“Says her brother and the man who is represented by Zara,” Noah said with an eye roll. “Do you use Sports World?” he asked Kyle.

“No, but I’ve been thinking about it.” He didn’t hate his agent, but he also didn’t have any sort of real relationship with him. He’d been thinking of switching, and now with Celia and Jasmine living in Valley Falls, this might be a perfect time. “Heath, aren't you friends with Zara? Can you get me a meeting?”

“You heard me, right?” Noah said. “She was too busy to take me as a client. I doubt she has time for you.”

“I’ll give you her number,” Heath said, finishing a bench press set. “She’ll meet with you.”

“What the fuck?” Noah said. “I knew she was just using that as an excuse.” He huffed out a breath as he pushed the button to make the treadmill go faster.

It looked like he needed to work off some of his own frustration.

Kyle stopped his treadmill and jumped off. “Thanks. I think it could be a good time to switch.”

Heath sat up, his elbows on his knees. “I don’t know everything going on, but I do know my sister and Zara have Celia’s back, no matter what.”

Hearing that made even more of his anger at Celia dissipate. She’d been alone with only her sister for so long. She’d told him the story of her parents, and how after her dad died, her mom had become an even worse parent. He was glad there were other people in her life to look out for her. “I know that.”

“What's going to happen?” Heath asked. “Are you getting partial custody of Jasmine? Moving here? Taking her with you?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. I’ve only met her once, and I think we need more time together before we make big life decisions like that.” He knew one thing for sure. He would not be taking Jasmine from Celia. Yes, he wanted to see her more, and maybe he’d like her to come visit him at his home in Arizona, but he knew he would never ask her to move there and leave her mom.

He wasn’t a monster.

Why was that? Celia had done something unforgivable, and yet here he was, trying his damndest not to do anything that would hurt her.

Why should he be the good guy?

He knew the answer. Because even though she’d done this unforgivable thing, he knew, deep down, that she’d regretted every second of it. She hadn’t done it to hurt him or Jasmine, She’d done it because she thought it was the right thing for him.

Did that make it forgivable? He wasn’t sure. But, he knew damn well that punishing her by taking her daughter away from her, wasn’t the right answer.

They were both Jasmine’s parents. Somehow, they were going to have to make it work.

He still wasn’t sure if her reasoning for why she’d kept the pregnancy a secret was something he could agree with. He loved baseball, sure, but he would have been able to have a baby and have baseball.

Wouldn’t he?

Guys did it all the time. He had several teammates who had kids and they seemed to make it work.

“You guys wanna grab lunch?” Heath asked when they finished up their workouts.

He had nothing else to do until he saw Jasmine the next day after school. He needed to do something to kill time. “I’m in.”

“Me too,” Noah said.

They changed into warmer clothes and then walked a few blocks to a local sub place. It was nice to spend a few hours doing anything other than talking or thinking about Celia. He knew he had a lot to work out, but when she was on his mind, all he thought about was how much he wanted her.

He was going to have to find a way to stop those thoughts.

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