Behind the Plate (The Boys of Baseball #2) - J. Sterling Page 0,71

but something always seemed to stop me. As excited as I was to be with him, it felt torturous to try to start something while being apart. Not to mention the fact that my mind was filled with unanswered questions. Like, what if he didn’t even want me anymore? Or what if he really never had? What if Chance only thought he wanted me because he couldn’t have me, because I was unavailable? That was the kind of thing your heart never realized until the opportunity was in your face, staring you down and begging for an answer.

No, I couldn’t have this conversation with him over the phone. I needed to be able to look in his eyes and see his face when I told him that I was single.

Pulling up the Fullton State baseball schedule online, I took a screenshot with my phone and gave myself a quick pep talk. I knew what I wanted to do.

Walking into the dining room, where my dad sat at the table working on his laptop with a newspaper spread out next to him, I leaned over his back and hugged his strong shoulders.

“What’s up, kiddo?” he said as he looked behind at me.

I sat down in the chair next to him. “I was thinking about leaving a little earlier than usual, if that’s okay with you?”

His bushy, graying brows rose. “How early?”

“Just a couple weeks. But I can stay if you want,” I said, knowing that my dad would never force me to stay if I wanted to go.

“Is this about that Carter boy?”

My cheeks warmed as I answered with a slight smile I couldn’t stop, “Maybe.”

I’d filled my dad in on my personal life the day after I got back. We were having dinner together at home when he asked how Jared was, and I spilled my guts about how I’d been feeling. I told him that Jared had changed. Or that maybe I was the one who had changed but that I hadn’t been happy in a long time. I told him about the breakup and that I thought I might have feelings for Chance.

Part of me was scared that my dad might be disappointed in my decisions or not understand. I knew that he loved Jared like family, so I was nervous for his reaction, especially since we’d always talked about working for my dad after graduation. But he couldn’t have been more accepting or gracious. He’d told me that he wanted me to be happy and that if Jared had stopped making me that, then I should move on.

“Life’s too short to settle, Danika. Don’t stay with someone who doesn’t make you smile.”

“I still can’t believe you like Jack Carter’s son,” he said, sounding like a giddy schoolboy instead of the overprotective dad I’d come to know lately.

We’d talked about that as well over dinner. How I needed to be able to make my own decisions and he had to stop worrying about me so much. He’d told me that he’d never be able to do that since he was my dad and all but that he’d try.

I’d ended up saving the pictures that Cassie had taken of my parents all those years ago for Christmas. After I got back to New York, I took the flash drive to a local artist I knew, who turned three of my favorites into paintings. I framed them and gave them to my dad for Christmas. Then, we spent the rest of the morning looking at all the pictures Cassie had given me copies of. My dad told me stories about him and my mom that I’d never heard before. And he’d cried. Which, of course, made me cry.

Being in such an emotionally vulnerable state had made me want to reach out to Chance even more. I texted him, wishing him a merry Christmas, and he responded with the same right back. Then, he sent a string of Christmas emojis that made me wonder if Jacey had stolen his phone. When the dots appeared, I held my breath, waiting for him to say something else, anything else, but the dancing dots disappeared, and no new text ever came. I should have texted that I missed him. I should have texted that I couldn’t wait to see him when I came back. But I hadn’t.

My dad started asking me a million questions about Chance and what kind of guy he was and why I thought I liked him, and it made me