Page 161 of Over the Line

She waved a hand and shook her head. “No, it’s fine.”

“Okay.” To me, he said, “Can you get me one?”

“Of course. Back in a minute.” Then I ducked out. I walked down the hall to the area by the elevators, which was empty. There, I paused for a slow, deep breath, startled by how relieved I was to have a moment to myself. I was more than happy to be here as a support person for Chris and Jasmine, but it was stressful.

Taking a break and talking to Liam sounded like exactly what the doctor ordered.

So I took another deep breath, smiled to myself, and sent the FaceTime request.

CHAPTER 37

LIAM

“Hey,” I said when Garrett appeared onscreen. “How are you doing? How’s Jasmine?”

“Everyone’s good.” He ran a hand through his hair, fatigue rolling off him in waves. “It’s been a long night, that’s for sure.”

“I can imagine.” I sat on the edge of my hotel bed. “And Chris made it?”

Smiling, Garrett nodded. “Yeah. He’s with her right now.”

“Good. He was freaking out when he realized she’d gone into labor while he was gone.”

“I know. He’s a lot calmer now that he’s here, and so is she.”

“I bet.”

“And, um, I really appreciate the team’s help. Getting him onto a flight that fast.”

“They’ve got it down to an art form. I swear we have at least one guy every year who has to take off mid-road trip or mid-game because his wife’s in labor.” I shrugged. “Comes with the territory, I guess.”

Garrett whistled. “I think the stress would kill me. I was at work when Chris’s mom went into labor with Nick, and it only took me maybe an hour to get to the hospital. I still almost had a damn heart attack. Being halfway across the country?” He grimaced. “That would’ve dropped me.”

“Glad he made it, then. How’s Jasmine doing, anyway?”

“She’s a trooper.” He grimaced. “I watched Chris’s mom do this four times, and watching Jasmine has not changed my stance—moms are way stronger than I could ever be.”

“No kidding,” I said with a laugh. “Like I said a while back, I don’t know how they do it.”

“Well, I mean, once things get started, there isn’t much to do except get through it, you know?”

“Okay, fair, but still. I’d be asking for every drug known to man six months before I got there.”

“Me too. Seriously.” He blew out a breath and raked a hand through his hair again. “She’ll be all right, though. The staff says everything looks good so far, so fingers crossed it stays that way.”

“Fingers definitely crossed.” I paused. “How are you doing? That has to be a lot.”

“I’m…” Garrett’s eyes lost focus, and the fatigue showed as he slowly pushed out a breath. Meeting my gaze again, he said, “It’s pretty overwhelming. And I just keep thinking, I came so close to missing it, you know? Because of how things were with Chris?”

I nodded. “Yeah. But don’t dwell on that—you’ve got him back. You’re there. Don’t let the past wreck it, right?”

“No, no, it’s not wrecking it. I just keep, I don’t know—I keep catching myself thinking, holy shit, I could’ve missed all this. It’s not a dark cloud or anything. Just… gratitude, I guess? Relief?”

“That makes sense. I’m glad you were able to be there. In your son’s life, and also… there.”

His tired smile was adorable. “Yeah. Me too.”

“How does it feel, anyway? Becoming a grandfather?”