Behind the Plate (The Boys of Baseball #2) - J. Sterling Page 0,40

it away.

“I’m sorry. I seem to have this need to comfort you. I do it without thinking.”

I swallowed hard and tried to blow it off. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not. It’s not my place. I keep trying to stay away from you, Danika, but you make it really hard.”

Huffing out a choking sound, I argued, “I make it hard? I’m not even doing anything.”

“You exist,” he said, and I found myself struggling for anything to say after that. “Did he know your mom?” Chance’s voice sounded strained.

“Who?”

“Your boyfriend.”

I nodded even though I knew Chance couldn’t see my head in the dark cab of the truck. “He did. Our families were old friends, and we went to school together. He was there for me when she died.”

“Were you dating already when it happened?”

“Not really. Jared was around a lot, and after it happened, he just never really left,” I said the words out loud and realized how odd they sounded.

“You needed him.” Chance sounded almost defensive.

“I guess I did,” I said because I’d never thought about it that way before. Was it truly Jared that I needed, or did I just need someone, anyone?

“He made you happy?” Chance asked without bitterness.

“He did.” I nodded as I thought back to when we’d first gotten together. And even though I had been mourning the loss of my mom, Jared made me excited. “He was there for me. Without Jared, I would have felt really alone and been consumed in my sadness I think.” He distracted me from my pain because everything with us had been brand-new.

“What about your dad?” Chance asked, and I couldn’t help but smile.

My dad was my best friend. I not only loved him, but I also respected him. “My dad’s really great. But he was always working. And once my mom died, he worked even more. I don’t know how that was even possible, but even then, I knew that he was just doing anything he could to avoid his broken heart.”

“Were you one of the things he avoided?”

The question sliced through me as I sucked in a steadying breath.

“No. It wasn’t like that. I don’t have daddy issues, if that’s where you’re headed,” I said with a lighthearted laugh.

“I wasn’t. I was genuinely curious.” Chance’s voice was calm.

“I know my dad loves me. I have never once in my life felt unloved. I think, at the time, I definitely could have used a little more of his attention, but I also understood that his heart was broken. And Jared helped fill that void.”

Chance cleared his throat. “My dad would be devastated if he lost my mom. I think he’d turn into a shell of a person without her. I wouldn’t even know how to help him.”

“Yeah. It was really sad. I lost my mom, but my dad lost his partner and the person he’d thought he’d spend the rest of his life with. He had to distract himself with something. And making millions of dollars while doing it wasn’t a bad side effect.”

“Damn. So, your dad’s like that, huh?” Chance laughed.

“Oh, you have no idea.”

My dad was filthy rich. He had built his empire from scratch with no help from anyone, and everyone knew it. He was respected, looked up to, and connected. Things didn’t go down in New York real estate without my dad knowing it was happening.

“Will you go work for him after you graduate then?”

“That’s always been the plan.”

“Your idea or his?” Chance asked, and I knew what he was getting at.

“Mine. My dad isn’t the type to force me to do something I don’t want to do.”

Chance looked at me for only a second. “I can’t imagine anyone forcing you to do something you don’t want to do.”

I swallowed hard. “You’d be surprised.”

We pulled off the freeway and headed toward my apartment complex. Like everything else this evening, the drive had gone by too fast.

“Oh, hey, I almost forgot,” I said before clearing my throat. “What was with all the quarters at the house? That’s what they were, right? Quarters?”

“Please don’t make me tell you what little I know about them,” Chance said, wincing.

I laughed. “Well, now, you have to.”

“It’s just something my dad does. He gives my mom quarters, and then she saves them all. He started doing it in college, and I don’t want to know the whole story because I know too much gross shit about them already.”

“Okay, I’ll give you a pass this time.”

“Thanks,” he said halfheartedly, and I realized that we