Page 178 of Restricted List

“Really?” I say lowly.

“Yeah,” he sighs. “We should talk.” Skip looks between us before his eyes narrow as he studies Rory’s hand. His eyes then jump to my own hand before bouncing back and forth, and he swallows hard. “Seems like we have a lot to talk about…”

fifty-four

Rory

“Thanks for grabbing her,Lane,” I say quietly at my hotel door. Lane is standing in front of me with Sage sleeping on his shoulder.

“Sorry that it took me a bit longer to get here. Just needed Lucia to help me loosen up my arm after the game.”

“That’s okay. We weren’t really expecting to have a visitor right now.”

Lane gives me a soft smile. “Good luck. I hope your dad can finally see what you two have.”

“Thanks,” I say lightly. “Good night. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Lane waves before he walks off, and I close the door behind him before returning to where my dad and husband are sitting on opposite beds.

Thankfully, my dad is sitting on Lo’s bed and not the one Cole and I had sex in.

When I sit down next to Cole, my dad lets out a deep breath. “You two are wearing wedding rings.”

Cole places his hand reassuringly on my thigh. “Yes,” I say. “We are.”

When I confirm it for him, he shuts his eyes and takes a breath. When he opens them again, his eyes are glassy, tears threatening to spill out of them. “I missed my only daughter getting married because I was a controlling jackass.”

I don’t know what I expected when my dad showed up here, but admitting that he’s at fault so quickly doesn’t even crack the top ten on things I would’ve guessed.

My dad is prideful and stubborn—he always has been. His admitting this so quickly gives me hope that we can turn this around.

Tears prick my own eyes now. “I’m sor-”

He raises a hand to silence me. “You don’t need to apologize, Rory.I’mthe one that needs to apologize. I let my own biases cloud my judgment and thought I was doing what was best for you. But that was never up to me to decide. You’re right; you’re a grown woman. In my head, though, you’re still my baby girl, and I let that part of me take over. I should never have tried to decide who is good enough for you because you did that on your own.”

The words catch me by surprise. “What?”

“Let me finish please. I need to get all of this out before I break down.” He rubs his hands over his eyes, collecting the tears gathered in the corners. “Cole,” he starts, and I feel my husband’s body tense. My dad sighs before starting again. “I don’t think sorry is enough for how I treated you, but it’s all I have. Everything I said last night was out of line. Hell, coming to you after the wedding and asking you to help me was out of line, too. But last night…” He shakes his head as he thinks of everything he said. “I can’t believe how I acted. Berating you, in general, was uncalled for, but doing it in front of the team? And then holding your reputation over your head when Harlow spoke up? I’m deeply sorry. Despite how I acted, Idolike you. Knox was right—I had no problem with you until I found outyou were dating my daughter. Well, married to my daughter, I guess.”

“We, uh…” Cole clears his throat. “We weren’t married last night.”

“So you took advantage of being in Vegas, I see,” he chuckles lightly, and the tension starts fading from the room.

“Cole proposed on the Strip before we went to the chapel. He bought an engagement ring when we were buying our bands.” I can’t help but smile and spin the rings around my finger.

My dad notices the movement and smiles himself. “He really does love you.”

“I do,” Cole says warmly. “I’ve been falling in love with Rory since I first met her. I’m sorry that we hid from you, but I don’t regret doing it. My only regret is taking almost four years to tell her how I feel.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t see it,” my dad says, shaking his head. “In hindsight, it’s obvious it was you. Hell, she wore your jersey on Opening Day. I just didn’t think anything of it because she has a jersey for every player on the team, and she rotates through them. I watched you two dance together at the wedding. I know you spent time together when she flew down to Florida. I’ve seen you hanging around the girls more often than you did before.”

“We were pretty obvious, weren’t we?” I say with a light laugh.

“Does he make you happy, Rory?”

“Yes,” I smile. “I’ve never been this happy, Dad. Cole is absolutely incredible.”

“And you’re going to take care of my daughter?”

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