Page 28 of Stealing Forever

“That’s great, honey.” Hailey joins us, and I grin at her. “I take it you found Bodhi?”

“We did and he’s seriously the cutest. Him and Sailor get along perfectly. I have a feeling after dinner they’ll wear each other out.”

“Perfect. Easy night for us.”

Us.

Like we’re doing this thing together. Like we’re coparenting.

Our eyes meet briefly, lingering for a fleeting moment I wish would last much longer.

“Are you ready to eat, baby girl?” I tickle Sailor’s tummy, and she giggles as we walk over to the table of food before I pass her to Hailey.

Picking up a steak knife, I clank it a few times against the side of an empty beer bottle sitting on the edge of the red and white gingham cloth. “Good afternoon, everyone.” My heart beats wildly in my chest as I address the large group, swallowing the lump in my throat. I hate public speaking, which is crazy considering every game I coach is in front of thousands of people. “I want to welcome you to Coit Stadium, home of the Bridge Point Bears! If you’ve never seen my ugly mug before, I’m Declan Lane, and as of this year, I’m the head coach.”

“More like shit show coordinator!” Gareth calls from a few tables over, and everyone laughs.

My head nods in agreement. “Shit show. Team. Family. However you want to reference the Bears, I’m just proud to be their coach. We have a killer group of ballplayers, and I look forward to a great season. Opening day is next Thursday, and while I’m bummed we won’t be playing our first games at home, I’m grateful all of you fine people could join us for our annual celebration today. So eat up everyone, because there’s enough food to feed at least four major league teams. Thanks for coming.”

The chatter resumes as I close out my impromptu speech and rejoin Hailey and Sailor. Grabbing onto Sailor’s small shoulders, I squeeze them gently.

“I hate speaking to crowds,” I tell Hailey honestly before I let go of Sailor’s shoulders, and grab her hand instead.

“You did great,” Hailey assures me. “Truly. I would have stumbled over my words and probably would have started crying, too.”

“I don’t believe that for a second.” Gesturing to where everyone has begun lining up, Hailey and I follow suit.

“Oh, I assure you that’s exactly what would have happened. There’s a lot of people here,” Hailey says, keeping the conversation flowing.

“Yeah, there’s a great turnout this year. The last couple of years it’s been a lot smaller. I’m glad to see so many people came this time. It’s probably because we aren’t playing opening weekend at home, though. Been a few years since that’s happened.”

The line continues to move forward.

“Maybe,” she muses, a hint of a smile perking the corner of her mouth up. “Ormaybeyou just have a good relationship with your team, and they wanted to share that with their loved ones.”

Her words strike a chord, and I grin like a fool. When she turns to grab a couple of plates for us, my eyes rove her body.

I can’t help it.

She’s too fucking sexy.

As she hands me a plate, I know I’ve been caught looking. Hailey doesn’t call me out on it though, and instead she smiles and glances at the ground before reaching over to grab us some forks.

But when her hand meets the basket where the plastic utensils are sitting, she accidentally knocks a few to the ground.

“Shoot,” she mutters, then a cold blast of fear sweeps through my bloodstream as she bends to pick them up, and a sickening thud penetrates through the open air as her head connects with the metal folding table.

CHAPTER EIGHT

A sharp pain radiates through my head as I straighten, abandoning the forks I accidentally dropped. My brows furrow as I try to regain my bearings, and I touch my fingertips to where it’s throbbing at my hairline.

When I pull them away, they’re covered in blood.

Sucking in a tight breath, I stare at them in disbelief before dragging my eyes back to Declan, who looks utterly horror-struck.

For a second, it seems like time stands still, then all of a sudden he springs into action. Grabbing a stack of napkins from the table, he uses them to apply pressure to my head and yells, “Where’s Doctor Waggoner?”

There’s a slight tremble of panic in his tone, and it sends my heart racing into a frenzy.

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