Page 148

“He’s good with her,” Dad says when Ender gets her to stand up and ready to field the ball.
My heart practically explodes in my chest with love every time I watch them together.
When Ender comes out of the dugout with Eddie after the game, my dad stands and shakes his hand. Ender looks shocked as fuck.
Swallowing, Ender finds his voice. “Nice to see you again…, Mr. Hayes.”
“Don’t be cute, kid. Call me Justin,” he says sternly, but laughs slightly. Ender’s confusion breaks as his smirk appears.
“Grandpa J!” Eddie yells, running toward him. “Did you see me hit the ball?”
“I did,” he says, hugging her. “You did so good.”
“Thank you!” Eddie pulls back, grinning. “My daddy taught me.”
Eddie runs over to Arya when she spots Booker, but what surprises me is my dad and Ender talking. Weirdest night of my life.
55
WHEN HE PROPOSED
“Maybe white countertops were a bad idea?” We’ve been in our new house a week, and now here we are hosting our first party. Eddie’s sixth birthday. And I can’t keep anything clean in an all-white kitchen.
“Why?” Arya asks, trying to count cups for the juice bar but she keeps losing track.
“Because they show everything and stain easily.”
“Hmmm.” Arya stares at the grape juice I spilled. “Or you could try not spilling the juice.”
I shake out my hands. I haven’t told her about the baby growing inside me. I took the test first thing this morning and wanted to wait until after Eddie’s party to tell Ender, but now I’m not sure when to tell him. “I’m nervous.”
“About what?”
“I don’t know. It’s her first birthday with him here,” I lie. It’s not why I’m nervous, but then again, it is a little bit.
“So?”
“Do you think he’s happy?”
Her eyes drift to mine, one hand on the cups, the other on her chest as she swallows a carrot she almost choked on. “Ender?”
“Yes.” I watch him in the backyard talking to Roman who’s holding Booker in his arms.
“Hads, you’re not really second-guessing him, are you?
“No. It’s not that. I just… I mean, you knew him away from me, the side I didn’t see.”
“Oh, I see. You’re wanting to know if he’s giving you the side everyone else sees?”
I nod, my eyes on Ender.
“He’s happy, Hads.” She moves to stand next to me. “Because that guy, the one who coaches T-ball for his daughter and designs custom kitchens for his soon-to-be wife, I don’t know him. I’ve never seen this version. I saw the one who slammed doors in our parents’ faces and screamed, ‘This place is a fucking prison,’ to them when they tried to control him.”
A fucking prison? I could see Ender saying that because to him, Theo James was the warden and he was held hostage… until he saved himself.
“I’m not his soon-to-be wife, Arya.”
Arya snorts. “Yet, Hads. You’re raising a kid together, built a house… it’s coming.”