Page 51 of Penance
He slaps me on the back and smirks. “Well, I’d suggest talking to God about it, but we both know what you’ll say.”
I quirk a brow but remain silent, waiting to see if he will expound.
Hayes sighs as if I’m exhausting. “You think that until you pay your penance for not being in Tanner’s life, God isn’t going to want much to do with you. You’re punishing yourself, but you’re wrong. Someone already paid it for you.”
Bitterness oozes from me, mad that he knows that. But he’s the one who is wrong. I have a lot of things I still need to pay for. “Do you talk to my kid about God?”
“Look, Theo,” Hayes says, his eyes turning serious. “I’m not trying to step on your toes with Tanner. You’re his dad, and that won’t change. But my dad will tell you—it takes a village to raise a kid. I don’t have a kid of my own yet. One day. And when that one day comes, I want a village. I’m just trying to be part of yours. Okay?”
Jealousy is hard to overcome when someone has what you want the most, and with Hayes, that’s his relationship with Tanner. But I’m trying to be a better man, so I reluctantly nod and look away so I don’t have to see the smug satisfaction on his face.
“So—” Hayes says, changing the topic, “I couldn’t help but notice you walked in with a certain principal today—and I heard some people say you looked a little cozy together in the parking lot.”
“Who’d you hear that from?” I ask, keeping my voice neutral. I knew this would happen. It’s what we wanted to happen. Fake dating isn’t good for anything if people don’t see you—and yet, an irrationalpart of me wanted that moment between Lily and me to be just that. Between us.
Hayes shrugs again. “I’m part of the Benton Falls Gossipers.”
My brows furrow. “What is that?”
Hayes’s smirk grows wider. “A group chat Silas made. I’ll add you to it.”
“Please don’t,” I say, leaving him behind as I walk toward center field to meet with the coaches from the other team.
Being a part of this town’s gossip is the last thing I need.
Chapter 17
Theo
When I walk to the parking lot, Lily is sitting on the tailgate of my truck. Her long legs are crossed, showing off her tan. She has her eyes closed and her chin tilted up to the sky. The sun is starting to set behind her, and the whole picture looks so serene that it stops me in my tracks.
“Take a picture,” Lily says, not opening her eyes. “It’ll last longer.”
She says it sarcastically, but if my phone wasn’t dead, that’s exactly what I’d do.
“Hopeless,” I say, walking to the truck and throwing my bag in the back beside her. The front of my legs brush against hers, and her eyes flash open. Heat burns behind her irises as she watches me. I’m caught in a trap that sucks all the oxygen out of the air.But why does a man need air when he has Lily?“I see you sharpened your tongue during the game.”
Her lips pull up into a slow smile, sending off warnings, but I’ve always been one to run headfirst into danger.
“Sharp enough to cut a man,” she says, and I must be insane because I like the way she makes me bleed.
Lily never holds back, and that’s part of what I like about her. She’s not afraid to speak her mind and put me in my place when I need it.
“Of that I have no doubt, hopeless.” Tapping the side of her knee, Imotion for her to scoot over and climb up to sit on the truck with her. Our arms are still touching, but at least I can breathe.
“So, that game didn’t go well.”
A huff of laughter is pulled from my chest. Shereallydoesn’t pull her punches.
“No, it did not.”
“Why?”
“Because I have no idea what I’m doing.”
In anything.
My son. Coaching. Lily. I’m just winging it all, juggling balls when I don’t know how.
