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I cocked my head. “No. Why would you think that?”
“The picture in your wallet. There’s another woman besides your mom, but it’s impossible to see her face.”
I froze. Shit. “You shouldn’t go around snooping in people’s personal stuff.”
“Who is it?” She was like a dog with a bone.
“My ex-girlfriend.”
“You had a girlfriend?” she asked incredulously. “And you still carry a family photo with her in it?”
“Why is that so hard to believe?” I loosened my hold, but she clamped her hands over mine on her stomach.
“You don’t seem like the commitment type.”My tigress, the keen observer of humanity.
“I’m not anymore.”
Knowing dawned on her face. “She’s why you don’t.” She tapped her finger on top of mine. “That picture is old.”
“She dumped me in the hospital after the doctors’ diagnosis ensured I’d never play again.” The vivid image of her standing in the door to my hospital room was as fresh as if it had happened five minutes ago. As doped up on pain meds as I’d been, they did nothing to cover the pain.
I’m supposed to be a baseball player’s wife.
“What a bitch move.” Sonya’s jaw worked and those eyes flashed with anger on my behalf.
“Yeah, well—”
“You’re not over it.”
“I learn from my mistakes. Don’t fall for women who only want baseball players.” A bitter sound escaped me. “Don’t fall for anyone at all.”
Sympathy mixed with understanding stared back at me. “I’m so—”
“Don’tsay you’re sorry.” My arms tightened around her of their own accord. “I lost baseball and the woman I thought I’d spend the rest of my life with on the same day. Shit happens.”
“It’s her loss.”
Then why am I the one who’s suffered most?
Sonya wiggled out of my arms and marched to the dresser. She opened my wallet and proceeded to rip Erin out of the old photograph. Then she dug in my pants pocket until she produced my lighter.
She handed it to me and held the sliver of photo over it. “Be done with it.”
I hesitated with my thumb on the igniter. Forgetting what Erin had done couldn’t be as simple as sending her picture up in flames.
But it was worth a shot.
The small strip with her image burned in seconds. Sonya held it until nothing was left, even when the fire touched her skin. She dumped the ashes in the trash.
Something about the gesture loosened some knot inside me that had been tied tight for decades.Strange.
I yanked Sonya against me until our bodies were flush and kissed her forehead.
She’d given me the strength to do things I never would have otherwise. She made me want things I swore I’d never think about again.
“I thought you stormed into my life to steal something, but the damnedest thing has happened. You’re giving me a hell of a lot more than you take.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
