“Well, I put a doughnut hole in the bag for him.”
“Thank you. He’ll be sure to stop by and thank you later.”
Samira left us, and we started eating, our conversation pausing.
“Do you still love your ex-wife?” Antonia asked mid-bite. I choked at her question.
I pounded on my chest with my fist, clearing the clog, and then drank some water to hopefully guide my food down the right pipe.
“Sorry,” she said as she took a bite of the applewood-smoked bacon. “I shouldn’t have blurted that out while you were eating.”
“No, it’s fine. It just caught me off guard.” I took another sip and cleared my throat. “The answer is yes.”
“Oh.”
I shook my head. “Not in the way you may think, though. Brianna and I were high school sweethearts, stayed together through college, and married after she graduated. Part of me thinks if I hadn’t been injured, we’d still be married. This life”—I spread my arms out—“wasn’t for her, but that doesn’t mean I stopped loving her. But I’m not in love with her, and I haven’t been for quite some time. We’re friends. Nothing more.”
“Well, that’s good to know.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Why’s that?”
Her right shoulder lifted as she picked at her food. She looked at me with a sneaky little grin on her lips. “I don’t make it a habit of spending time with men who are in love with other women.”
I held my hands up and shook my head. “I only have my eyes and intentions set on one person, Antonia.”
She ducked her head, but not before I saw her smile grow wider. When she finally looked up, she said, “You’ll be patient?”
“As a saint,” I said, winking.
We finished breakfast and walked back to the house. Cutter, Nova, and Scout were in the same spot on the couch as they were when we’d left. Nova perked up, then scrambled off the couch when Antonia held up the bag of doughnuts.
“Gimme,” she said as she took the bag to the kitchen, with Scout following behind to catch any morsel she left for him. Antonia followed her into the kitchen, leaving me in the hall with a conundrum. Go sit with Cutter or trail behind the girls into the kitchen. I heard Carmela in the kitchen and made my choice.
“Mind if I sit?”
Cutter shook his head and adjusted so he wasn’t sprawled out. He turned the volume down on the TV.
“What are you watching?”
“Recaps from yesterday’s college games.”
“Almost time for March Madness.”
“Best time leading into spring,” he said, laughing. “Outside of baseball season.”
I laughed right along with him. “I know we have one basketball game left, but since you brought it up, I’d like to start throwing on Wednesday,” I said to him. “This gives you one day to do nothing. I know it’s not a lot of downtime, but I’d like to work on your curve before the season starts.”
Cutter had a hint of excitement in his eyes. “What about the weight room?”
“Next week. Aside from throwing, we’ll give your body a rest.”
Cutter nodded toward the other room. “Did you talk to Toni about summer ball?”
“I did. Everything’s taken care of for basketball and baseball.”
“That’s good. I really need to try for a scholarship.”
With that statement, I made a mental note to reach out to some of my colleagues and see what I could do to get Cutter some looks. It’d been on my mind for a while, and there was no better time to act than now. Cutter and Malik, regardless of his situation, deserved a shot to play in college, and if I could help in some way, I would.
