Once Upon A Half-Time: A Sports Romance - Sosie Frost Page 0,121

middle,” I said. “The bull’s eye on my forehead won’t match my bridesmaid’s dress.”

“So shrug it off.”

“I can’t. This is too important. My family is falling apart. I’m trying to do anything I can to stop it.”

He frowned. “Sometimes there’s nothing you can do.”

“Don’t say that. I don’t want to give up.”

“But it isn’t your responsibility to mediate. That’s a horrible position to be in.”

My eyes prickled with tears. I’d much rather lose my lunch than my cool.

Crying wouldn’t solve anything, but the damn hormones made me seem even crazier than I was before. Nothing I did or said would ease the fear creeping around my heart.

“My parents were married for thirty years,” I said. “Thirty. They lived together. They raised a family. Mom stood by Dad while he built his advertising business. And now look at them.”

Nate nodded. “They are pretty damn explosive.”

“Today was just a firing range. You missed the nuke last week.”

“What happened then?”

“Dad stopped by to give Lindsey a check for her bouquet. He asked for a drink. I got him some water, and the glass’s condensation dripped on the table.”

Nate shrugged. I sighed. Maybe the trickle of water on my great-grandma’s antique end table meant more to Mom than normal people.

My family’s fights lacked foxholes, but that didn’t mean we weren’t digging shrapnel out of our butts every time Dad napalmed what good memories we had left with a careless water ring.

“I’ve never heard them fight like that before. I was in the room for the bombshell about every sexual incompatibility they ever had.” I pushed the fries away. Not even they could help block out that particular memory. “I know every repressed fantasy, Dad’s treatment for low testosterone, and one very bad experience with some sort of warming lubricant that, frankly, might turn me celibate.”

Nate smirked. “Don’t say that.”

“The PTSD is real.”

“Well, we absolutely can’t let celibacy happen. Tell you what…I’ll help you out. We’ll experiment with all the warming lube you want, baby. We’ll get through this together.”

“My hero.”

“Gotta help a damsel in distress. Closing those legs? That’ll be the biggest mistake of your life.”

I was pretty sure opening them was the biggest mistake I’d made to date.

I don’t know what was worse—getting pregnant…or staring into the beautiful green eyes of the father-to-be that had no idea how much his life was going to change.

I never expected Nate Kensington to actually give a damn about anyone but himself, but he served me food and listened while I blabbered about how I was feeling. I always felt confident and sexy after flirting with him. Suddenly, I was…comforted after just talking with him.

His smile made me feel like the most beautiful woman in his bar. And when he touched me? It was like no one in the world could tear us apart.

But it wasn’t enough, not now that I had the baby to protect.

“It sounds like an afternoon made-for-TV movie, but…” He leaned closer, brushing my hand as he stole another French fry. “You know it’s not your fault, right?”

“I wish it was.”

“Why?”

“Then it would make sense.”

I pushed the basket towards him. Grease didn’t sit well with uncertainty.

“How does a couple give each other thirty years of their life…and then walk away from it all?” I asked. “How do they burn everything good that came from their marriage and expect the rest of us to accept that it’s over?”

Nate raised his eyebrows. “Takes courage.”

“Courage?”

“Your parents were unhappy together. They split, even after thirty years of stability. They gave up their home and security to find something or someone who would make them happy.” He shook his head. “Christ, I wish my mom would do that.”

“But your parents are great,” I said. “They seem perfect together.”

His voice darkened. “Yeah. And my dad will do anything to keep it that way. Believe me. It’s not healthy to stay in a toxic relationship for any reason.”

I leaned against the bar. It might have been better to hide under it. At least it’d protect me if the world kept tumbling down.

“God, it’s so bleak,” I said. “How can any love actually last? Marriages get broken, people drift apart, and even the most stable and loving of relationships can just—poof! Be over. There’s nothing keeping people together.”

Nothing.

Not vows. Not love.

Not even children.

The fairy tales got it wrong. Snow White probably left the prince for someone less Grumpy and Sleepy. I bet Ariel discovered an entirely different sexual orientation when she looked closer at those new legs in a mirror. And