Page 42 of Waiting for Her

“You have to know, Grady, that I had no intention of that slipping out that way but Ididplan to tell you. In person. Like you deserved – and not just now, six years ago.”

He nods slowly then takes a step closer. I make the mistake of inhaling his scent, and my knees almost buckle.

He reaches out and grips my elbow, the contact of his skin on mine causing a current of heat to flow through my veins.

“You okay? You eat this morning?”

My heart picks up its beat at the simple question full of care. “Yes, I had breakfast. Eggs and half a bagel with chive cream cheese, if you must know.”

“Thought I smelled onions,” he teases.

I playfully shove his shoulder. “You’re such a liar.”

“In all seriousness. I do want to talk more. But I feel like I’m torn. This time isn’t meant for discussing our lives. It’s about the program.”

“I guess we’ll need to find time. Probably sooner rather than later. I know you have questions.”

“Yeah, I do. Is it okay I shared with Blake? I needed to talk it out. He came over last night, helped me a little bit.”

“It is. And I get it. If I didn’t have my mom during everything… or especially Hazel, I hate to think where I would be right now.”

At the mention of my little sister, Grady’s face softens. He was only with me for the first few months of her life, but I know he’s seen her consistently since we broke up.

“How’s my little doodle bug doing?”

I pull out my phone and show him the most recent selfie I took with her. Her eyes match her name, her hair not quite as dark as mine but crazy long for a six-year-old. She’s got Andy’s smile, though.

Grady’s smile is a mega-watt when he taps the screen once before he raises his shining eyes to meet mine. “I gave her that shirt.”

My eyes widen, and I laugh. “You did not.”

“I did so. Who else would have had that shirtmadefor her?”

I look closer and can’t believe I didn’t see it earlier. I didn’t even pay attention to what she was wearing, apparently.

The shirt says: “Warrior Football (coach) Fan”

“You are the biggest dork there ever was!”

“I am not,” he scoffs incredulously. “Besides, look how happy she is! She knows it’s true. Do you even realize how adorable she’s going to look in the jersey and cheerleading outfit I bought her?”

“Both, huh?”

“I’m a man of the twenty-first century. It’s her choice which direction she wants to go.” He shrugs those massive shoulders and chuckles.

I roll my eyes but can’t hide the grin on my face.

“She made me promise she could come on the field,” he admits, still smiling.

“I’m not surprised. She probably didn’t have to twist your arm too much, did she?”

This is good. Safe. We can talk about my sister or heck, even my step brothers. Anything to keep the focus off me and my mistakes.

“Can’t say that she did.”

I know from my mom that he’s definitely no stranger to my family. She’s also helped me maintain my distance when she knew he would be around. It was weak, but it helped me maintain my sanity. Moving to Chicago helped for sure.

Of course, that also meant I missed a lot of things with my family, but they’ve been understanding about it. Lately, though, that understanding is starting to wane. It’s like they know I’ve held onto my immaturity for a little too long and they’re done.

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