He practically spat out the last word, and I reached out and grabbed his collar. My father might be a large man, but I had an inch or two on him, and my youth gave me an advantage. “I warned you once. Don’t make me repeat myself. Say one more word about Kinsley or our daughter, and I’ll end you, old man.”
For the first time in my life, my dad looked remorseful, but it faded quickly, replaced but that cold indifference he wielded like a weapon. “I’m just looking out for you, Jace. You can’t afford to be distracted right now, not by some woman and especially not by a kid. You need to be focused on the game, not playing house in the slums,” he motioned to Kinsley. “She’s going to ruin you, son.”
My hands curled into a fist, ready to strike, but Kinsley’s fingers tightened, a silent reminder she was there for me. Her dark eyes met mine, pulling me back to her and what mattered most. Hitting my dad, as deserved as it might be, would only mess up my hand, possibly my career. I shoved him back from us. “Of course you’d see it that way.”
“What?”
“That you’d think that this—” I pulled Kinsley’s hand off my arm and intertwined our fingers, “makes me weak. God, no wonder Mom left you. Did you even try to love her?”
“Don’t you dare?—”
“I almost feel bad for you.Almost. Because loving Kinsley—loving our daughter—isn’t a weakness, Dad, it’s everything. She makes me stronger, more focused.”
Today, knowing she was out there watching, I played harder than I had in my life. When I went out on that field, every time I made a play, it was all for her and Anna, to make them proud. Kinsley turned, staring up at me with such adoration, giving me the courage to continue. “Baseball might be your life, but it’s not mine. It’s my job, and yeah, I fucking love it, but if it ended tomorrow, I’d be okay. Because I have my family.”
I twisted my head to stare down at the woman who’d changed everything for me. My family—that would be my legacy. I didn’t need anything else. Over the years, I’d seen my name in lights, heard hundreds of people chanting my name, but none of that would ever compare to being with Kinsley, raising our daughter together.
Color drained from my dad’s face, and he searched my gaze as if he finally saw me. Well, it was too fucking late for that. He opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off. “We’re done, Dad. I don’t want to hear from you again. My life is none of your business anymore. Stay away from me, Kinsley, and especially our daughter.””
My dad stepped forward, his own hands clenching. “You can’t just cut me out of your life, Jace. You’re my son.”
“Yeah, but that’s my burden to bear.” I released Kinsley’s hand, taking a step closer to him. “But know this: if you ever come near my family again, I will destroy you. That image you’ve treasured for so long? I’ll ruin it, take any good will this league has toward you and turn it to dust. Just try me.”
My father’s mouth gaped open, and he fumbled for words, but I was done trying to appease him. I turned, giving him my back as I stroked my fingers down Kinsley’s cheek. “You grabbed Anna’s toy?” She nodded, and my shoulders finally relaxed. Ipulled her hand to my lips and kissed her knuckles. “Then let’s go home.”
FORTY-TWO
Hours later, we sat on Jace’s couch, unable to sleep after our conversation with his dad. The TV droned on in the background, but neither of us paid it any mind, just sitting in silence as we played through the evening’s events. Jace’s fingers stroked idly through my hair, but he only stared out the window.
When we first got home, he walked directly into Anna’s room and spent almost fifteen minutes staring at her asleep in her crib. Her stuffed hawk sat in the corner, but neither of us woke her, not when she snored softly with a slight smile on her lips.
Eventually, I took his hand and pulled him out of the room, settling us on the couch, where we remained. The longer we sat here, the more my mind raced with possibilities, unsure how to bridge the divide between us.
“I’m sorry,” I muttered.
Jace shifted to face me, the blankness now gone from his features. Instead, cold fury replaced it as he took my hand. His knuckles whitened as his hands turned to fists. “You have nothing,nothing, to apologize for Kinsley. If anything, I should apologize to you.”
“For what?”
“For bringing my dad into your life. He’s always been demanding, cold, but when I saw him standing over you…” Jace’s jaw tightened, and he stood, stalking the length of the living room. “He never should have gotten to you like that.”
“That wasn’t your fault,” I whispered.
“Of course it is,” he bit back. “He’s my father. My blood. And then he tried…” His words cut off with a dry scoff. “I thought it I just ignored him, he’d back off, but for him to know about you…about Anna?”
“Hey…” I jumped up, stepping into his path. His blue eyes flared as my hands pressed to his chest, feeling the thunderous pulse beneath his chest. “Don’t do this to yourself. To us. Your dad is the only one responsible for his actions. You can’t take on his failings.”
Jace shook his head, but his hand found mine, his thumb stroking the back of it with a soft reverence. “How can you stand here with me? I left you alone, when you were pregnant. When Anna was only a baby. And now, my family threatened you, Kinsley. How can you even stand to be in the same room as me?”
A choked sob came from the back of his throat, and I tightened my grip, hoping the touch would anchor him to me. “You didn’t know, Jace. I didn’t find you. You can’t take all of that on. I love you, and I forgave you a long time ago.”
“That’s the thing,” Jace muttered, his words utterly devastated. “You might have forgiven me, but I haven’t forgiven myself. And then standing there, when my dad said those things, all I could think about was how easy it would be to lose you, to lose my family. That I’m going to keep failing you both.”
“We’re not going anywhere.” I reached out, bringing our heads down so our foreheads touched. "Tate Lyons doesn’t know you, and he sure as hell knows nothing about our family. He’s the failure. He might have more trophies or more clout, but when it comes down to what matters, he’s failed the person whomatter most.” I pulled back and searched his tear lined eyes. “Younever have. Since the moment you came back into our lives, you’ve been there for both of us. You showed me what it means to love someone unconditionally, to let go of the fear that always held me back. And none of it would have been possible without you. Because of the man you are. Not the baseball player, not the athlete, but the man beneath it all."
His eyes continued to search mine, his hands gripping my hips as the words sealed us together. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for this man, to help him see he was so much more than his father wanted him to be. Tate Lyons might be a legend, but Jace was the triple threat in all the ways that mattered. He was more than a ball player; he was an amazing father and a better partner than I could have ever dreamed up. If I had to spend every day of the rest of my life reminding him of that fact, I’d happily do that.
“I love you,” Jace gruffly said, his hands shifting around me.
