Page 70 of Walk Off

“Was that a baseball pun, Dulanay?” Heath glared at him.

“It sure was.” Kyle looked out over the trees to where the sun was rising, the colors bright and bold. “This really is a great place for a morning run. I might come here every day.”

“I’ll join you,” Noah said.

“Great,” Heath said. “I invited you two yahoos along and now you’re stealing my secret spot.”

“It's a public place,” Kyle told him, shaking his head. “I don't think you can claim it as your own.”

“Fuck off.'' There was no strength behind it since Heath was still breathing heavily.

“How’s it going with your kid?” Noah asked him, and just like that, Celia was back on his mind.

“She’s great.” He couldn’t help but smile at the mention of Jasmine. “Her mother is an entirely different story.”

“What’s happening there?” Heath asked.

“Nothing. Or, not so much nothing, as she is refusing to admit her feelings for me.”

“Are you sure she has them?” Noah asked.

Before Kyle could answer, Heath said, “Yes.”

Kyle gave him a questioning look. “How do you know that?”

“Because she’s my sister’s friend and Zara’s friend, and I just so happen to talk to both Hannah and Zara almost daily. Both of them talk about you and Celia constantly. As if I don’t have important things going on in my life.”

“What important things could you possibly have?” Noah asked.

“Wait, go back. What exactly do Zara and Hannah say about Celia’s feelings for me?” He felt like he was in high school, but he didn’t care. If Heath had any insight into Celia, he would take it. He needed all the help he could get.

“Just that she’s denying her feelings because she’s afraid to be hurt. And also something about her mom and being right about her not being good enough.” He shrugged like it was no big deal when in reality, it was the biggest deal.

At least to Kyle.

It confirmed what she’d told him. At least the part about being hurt. The other part, about her mom, was new, and something he desperately wanted to help her prove wrong. Granted, he didn’t know her mom, but he was one thousand percent sure she was nothing like her.

How did he know that?

Because in the last week and a half, he’d learned that he was nothing like his own shitty parents. Neither of them would have forgiven Celia for keeping a child from them. Ironically, they also wouldn’t have ever grown to love the child or want to care for her. They only cared about themself and no one else. They’d make a big stink, but in the end, they’d be absentee parents, just like they’d been with him.

He was nothing like them. He’d forgiven Celia relatively quickly, because he could see the love she had for Jasmine, in her eyes and in the way she talked about her. A love like that was not something you ignored. As for loving Jasmine, how could he not? She was sweet and funny and smart as could be. From their first meeting, he’d made room for her in his heart. That was something his own mom and dad had never done for him.

If he could be completely different from his own parents, then so could Celia. They each wanted to erase the past and make the future better.

That’s how he knew she’d never be like her mom.

She was better in every possible way, and worth more than anyone he’d ever met. She deserved to be happy. To have good things happen to her.

He stilled, remembering the words she’d said to him when he’d found out about Jasmine. They’d been almost exactly the same. She’d broken up with him and kept the baby from him because he’d deserved all the good things in life.

She’d done it for him, and now he was going to show her that she and Jasmine were the good things in his life. That she was worth more than she knew.

“I gotta go,” he shouted as he started running off towards his car. Inside the car, he dialed Zara.

She answered on a yawn. “This better be good, Dulanay. I was having the very best dream about a chiseled guy whose head was hidden because it was...”

He didn't let her finish. “I love Celia.”

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