“No, I didn’t, but you know I’ve always been a daddy’s girl.”
I huff. I wouldn’t classify Penelope as a daddy’s girl. She just never feels like she can tell him no. Those are two different things.
“Thanks for doing all this for the team.”
Lame. So fucking lame. Come on, Decker, you can do better than this.
“And me,” I add, and she grows quiet once again.
“Decker?”
I sit on the bed, not thinking about having to pack my suitcase and get to breakfast before we play our last game here.
“Yeah?”
“I’m trying to make this as un-awkward as possible, but I’m not sure this is going to work. Maybe we just stick to texting.”
One thing I’ve always admired about Penelope is her ability to be straightforward. She doesn’t hide behind her emotions. She faces them—whereas I push them as far back as they’ll go.
“It’s really hard.” I allow my vulnerability to show with her for the first time since we’ve reconnected. “You’re not just someone I’m coordinating events with. You’re…”
She allows the pregnant pause, and I don’t fill it because I’m not sure how to.
“Yeah, well, Hazel is calling me, so I need to go.”
“Wait…”
She says nothing, but she doesn’t hang up. That has to be a good sign.
“I know you have a lot on your plate. Let me help you. I can plan things too.”
Again, there’s a long pause, and I watch the seconds tick by on my phone screen.
“You have more on your plate than I do. Just be at the park on time and make sure all your teammates are in attendance. I really have to go, Decker… good luck today. Bye.”
This time she hangs up before I can even say goodbye. I sit there for a second.
My hand clenches around the phone, and I toss it in the chair, annoyed with myself for even calling.
I’m such a moron. Like she would say yes, come on over, and then make me dinner like she used to. We’d reconnect over whatever she has in the fridge and discover that pull between us is too strong to fight, and then Hazel would go to bed, and we’d make out on the couch like we were twenty again and none of the years have passed.
Come back down to earth. That is never going to be your life.
A knock lands on the door. I cross the room and open it to find Foster on the other side.
“Jesus, I do not need to see you half naked first thing in the morning.” He glances at the towel I have around my waist. “Get dressed, I’m starved.”
Foster has never once come to my room, nor have we eaten breakfast together unless he was already there with Hayes or someone else.
My forehead creases. “Why are you here?”
“We need to talk.”
Chapter
Seventeen
Decker
