Page 123 of Over the Line

Chris shrugged innocently. “At least we didn’t hit the only light pole in a deserted parking lot.”

“Oh my God.” I let my face fall into my hands. “Don’t remind me.”

He snickered. “What about the time⁠—”

“All right, you.” I shot him a playful scowl. “Don’t make me contact the DMV and tell them to reconsider letting you drive.”

He met me with an equally playful challenging look. “Is that before or after I tell them about the time you hit a patch of black ice and took out three mailboxes while you were lecturing me about avoiding black ice?”

I huffed and rolled my eyes.

“That’s what I thought. Anyway, it’s getting late.” He pushed himself to his feet. “I’m going to grab a shower.”

As soon as I was alone, I lay back on my bed and swore. I was glad we’d had this talk, and I felt better about a lot of things now that we’d put them out there. I would never in a million years atone for causing my kids as much stress and heartache as I had. I hurt them, and they had a right to their feelings. All I could do was apologize and do better going forward. I was grateful that three of my four kids had been willing to give me that opportunity.

Giving Chris some reassurance before he embarked into fatherhood—that helped, I thought. Made me feel like there was less distance between us, and that maybe he really didn’t resent me like he had before. It gave me a lot of hope I hadn’t had before.

The one thing I didn’t feel better about was Liam.

Everything we had was amazing, but the secrecy had been weighing on me for a while. The closer I got to Liam, the worse I felt about keeping this under our hats. And the closer I got to Chris again, the worse I felt about hiding anything from him.

I didn’t want to let Liam go. I wanted to believe we could find some way to come out and make this work. The way I felt about him—that wasn’t my libido or a fleeting crush. I had a connection with Liam. The kind of connection I’d never had with anyone. I’d loved my ex-wife, but after just a few weeks with Liam, I was understanding on a far more profound level just how incompatible I’d been with her.

But what if my relationship with Liam jeopardized all this progress I’d made with Chris?

And what if I fucked things up enough to lose both my son and the man I couldn’t help but love?

CHAPTER 31

LIAM

We’d won our first two games on the dads’ trip. Nashville had been a bloodbath, and we’d stomped them 7-1. Minneapolis was a tougher fight, ending in regulation at 2-2 and going to a four-round shootout that Craws won with a dagger of a shot.

Now we were in Houston. We’d flown in yesterday, and we’d play tomorrow night. Morale was high. The dads were having a blast.

And I was losing my damned mind.

Being this close to Garrett—on the same planes, in the same hotels—without being able to touch him was torture. I didn’t even care if we couldn’t have sex. Yeah, I was horny as hell for him, but that wasn’t what had me climbing the walls. I missed his soft touches. His arms around me. The way he’d smile at me like I was the only thing in his world before pressing his lips to mine. Just… sitting with his arm around me while we watched hockey.

By the time we were back from dinner that evening, I couldn’t handle it anymore.

I’m going down to the parking garage in 5 minutes. Elevator to sub-3.

My heart pounded as I stepped into the elevator. I had no idea if or how he’d respond. For all I knew, I was going down to the parking garage to stand around alone like a dumbass. Or he’d come in and ask to know what the fuck I was thinking.

Or… shit. What if I’d inadvertently given him “we need to talk” vibes? Damn it. I hadn’t meant to make him anxious or⁠—

My phone pinged.

As the elevator sank into the lower levels, I checked the screen.

Garrett

Be there in 10.

My heart thundered now. I hoped he’d read between the lines I’d intended and didn’t think this was going to be an argument or a confrontation.

Or… what if he was coming down here to confront me? It was irrational and I knew it. He hadn’t telegraphed anything over the past few days besides friendliness peppered with longing. I had no reason to believe this was going to go sideways.