Page 45 of Penalty Shots

I slide the laptop off my lap and rise from the couch, making my way down the hall to her room. The door is already slightly open when I reach it.

Through the small sliver, I see Keelan reaching for his little niece. She’s swaddled in a blanket, and he bends down to pick her up.

“There’s my Stella-girl,” he coos at the child. “I’ve missed you, my sweet.”

He holds her to his chest and nuzzles her little cheek.

“Is my sweet girl hungry?”

The baby’s sobs calm down as her uncle rocks her side to side like it’s second nature for him. The scene takes me by surprise.

I’ve never seen Keelan care for a child. Much less, show so much tenderness and love. Somehow, I’ve missed seeing him with his niece all these months. And thank god, because the feelings flaring up in me are sending me for a very inconvenient loop.

He must hear me in the hall because he turns toward the door, and our eyes meet. “Looks like we have an audience, Stella. Smile for your Aunt Rina.”

I clear my throat and push the door open. He holds the baby up so she can see me.

Her rosy cheeks poke out from the swaddle job. “Wow. Izzy’s swaddle skills are getting better. This baby is practically a burrito.”

Keelan huffs out a laugh through his nose. “Please… Iz wishes she could wrap a swaddle as good as me.”

I’m reaching for the baby when I stop, looking at Keelan. “You know how to swaddle?”

“Who do you think swaddled Izzy when she was a baby and dad was at practice while mom worked?”

I don’t take my eyes off him. I’m in total disbelief. This isn’t Keelan. He doesn’t calm crying babies and make ovaries explode into thin air.

“Huh,” is all I manage to say.

He smirks. “Wanna hold her while I go get her bottle?”

I open my arms and he gently slides her into them. I turn and sit in the rocking chair as he looks back at us from the door. “You look good holding a baby, Ri.”

He means well. But those words are a gut punch. Those are the words that break me.

He disappears into the hall just as the first tear forms in the corner of my eye and slides down my cheek onto the small child. She makes a face that reminds me of her mom.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper to Stella. “I don’t know what’s happening to me.”

I wipe the tear, but it’s quickly followed by another. And suddenly, I’m rocking in this chair, holding this child like it’s everything. Because deep down… I know that it is.

And I think Keelan knows, too.

Chapter 12

Keelan

18 years old

Iknock on Jenny and Rina’s dorm room, the soft sound echoing through the quiet hall. Nobody moves to open it. I knock again.

I look around to see if there’s any sign of her. Jenny didn’t leave the party with us last night. She wanted to hang out with her friends. Of course, I wasn’t going to kill her joy just because JR, the walking sexual harassment case in waiting, had ruined my evening.

But she didn’t text me when she got in. I’ve already texted her three times with no reply. I called and it went straight to voicemail.

Worried, I texted Rina just before coming over, but she didn’t reply then, either.

I’m about to knock again, this time louder, when the door slowly swings back. Rina is standing there, barely opening it.

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