“Love you too, Gwen. Thanks for being such a good girl this year.”
She slid off his lap with stars in her eyes. I nodded at Garrett, impressed at his performance. The guy was a walking contradiction, but he was great with kids, especially mine.
“Oh! Cake! I want some!” Gwen beelined for the dessert table.
“No, hon.” I picked up Gwen before she bulldozed her way into getting some. She was cute and manipulative. One littlepleaseand anyone would crumble.
“Dinner first. Then yummies.”
“I want yummy now.”
“I hear you, but dinner is first.” I set her on the chair next to Charlotte. Penny, Christian, and their parents were also at the table, but they were still walking around and mingling with guests. So it was the three of us.
I ran a hand through my hair, unsure how to proceed. I knew two things. The first—I loved Charlotte and wanted a life with her. The second—I fucked up making the wrong decision and pushing her away. My choice had her questioning point one though, so I had to make that right.
How did I do that when she wouldn’t even look at me? She stared at the tablecloth, her fingers twisting together as regret clawed at my chest. I had to find something to say toease this tension. It was the worst. I missed our easy banter, the way she made me laugh at her jokes. Not being on speaking terms was more painful than everything. “So, are you ready for your speech?”
“Yes.” She flicked her gaze toward me but then away. Her brother walked up, a ridiculously happy smile on his face. Char nodded. “Hey, Christian.”
“Hey, Char, Porter. My girl Gwennie.” He bent down and held out his knuckles. She bumped them right away. Standing, he jutted his chin toward his sister. “Did Char tell you the news?”
“What news?” I said too fast. The tension from earlier doubled, and I gripped the table for support. Every worst-case scenario popped in my head. She was moving across the world… She brought a date… She…
“I was offered the head softball position for the junior high today.” She smiled, tracing her finger over the tablecloth as she met my gaze. Pride swirled in her eyes.
“Char,” I said, my mouth parting. I wanted to yank her into my arms and hug her, kiss her senseless, and tell her how fucking proud I was. The silence went on a beat too long, and both she and Christian stared at me funny. “That’s so awesome. Congrats.”
“Yeah. I couldn’t believe it. Mitch said I impressed him during the interview, so he wanted to hire me to run the summer program and really influence young girls in the community. It might not be the high school level, but still, this is amazing.”
“I am so proud of you.” My voice dropped low as I envisioned helping her. I could go over practice plans with her. Icould keep stats for her during the season, if she wanted. But all of that only made sense if she’d forgive me. That sobered up my derailing thoughts.
“We all are.” Penny joined our table as she narrowed her eyes at me. Shit. She knew that I had let Charlotte down. Then she said, “Char deserves the world for how wonderful she is. Don’t you agree, Hayden?”
“Penny,” Char whispered, her face blushing again.
I waited for her gaze to meet mine. Her blush spread to her neck, and she twisted her lips together. I spoke slowly and intentionally. “I am proud of you, but you should feel proud of yourself. You impressed the AD so much that you got an offer for a job you never applied for. This is huge, and I am so happy for you and that community. It might be different than what you planned originally, but you earned this.”
“Thanks, Hayden. I do feel really proud. Thanks again for your help.” She grinned, but it didn’t last long before she leaned toward Penny. I felt Christian staring at me, and when I glanced at him, he jutted his chin toward the bar.
I frowned.
“I want my best man for a drink. Come on. The ladies will watch Gwen.”
“Of course we will,” Penny said, more curt than normal. That meant one thing—Christian knew. Penny told him. He was going to tell me to stay the hell away from Charlotte.
My throat ached with emotion. This wasn’t how I had envisioned this conversation. I wanted to wait until wecould tell him together, and he could see how happy I made her.
Christian dug his fingers into my shoulder. Yup. He knew.
“Do we need to head outside for this?” I asked, resigned to my fate.
“What? No? It’s cold as shit. I want a drink.”
He ordered two shots of tequila. We did them, and then he sighed. “I love you, man.”
“Yeah, uh, you too.” My neck burned.
“No. I love you. Feelings are weird for you, I get it. But this is a kind of love that stays forever. No matter what. You feel me?”
