Page 55 of Stealing Home

“That’s not what I asked, and you know it.”

Dom’s jaw tightened.

CJ didn’t back down, but his voice softened. “It doesn’t make you a bad father if the answer is yes.”

Dom looked toward Lucia. She was completely oblivious to the conversation happening across the room, her attention fixed on the mobile spinning lazily above her. He loved her more than he had ever understood was possible. There wasn’t a single part of his life he wouldn’t rearrange for her. Nothing he wouldn’t give him if she needed him to. But for those few seconds in Gavin’s arms, he’d wanted something for himself. And when she’d cried, some small, selfish part of him had wanted just one more minute before he had to let it go. He turned back to the stove and stirred the sauce once before finally looking at CJ.

“Fine. Yes.” He exhaled. “For a split second, I wished she hadn’t woken up.”

CJ only nodded. There was no judgment or reassurance Dom hadn’t asked for.

“So,” he said after a moment. “Is it possible that the only thing Gavin knows for sure is that you kissed him, panicked, and then apologized?”

“Fuck.” Dom dropped the spoon onto the rest beside the stove and scrubbed both hands over his face. “I thought I explained it. I thought he understood I wasn’t sorry about…” He gestured vaguely between himself and absolutely nothing. “That. But maybe I didn’t. Maybe I was so busy making sure he knew I couldn’t give him anything that I made it sound like I don’t want him.”

“Maybe,” CJ agreed.

Dom groaned. “That’s worse.”

“A little, yeah.”

“Thanks.” Dom rolled his eyes.

“You want me to lie?”

“Yes,” Dom said emphatically. He sighed and shook his head. “No.”

CJ smiled and opened the bread, tearing off a piece before Dom could tell him to wait for dinner.

Dom watched him take a bite. “I don’t know how to do any of this.”

“Probably not,” CJ said. He popped the rest of the bread chunk into his mouth.

“Incredibly helpful.”

CJ swallowed before he continued, “Avoiding him isn’t making it easier. It’s just making you miserable.”

“Yeah,” Dom said morosely.

“Listen.” CJ tore off another piece of bread, and Dom glared at him before moving the bread out of his reach. “You strike out all the time during games.”

“Hey!” Dom protested.

CJ laughed. “But you always get another at-bat.”

Dom rolled his eyes to try to hide how much CJ’s words struck a nerve. He wasn’t wrong. As ballplayers, they almost always got another at-bat. It didn’t guarantee a home run, or even a hit, but it did mean another chance.

The front door opened before CJ could add anything else, and they heard Evan calling their names.

“Please tell me that tastes as good as it smells,” he said, striding into the kitchen. He slid a white pastry box onto the island. “I stopped and got cannoli.”

“You were supposed to bring wine,” CJ reminded him.

“I brought wine too.” Evan held up the bottle in his other hand. “I’m capable of multitasking.”

“I know you think you are.”

Evan leaned over to shut CJ up with a kiss before crossing to Lucia. “How’s my favorite girl?”