Page 116 of Stealing Home

“You don’t know why he’s having a bad game,” his father said quietly.

Gavin stared at the screen. “I know.”

“Gavin.”

“I know, Dad.” He swallowed. “But everything I did yesterday didn’t help.”

His father didn’t argue, and Gavin didn’t know if that made him feel better or worse. The broadcast moved on, and Gavin made himself watch until the last out, hoping for another glimpse of Dom. When the game ended in a Barracuda loss, he allowed himself to check his phone. There was a message waiting.

Dom

Around 6 is fine. Let me know when you’re close.

Gavin

I will. Thank you.

He exhaled and looked at his dad. “He’s willing to see me tomorrow.”

“Good.” His dad clapped him on the back. “Don’t fuck it up.”

Gavin huffed a laugh, then stood and went to pack.

By six the next morning, his mother had packed enough food for three people and his father had checked the truck’s oil. Gavin stood beside the driver’s door while his mother handed him a travel mug of coffee.

She hugged him tightly. “Call me when you get there.”

“I will.”

His father waited until she stepped back, then pulled Gavin in for a hug. “Love you, son.”

Gavin held on for an extra second. “Love you too.”

Before starting the truck, he sent Dom a message to say he was leaving. No answer came before he backed out, but it was early. He put the phone in its holder and turned toward the highway.

The drive was even worse in daylight when he could see every mile he’d traveled to run away. Town names passed overhead, and he recognized the exit where he’d stopped for gas on the way north and kept driving. Every few miles, he caught himself preparing what he would say when Dom opened the door. He tried starting with Talia, then stopped. He’d barely spoken to her. It wouldn’t be fair to drag her into his groveling.

He considered starting with Ethan and how he hadn’t realized how damaged he actually was, but all he could hear was Dom’s voice instead. Gavin loosened his hands on the wheel. This wasn’t hard. He needed to start with an apology. Then he needed to let Dom talk.

At his first stop, he checked his phone before getting out to fill the tank.

Dom

Drive safe

He read it again standing beside the pump, the sun warming the back of his neck. There was so little in those two words, and he wanted them to mean so much more. He put the phone away before he could turn them into a promise Dom hadn’t made. Later, he ate one of his mother’s sandwiches at a rest stop and walked until his back loosened up.

Traffic slowed him down as he got farther south. He stayed in his lane, watching the estimated arrival time creep later. There had been no reason to rush north, and he’d driven as though there were. Now he had somewhere he needed to be, and it was a sea of brake lights in front of him. When he stopped for gas again, he sent Dom an updated time.

Gavin

Ran into traffic. ETA is just after 6:30, if that’s okay?

The answer came before the gas finished pumping.

Dom

Yes.