Page 62 of Sometimes You Fall

Seething, Penn grates out, “Just because you’ve written off having a family doesn’t mean you get to mock ours.”

Dallas and I stand, ready to break them up if need be.

Parker glares up at his brother. “Jesus, calm down.”

Penn shakes Parker slightly. “No, you need to watch your fucking mouth, Parker. Raising another man’s kid is fucking hard. Putting their needs before your own is a noble fucking thing. And maybe you should consider that you’re also one of those broken boys inside, too scared to let anyone in because you were hurt once.”

Parker clenches his jaw. “Fuck you, Penn.”

“Right back at you, brother.”

“Okay.” Dallas rounds the bar and steps between the two of them, pulling Penn’s hands from Parker’s shirt. “That’s enough.”

Penn steps back, but his anger remains palpable. “He needs to watch his fucking mouth. Just because he’s unhappy with his life, doesn’t mean he gets to talk down to us about ours.”

After a few tension-filled moments, Parker pulls his wallet from his pocket, tosses down some cash, and glares at all three of us. “I don’t need this shit,” he says, turning and walking out of the restaurant.

“You know he isn’t going to be able to move past his shit until he’s ready to,” Dallas says to his brother.

“I don’t care. I said what I needed to say to him.” Penn throws a twenty-dollar bill on the bar and then drains the rest of his drink. “I need to get back to work.” Penn exits the restaurant just as quickly as his younger brother did.

“Well, that turned sour quickly.”

Dallas looks at me. “Parker has been in a fucking mood for months. Penn and I think it has a lot to do with how we’ve changed our lives for the women we love. He had that once, and…”

“Yeah, I know.”

Dallas runs a hand through his short, black hair. “I hate seeing him so jaded. He wasn’t like this before Sasha fucking betrayed him.”

“Something like that would change any person, Dallas.”

He looks me dead in the eye. “I know, and I’m afraid it will prevent him from ever trusting another woman.”

His words strike me right in the chest. “Fuck, that’s it.”

“What?”

I reach for my wallet, throw a few bills on the counter, and shove it back in my pocket. “Nothing. You just made me realize something I wasn’t seeingbefore.”

“Okay…”

“I’ve got to go,” I say as my mind starts spinning.

“Glad everyone was in a hurry to leave today,” he murmurs behind me as I exit the restaurant and head back to the garage, realizing that what Scottie needs is a reason to trust me, proof that she can count on me, and so does Chase. At least now I have a better idea of how to make them both see that I’m not here to hurt them.

In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

I want to give them each what they need and deserve—someone to trust if they fall, because falling in life is inevitable, and I refuse to let them feel like they’re alone anymore.

***

Sitting in my recliner, flipping through the pages of my third book about pregnancy and becoming a father, I listen to this week’s MLB highlights in the background, stifling a yawn. It’s crazy to think there was a time when I was on that television, my face plastered on the screen during these same highlights. Now, I’m coaching kids who have no idea how much work and determination it takes to get to that point and preparing to be a father, while the woman carrying my baby is pretending she doesn’t have feelings for me.

My, how things have changed.

The conversation at Catch & Release between me and the Sheppard boys keeps playing on repeat in my head. When Dallas said he feared his brother wouldn’t trust another woman again, it made me realize that I had been walking around feeling the same way—that is until Scottie walked back into my life. That’s how I know that fighting for her is worth it. She’s the only woman I’ve ever wanted to fight for,so I’ve spent the entire day thinking about how I can help her see that she doesn’t need to fear the future we could share. She just has to give us a shot.

My phone vibrates on the coffee table, and when I see who the text message is from, a lightning bolt of adrenaline races through me. I close the book, set it on the table, and pick up my phone to read the message.

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