Page 66 of Sometimes You Fall

Does that make me a sap?

No, that makes me a man who knows what he wants—to actually be vulnerable with a woman for the first time in my life.

“You won’t—becauseyou care about that. The only thing you can do is keep trying, Grady.”

“Keep trying?” I ask, and then continue before I can think twice. “With Chase, or with you, Scottie?”

Her eyes widen and she slinks back, clearing her throat when she realizes my meaning. “You—you can’t kiss me again, Grady.”

I scoff. “If you think I’m done kissing you, you’ve got another thing coming, babe.”

“I’m serious.”

I lean forward so she can see straight into my eyes when I say, “So am I.” Her breathing grows shallow again, and all I can think about is our kiss from earlier. But when she remains silent, I hit her with another thought. “I think our moms should meet.”

“What?”

“I mean, I’m sure they know each other to some extent, but since this baby will join us all together, it would be nice for us all to sit down and share a meal, you know? Practice for the holidays and stuff.”

She closes her eyes and sighs. “Yeah, I guess that will be something to talk about moving forward, huh?”

I smirk in her direction before I stand. “Yeah, we have a lot of things to talk about, Scottie.”

She peers up at me, licking her lips. “Anything I should be prepared for?”

“Nothing you don’t already know but are too afraid to address.”

***

Chase wipes the sweat from his forehead as I lead him into the garage Saturday afternoon. He’s just finished pulling weeds, which I could have very easily hired someone to do, but hopefully the blisters he has on his hands will make him think twice before letting some knuckleheads talk him into doing any more stupid shit. And now? It’s time to give this kid something that he can take from this lesson and use throughout his life.

“Are you gonna make me scrub engine parts again?”

I stop in front of the Nova and turn to face him. “Yes, but not just for the hell of it.” I gesture to the car behind me. “You broke this, so now you’re going to learn how to fix it.”

He eyes me wearily. “I don’t know anything about cars.”

“That’s why I’m going to teach you. You didn’t know how to pitch the first time you picked up a baseball, did you?”

“No.”

“Exactly. You have to learn. Plus, having someone help me repair this car means it will be on the road sooner.” I’m not gonna lie, the idea lights a fire of anticipation in me. This car has been sitting here neglected for years, and apparently all it took was a kid smashing in the hood and headlights for me to finally do something with it.

I meant what I said to Scottie the other night—I need to get this kid to let his guard down around me and I really think this is the key to making that happen.

“I’d rather just scrub engine parts,” he mutters, looking anywhere but at me.

“No, you wouldn’t. Trust me. Once you start taking this thing apart, you’re going to want to learn how to put it back together.”

“I don’t get how you went from pitching in the MLB to turning a wrench,” he says, his eyes still narrowed into slits.

“Actually, it was the same type of offer I’m giving you.” Gesturing to the garage around us, I say, “I used to work here during high school, keeping the yard clean and doing grunt jobs. But then one day, the owner, Mr. Rogers, offered to teach me about cars, and I’m glad he did. I loved baseball, Chase. Still do. But the game can be taken away from you in an instant.” I snap my fingers for emphasis.

“You seem to be speaking from experience,” he replies sarcastically.

“You think?” It comes out like a joke, and thankfully I see a small crack of a smile on his lips before it vanishes just as quickly.

He takes a step closer to the car, surveying the damage he did with the bat that night. “How do we fix the hood?”

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