Page 104 of One Last Shot

“Probably not on this trip, but maybe another time.” I don’t want to commit Petra to anything, but she’s a sucker for making Stella feel safe and loved, so I can only imagine she’ll probably agree.

Stella’s face lights up right as I hear, “Maybe another time, what?” The words are a low, husky caress across my neck and I turn my head to find Petra standing right over my shoulder. I reach behind me and run my hand up the back of her leg and her breath hitches even though her face doesn’t give away that I’ve even touched her.

“Dada said that maybe sometime you’d sleep in my room for a night instead of his,” Stella beams and I can tell Petra’s trying not to laugh.

Instead, she reaches past me and plucks a french fry out of the basket on our table. “He did?”

“I saidmaybe,” I remind Stella.

“That’s what I said. I saidmaybe,” Stella insists.

“She did say maybe,” Petra says, her voice taking on a sort of singsong quality as she winks at Stella.

I have a few teammates who have girls, and they’re always complaining about how their wives and daughters gang up on them. It feels a bit like that’s what’s happening here, and I’m okay with it. I’m okay with Stella getting the love and attention she wants, and I’m more than okay with Petra being the one to give it to her. Petra, who told me she never wanted kids, who didn’t do committed relationships. I feel like we’re on the right track.

I slide my hand further up Petra’s leg, letting my fingertips trail along her impossibly smooth skin and squeezing her thigh gently. She gives me a quick kiss on the cheek, then moves away to walk around the table and give Stella a big hug. “Of course I’ll stay with you one night. How about next time I’m out here?”

“When will that be?” Stella asks, and then without waiting for Petra’s answer she says, “I don’t want you to go.” She’s not whining, but it’s damned close.

Petra shrugs. “I’m not sure. I have to be back in LA for filming next week, but then we do have Memorial Day weekend coming up. We will figure it out before I leave, how’s that?” She taps the tip of Stella’s nose.

Stella wraps her arms around Petra’s waist and pulls her in for another hug. Across the table, my eyes meet hers. Those cool blue eyes soften in a way I haven’t seen before; it’s like watching winter ice thaw into a sea of pale blue water. She’s a lot of things, but soft isn’t one of them. Only Stella brings out that side of her, and watching it happen loosens something in my chest, making me feel like I can breathe more deeply than normal. Maybe this will all work out. Maybe we can keep Stella safe, while loving her and each other. Maybe our past won’t screw up our future.

You have to tell her, I tell myself.There is no path forward if it’s built on a lie.

Even though I know that’s true, fear makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I don’t want to lose her again. I don’t want Stella to lose her now that Petra’s such an important part of both our lives. But I don’t know how Petra will react to the truth, and that terrifies me.

She must see something flash across my face, because she dips her eyebrows in confusion. I just shake my head slightly in response. I don’t know when the right time to tell her is, but it’s certainly not now.

“So, are we bowling or what?” Petra asks when Stella finally lets go of her.

“We’re just waiting for a lane to open up,” I tell her, nodding toward the pager sitting on the table next to the basket of fries. I glance at my watch. “It should be ready any minute now.”

“I’m starving,” she says. “Did you guys already eat?”

“Yeah, but I figured you’d want something when you got here.” It’s closing in on seven o’clock, and with Stella’s bedtime fast approaching, there’s no way I could have held her dinner off any longer. “Want me to flag down the waitress for you?”

“That’d be great,” Petra says to me as she pulls her phone from her bag. “Want to see some pictures from today?” she asks Stella.

Stella leans in with an enthusiastic “Yes!” and Petra opens her photos on her phone. I glance around but don’t see our waitress, so I watch as Petra and Stella lean their heads together.

“This is the view from where we’re having the party tomorrow night,” Petra says, and Stella sighs.

“I really can’t come?” She looks at me when she asks this.

“Sorry, it’s adults only,” I remind her. We’ve had this conversation already.

“But can’t you make an exception for me?” she whines.

I’m about to give her a look because we’re working on her understanding that whining isn’t an acceptable way to get what you want, but Petra beats me to it. “I don’t think anyone gets what they want by whining.”

Stella clears her throat. “Could I please come? I just want to see everything all decorated. I don’t have to stay.”

Petra glances at me, then back at Stella. “I have an idea.” She makes eye contact with Stella and says, “This is only an idea, not a definite yes, okay?” When Stella agrees, Petra looks up at me and continues, “Since Raina is going to be watching Stella tomorrow night, couldn’t we have them come with us since we’re arriving early? Then they could leave right before the guests arrive? That way Stella can see the space, and maybe have a Shirley Temple with us or something, and then Raina can take her home.”

In her seat, Stella is bouncing with barely contained enthusiasm.

“I don’t see why not, as long as Raina doesn’t mind.”

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