Page 84 of Give You Up

“How’s it going, Syn?”

“Nice, Bounce.”

“Syn.”

“Beau, meet my friend Taron. Taron, Beau.” I point the camera at Taron.

Taron does this little wave thing. Then he does something utterly swoon-worthy but also not good. He plants a kiss on the top of my head. Beau might not pay me a lot of attention. How I like it. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t an overprotective dad.

“Hey, lay off my little girl.”

Pregnant silence.

“Fuck.”

There is no backtracking or keeping secrets now—I am Beau Huntington’s daughter.

Taron takes the tablet from me. “Sir, you don’t need to worry I’ll give up your secret. Syn wants to live a drama-free life, and I plan on giving her that.”

“How can you when your antics on and off the field are widely known, boy?”

“How so, sir?”

“Fuck sake, stop with the sir. You make me feel old when you say that.”

“My apologies.”

“Boy, I don’t pay much attention to what the media says about me and my life. What I do is no business of theirs. What I do care about is who Syn associates with. You have a bad rep with the women. Get territorial when you think your QB position is threatened by another player. You are not good for my little girl, kid.”

“I’ve made mistakes, Mr. Huntington, and have learned from them. I strive to be the better man for Syn.”

“That so? If you get her pregnant, watcha gonna do, boy? You gonna stick by her? Or take the selfish route and abandon her for your dreams?”

“I care for Syn. Will take care of our baby or babies.”

My heart melts. My body is next. I melt against him, resting my head on Taron’s shoulder.

A smile lights up Beau’s face. “That’s good. That’s really good, boy. Ready to say hello to Gunner, Syn?”

“Yep.”

While Beau is walking from the kitchen to Gunner’s bedroom, I grab the iPad from Taron. Gunner is sharp for his age, but him seeing the guy who gave me the mean look could be a setback for me and Taron. Plus, my little brother freaking out will bring up questions from Beau that I am not ready to answer. With how decent my father was with Taron, I want to keep “progressing” in this work in progress of ours.

Gunner’s little face fills the screen. He is wearing his favorite pair of pajamas. They have on them these cute dinosaurs.

“Hi, Syn.”

“Hey, kiddo. How’s my favorite kid?”

“Sleepy.”

“What’d you and Dad do that got you that way, sleepy head?”

“Zoo. Bicycling. I fell.”

“Aw, I’m sorry, buddy, but animals and sea creatures and putting pedal to the metal sound like an awesome day.”

His eyes light up. Warmth blossoms across my chest. Never would I have thought I’d be a big sister to such a great little kid. I wiggle my fingers in front of the screen and pretend to tickle him.

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