Page 171 of Off Season

Her eyes widen. “What did you do?”

I wink. “Don’t worry about it.”

I turn to my father, who’s still inconsolable. I knew this would be the hardest on him, but I needed to get it off my chest.

He shakes his head. “I…I didn’t know. I hope you know that. It wasmyjob to protect you. I’ve failed you as a father. It shouldn’t have fallen on you, Kamryn. I robbed you of your childhood.”

Fuck. This isn’t what I wanted. His blaming himself isn’t what’s best, but some part of me feels validated that he’s not suggesting I was wrong. He’s not defending her. It would have hurt more if he did. I think part of me holding it in for all these years was thinking he wouldn’t believe me.

I rub his back. “It doesn’t matter anymore. It’s all in the past.” I think of Fallon’s words to me. “You can’t ever change the past, but you can always try to do your part in helping to pave a better road for the future. Daddy, thanks for believing me. It means everything to me.”

He looks up at me with a bit of shock on his face. “Of course I believe you. You’re a lot of things, Kamryn, but a liar isn’t one of them. Your powers of perception have always far exceeded your age. I believe your version of the events, but this is just so hard to swallow as a father and as the man who married her and let her pull the strings for far too long.”

“Unburdening myself of this will help me finally move past it. I hate that I’m burdening you with it, but I needed to do this.”

He nods. “I’m glad you did. I’ll need time to truly absorb the enormity of it.”

Bailey and I do our best to make him feel better for a long while. We remind him that it may not have been the easiest road,but we’re both in a good place right now, and that’s all that matters.

I just dropped a major bomb. It’s not like we’ll have one conversation and it will be over. I know they’ll both need time to process and react, especially him. As much as I want a quick fix, that’s not how things work. Dr. Pearl taught me that.

I then let them know about the fact that I’ve been in law school for all these years. My father doesn’t seem at all surprised. In fact, it gets him to perk up a bit. Bailey is in shock and doesn’t understand why I never told her about it.

I suppose it’s the only thing in my life that I’ve ever done purely for me. Right or wrong, I felt guilty about it.

An hour later,I approach Cheetah’s building and smile at my favorite doorman. “Hi, Evan.”

He has an unusually enormous grin. “Good afternoon, Kamryn.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “Why are you so happy?”

He pinches his lips together like he’s trying to stifle his smile. “It’s a beautiful day, and a beautiful woman is talking to me. Why would I be anything other than happy? Life is good.”

I run my tongue over my top teeth. “Hmm. You and Sir Gonzales are up to no good. I can feel it.”

He chuckles as he opens the door to the building. “He’s awaiting your arrival, your majesty.”

I walk inside and take the elevator to Cheetah’s penthouse. As I exit, I see a bunch of packed bags in his foyer. He’s leaving for Spring Training right after the wedding. It sucks. I prefer the off-season when we get to spend more time together. This off-season was rough but having him with me all the time helped me get through it.

He doesn’t notice me at first while he exits his bedroom doorand closes it behind him. I can’t help but stare at him. Some people are human medicine. A little time with them cures everything. That’s what he’s been for me. Even if we part, I know that I’m better because of my time with him.

As soon as he sees me, he flashes me a huge smile. “Hey, Kam bam. How did it go?”

I nod. “It went well. They believed me.”

He scoffs. “Of course they did. I told you they would.”

I motion my head toward his bags. “All packed?”

He exhales a long breath. “Yep. I wish I didn’t have to go.”

“Me too. We need to talk.”

He points toward the living room. I see a huge fort. “I thought you might say that.”

We walk over, and he begins to undress but I stop him. “Can it not be a nudist fort today?”

He twists his lips. “How about we compromise? It can be a shark week fort.” That means underwear.

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