Page 42 of Taking The Shot

He didn’t like how serious she looked. How her eyes, always so full of warmth, now held frustration and something dangerously close to hurt.

“What is going on with you?” Constance asked, her voice laced with emotion. “I feel like a ping-pong ball. One minute, I think we’re okay, that we’re moving forward, and then the next, you shut down completely.”

Keith clenched his jaw, exhaling slowly. “You want to do thisnow?”

“Don’t you think we should talk?”

“I do,” he admitted, shifting uncomfortably, his gaze flicking toward the crowd. “But there are over seventy people here, and there’s zero privacy.”

“You don’t needprivacyremember,” she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest.

His brows pulled together. “What’sthatsupposed to mean?”

“It means that you barely look at me,” she said, her voice tightening. “You sure don’t touch me. You barely kiss me. And?—”

“Oh, we arenotdoing this here,” Keith cut in, his voice low, edged with disbelief. He cast another wary glance around them, his skin prickling at the thought of an audience. “We should talk about this at home, where we have some privacy.”

Constance stilled, her expression shifting—hurt cracking through her carefully held composure.

“Do you even want me here?” she whispered, her voice so soft he almost missed it.

His chest tightened. “Con?—”

“You got your precious marriage license,” she continued, a flicker of anger threading through the pain. “You secured yourjob. You don’t want me, Keith. You and Paige are always sniping at each other, and you barely hold Kayla. You’re just… here. But you’re notwithus. You’ve given us everything, the moon, the stars… but we are missing oxygen. We’re missingyou, Keith.”

Her words struck deep, cutting through every excuse, every deflection. He swallowed hard, struggling to find the right response, something to ease the weight pressing against his ribs.

But there was only one truth.

“I’m scared,” he admitted, his voice hoarse, raw. “I’m scared, okay? Is that what you want to hear?”

Constance’s expression softened, but she didn’t speak. She just listened.

“I’ve barely been around kids, and now I have two who are looking at me like I’m supposed to know what the heck I’m doing,” he confessed, his hands flexing at his sides. “Kayla is a little version of you. Paige… she’s sharp. Smart. She’s aggressive, and I don’t know if I’m supposed to be her friend or her dad. I’m trying to figure this out, and I?—”

He stopped, his throat tightening as the words tangled together.

Constance’s eyes glistened, her lip trembling slightly as she pressed a hand to her chest as if steadying herself against the weight of what he was saying. He could see it—every unspoken fear, every insecurity mirrored in her gaze.

Keith exhaled shakily, dropping his head for a brief moment before meeting her eyes again.

“And on top of all that,” he murmured, “my wife is the hottest thing on the planet, and I don’t know how to tell her that I want her so badly it makes my chest ache.”

Constance blinked, startled.

“I want so much to tell you so many things,” he continued, no longer caring about the people around them. No longer caring ifanyone overheard. “And I don’t know how. I don’t want to mess this up. I don’t want to drive you away, to move too fast, to…”

“You’re moving too slowly,” she interrupted, her voice thick with unshed tears. A weak, breathy laugh escaped her lips. “Speed it up, old man.”

Keith let out a rough chuckle, shaking his head. “Thirty-six isn’t old.” He reached out, brushing his fingers over her hand. “I might be a little older than you, but I promise, I’m not too old to learn how to be a husband. Or a father.”

Constance’s breath hitched, her fingers tightening around his. “Be you,” she whispered, searching his face. “Be yourself. And justbe with me.”

His throat felt tight, but he nodded. “I will try.”

“No.” She shook her head, her hands sliding up to cradle his face. “I don’t want you totry. I want youthere. Quit working everything out in your head and start listening to your heart.” She leaned in, her forehead almost touching his. “What is your heart telling you?”

Keith swallowed hard.

---