Page 93 of Make Me Trust Again
That gets her attention. She blinks, her focus shifting to her son.“Why don’t you play with your friends and let Mr. Williams hang out with the adults?”
Kyle stubbornly shakes his head.“No, Chase came to hang out with me.”
“Kyle…”She crouches down and places her hand on his shoulder as if to bring him down gently.
“It’s fine. I don’t mind doing it.”
Rose glances at me, surprise evident in her blue eyes. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I know I don’t have to. I want to.”
As the words leave my mouth, I realize they’re the truth. I don’t mind hanging out with Kyle. He’s a good kid, and somehow, he’s managed to sneak under my skin. Just the fact that I willingly came here is a testament to that.
It scares the living crap out of me—both of them do—and yet, I can’t bring myself to push them away, no matter how hard I try.
You don’t deserve them. You know you’ll only end up disappointing them, just like everyone else.
The words ring in my head, that buzzing feeling grows louder in my ears, dulling all the other sounds, but before the panic can fully set in, Kyle turns to me. Those blue eyes that are so much like his mother’s staring right at me with the trust only a kid can have in you. Somebody who wasn’t aware just how badly you’ve screwed up, how unworthy you are of the trust they put in you.
One day, he’ll find out.
But today isn’t that day.
And selfishly, for once, I just want tobe.
Blinking to clear my vision, I find Rose watching me. There’s something in her eyes that I don’t know how to name. She pushes to her feet, wrapping her arms around her middle. “Okay, then.”
Kyle slips his fingers around mine and tugs me forward. “Let’s go, Chase.”
“Touchdown!”
I watch as Kyle fist bumps with Levi in the makeshift end zone, celebrating their victory. Well, I guess it’s our victory.
Over lunch, Emmett and Miguel got into a discussion about how they usually play football during the summers when they’re at the lake like this, and when the boys heard it, there was no stopping them from wanting to be included, which somehow ended with me having to join them.
All three of the Fernandez boys, plus Emmett, against Blake, his son Levi, Kyle, and me.
“That’s how you do it, good job, you guys!” Blake hollers, a big smile on his face, as he turns to me and extends his hand. “You’re not too shabby, Williams.”
I slide my hand into his. “Not nearly as good as the rest of you.”
A hand slams against my shoulders from the back, startling me. “—It’ll get into his thick head,” Miguel grumbles as he slides next to me and shoots me a grin. “I see you still have it in you, Chase.”
Blake’s brows shoot up in surprise. “Wait, he played?”
I rub the back of my neck. “I don’t think playing peewee football counts.”
Miguel rolls his eyes. “He was actually pretty good, played all the way to middle school, but…” He catches himself at the very last second and shakes his head. “It was more than just peewee.”
Just then, a small body crashes into my legs. I look down to find Kyle grinning up at me. “Did you see that touchdown, Chase?”
“I did. That was a really good catch, bud.”
If possible, his grin grows even wider. “Right? Levi threw the ball really hard, but I caught it, and then I ran really fast.”
“The fastest. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anybody run that fast.”
Kyle beams at the praise, and the next thing I know, his arms wrap around my middle, giving me a squeeze. “Thank you for playing. I had so much fun.”
