Page 2 of Coach Me
The spark comes back to Miles’s eyes. “I asked Daddy to throw a ball like he used to do, but then Will said he couldn’t. That wasn’t true because he threwfasterthan Will did.”
“Oh, he did now?” Callie chuckles.
“By one mile per hour,” Will tacks on, but that small detail doesn’t register with Miles.
“One day, I’m going to throw as fast as him so we can get married, Callie!”
Callie quirks an eyebrow. “Hmm, so throwing a ball is a marriage proposal now?”
If I hadn’t been looking at Will, I would have missed the small glint that appeared in his eyes. Man’s gone for Callie, so I have a feeling Miles just gave his competition the best idea.
Will shakes Miles’s shoulders lightly. “Miles, I appreciate your game, but I’ve got to get Callie home. I’ll warn you now, if you do steal her away, the girl gets hangry.”
Callie crosses her arms then shrugs. “Eh, we’re not all perfect.”
“I think you are.” Miles launches at Callie, hugging her waist.
Damn, my kid’s smooth.
“I’m in for so much trouble when he gets older, aren’t I?”
“I think so.” Callie gives a pouty smile as she embraces Miles’s hug.
Will watches with amusement for a moment before reaching for Miles’s shoulders again. “Shi—Geez, Casanova. You’re giving me a run for my money.”
Miles looks up at Will with a smirk, “It’s all a part of the plan.”
“You guys go, we’ll lock up.” I tug Miles to me before Will has to take him outside for all his attempts at Callie.
“Thanks, Dex.” Callie waves on their way out. “Bye, Miles!”
“Bye, Callie!” he hollers back with a huge smile.
When the door shuts, I squeeze Miles’s shoulders. “Come on, bud, why don’t you grab that ball over there and we can head home.”
“Okay, Dad!”
Miles zooms over to the left side of the field to grab the ball, calling out what he was doing as if he were actually playing in a real ball game. “Larsen makes a diving catch…and he gets the ball!”
I chuckle to myself as he does a victory dance and continues on with his imaginary glory. After making sure all the equipment is locked up, I call for my MVP and wait for him to race out in the hall before turning off the big stadium lights in the training arena.
“Dad,” Miles starts with an inquisitive tone.Oh great, these are always interesting.“Is Mommy coming home for dinner tonight?”
Fuck. Someone stab me in the heart. It’d fucking hurt less.
“No, bud, she’s not.” The pure ache in my chest threatens to fill me with rage. Miles’s questions about his mom’s sudden departure have happened less and less over these past few months, but they kill me every time. “If you want, we can try to call her before you go to bed?”
Miles purses his lips, but tears don’t come—and for that I’m thankful. As much as I don’t want to see my ex-wife, ifMiles wants to see her, I’d drive my sorryass all the way across town to her condo if it meant making him happy.
“Okay, yeah, I want to call her.” Miles looks down at the ground for a brief moment, then, as if he put springs in his shoes, he bounces all the way to the front door.
Oh, to have that mental recovery time. I may not have been too heartbroken when Kate asked for a divorce last year, but seeing the effect it’s had on Miles…that fucking kills me.
It’s been six months since our divorce was finalized. It had to have gone down as one of the easiest divorce filings ever, I’m sure of it. Kate and I were never really this major love match; we were casually dating for a couple of months while she was in law school. Neither of us was really looking for anything serious, but that all changed when the double pink lines showed up on that stick.
We were careless and neither of us handled the shock of it all very well. Getting married shotgun-style was our first mistake. I’m man enough to own that it was more my fault than hers. My mom put a lot of pressure on us, and while I knew deep down that we weren’t in love, I let that pressure push me too.
I can’t fault Kate for not wanting to stay together, but her not wanting more than a weekend a month with Miles grates at my willpower. I know kids weren’t a part of her plan, and I respected that in the beginning. Having Miles was completely her choice—after that was where I started fucking up and talking about marriage.
