“Set - hut!”
My arm moves before my brain can second-guess my actions, and I intentionally overthrow the ball, missing Brody, and it hits Aaron right in the face.
His head snaps sideways, his clipboard flies from his hand, and skids across the turf.
And then I see Aston barreling into him, and he hits the ground hard.
For half a second, the entire field goes silent.
The grass blurs beneath my cleats as the distance between us shrinks.
Then chaos erupts.
Shouting. Whistles. Cleats pounding.
Someone behind me calls my name.
“Pitz!”
I don’t stop.
Aaron looks up when my shadow falls over him, his hand covering the eye I hit.
His expression flickers from pain to confusion to recognition.
“Liam—”
I hold my hand out for him to take. “My bad. Ball gets a little slippery sometimes.”
For a split second, I see Sera again. The way she clung to Alie’s leg when she first saw me. The way her voice sounded when she said Daddy like she’d been waiting her whole life for it.
All the time I should have had with her.
Gone.
Because of him.
The last thread of my restraint snaps, and I let go before he can stand, making him fall again.
“Jesus, Liam!” Presley yells, then bends down to look at Aaron’s face.
Aston grabs my arms, holding me back before I can lunge forward.
“Pitz, what the hell!” Saint comes running up to us.
But my chest is heaving, adrenaline roaring through my veins.
“You lying son of a bitch!” I shout.
Aaron pushes himself up onto one elbow, snatching a towel from Presley’s hand, eye already puffy and blood blooming along his lip as he stares at me in stunned disbelief. “I don’t know what Alie told you. That woman is a liar.”
“Excuse me,” Presley says and stands with her hands on her hips, outraged.
I lean down and grip him by the collar. “Utter Alie’s name one more time and I’ll end you.”
“Liam I?—”
“You told her I didn’t want my daughter!” My voice cracks through the air, louder than I intend. “You let her believe that!”
