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“I might have done something this morning,” he continued, finally raising his gaze to mine. “Overstepped a little. And I shouldn’t have.”
My lungs locked down, and no matter how hard I tried to suck in a full breath, it was like trying to breathe through an opening the size of a pinhead.
Fucking fuck a duck, this was it. I was screwed.
“Okay,” I whispered. “What did you do?”
Ian clenched his jaw, and beneath the dark hair of his beard, I saw the muscles bunch.
But before he could answer, the door to the house burst open, and Sage rushed in, her eyes wide and cheeks flushed with excitement. “Mom, I’m starting on the indoor flag football team! We have practice next week!”
I was out of my chair in an instant, standing just as she flung herself into my arms. “What? How?” I asked. “I thought they didn’t let girls on the team?”
Her arms were so tight around my middle, I laughed when I couldn’t take a full breath. I kissed the top of her head, my eyes pricking with happy tears when I got a look at her face as she finally pulled back. Sage’s eyes were glossy, bright with excitement, and overwhelmed with emotion.
As she tried to compose herself, my eyes drifted to Ian, and he sat back in his chair, legs spread, smile pleased. It deepened as I held his stare.
He was so happy too.
A million little wings exploded in the pit of my stomach, fluttering and flapping dangerously because it felt like such a family moment that it almost knocked me to my knees.
I broke the stare and cupped Sage’s face in my hands. “I’m so happy for you, honey. What happened?”
She looked over at the man sitting quietly at the table. “Ian happened.”
My mouth hung open. “What?”
“That’s what I was going to tell you,” he said quietly. Then he stood, holding out his fist toward Sage. “Congrats, kiddo. You’re going to do great. Now you’ve got to prove to him it was the right call.”
She nodded frantically. “I will.” Sage unwound her arms from around my stomach and walked to him, bypassing the fist and going straight for a hug. Her eyes were pinched shut as he laughed and gently set his big hands on her back and patted a little awkwardly.
I covered my mouth to hide my smile.
“Thank you,” Sage said. “You either scared the shit out of him or used all my notes or something.”
“Sage,” I said.
Ian tried to cover his laugh with a cough as Sage pulled away, tucking her hair behind her ears as she gave me an apologetic look. “Sorry. I’m just so excited.” She bounced up and down, letting out a little scream. “I need to go … run around the house or something!”
I shook my head with a grin. “Go for it. Do you have a practice schedule for me?”
“Coach said he’d email it today,” she said over her shoulder, taking the steps two at a time as she pounded up the stairs.
As soon as I heard her bedroom door slam, I whirled. “What did you do?”
He held his hands up. “I didn’t threaten him.”
I crossed my arms. “Then why does Sage think you scared the shit out of him?”
Ian grimaced.
And the proverbial light bulb clicked on over my head. “This is why you were worried you’d overstepped?”
He nodded. “I didn’t…” He paused, reconsidering his words. “I was just going to stand in the hallway for support because she was so nervous about talking to him.”
I sighed. “I knew I should have pushed harder to email him or call or something first.” Then I narrowed my eyes. “Was he mean to her?”
“No,” he answered cautiously. “He wasn’t mean. But her nerves got the best of her, and she was fumbling her words. He was a little dismissive, maybe.”
