Page 39 of Broken Play (The O’Ryan Family #1)

THIRTY-NINE

GREYSON

"Where are we going?" The excitement in Paulina's voice sends a bolt of happiness through me.

"On an adventure. Are you ready?" I look her over.

"Tennis shoes? Check. Hat? Check. Water bottle?

Check." I look over at Sutton, and she has on a Florida Gator hat.

I roll my eyes. The Southeastern Conference fans are rabid, like they are in Texas.

Her hair is tucked up in the hat. She has on a black tank top and khaki shorts.

It's a good thing she doesn't have on a tennis skirt. I don't want anyone to know who she is.

After I hook up the horse trailer to the truck, we're off. It takes about an hour to get to Whirlwind, but when we pass the sign, Sutton says, "I thought this was it."

"It's close to my granny's; I thought we should stop in."

My grandmother on my mom's side comes out, wearing a housedress like they did in the old days.

She has an old television with ten to twelve channels, but she rarely watches it.

I jog to her, wrapping my arms around her round body.

She doesn't remind me of my mom other than the way she loves.

My mom was a sports mom, dressed like Sutton is today.

"Oh, my baby. I've missed you so much." She peppers my cheeks with kisses, then she hears the truck door shut. "Who do you have with you?"

I wave for the girls to come to the porch. "This is Sutton, my boss. She's also a professional tennis player, and this is Paulina, a professional tennis player in training. This is my Granny."

"Nice to meet you. I'm retired from tennis except for coaching Paulina and Gabby." Sutton goes to shake her hand, but that's not good enough for Granny, who embraces Sutton. Granny knows what this means to me. I've never brought a woman to meet her.

"Come in. Come in. I've got lunch ready. Greyson loves my chicken salad and banana bread." She must see Paulina's face because she continues, "Don't knock it until you try it. If you don't like it, I'll make you a grilled cheese."

Paulina smiles. "You remind me of my grandmother. She loves to cook."

"Whatever your coaches say about carbohydrates, you need them. Athletes need carbs. All this new-age stuff just confuses people. Everything I make is from scratch. I raise my own chickens, grow our grain, and buy the bananas at the market."

Granny's house isn't huge, but it's a four-bedroom ranch with two baths that was built in the sixties.

"Do you need help?" Sutton asks.

"I'd love some. Greyson, why don't you take Paulina to see the animals while we get the food on the table?"

A warmth like caramel flows through me, knowing that my granny wants to spend some time alone with Sutton. "Okay, kiddo, let's go."

Paulina grabs my hand, unsure whether to let go as I lead her to the chicken coop and pigpen. She's twelve, with a mop of dark hair pulled back from her coffee-colored eyes, laced with uncertainty whenever she whirls around to stare at something new.

"Look, Greyson! Real chickens!" Her accent laces every word with surprise and awe.

When a pig shuffles by, she claps her hands, the sound ringing out over the noisy barnyard.

Two barn cats wind around her legs, and she squeals, dropping to her knees in the dirt, unbothered by the mess.

She strokes the cinnamon one, but the tabby cat remains suspicious of us.

I realize, watching her, how much wonder one afternoon can hold.

"I won't hurt you," she says to the cat. "Do they have names?"

"It's been a long time since I've been here. Two summers ago."

"Why wouldn't you be with your granny all the time?"

I lean my elbows on the fence to the pigpen. "When you're a professional athlete, you don't have much time."

She looks up at me with those doe eyes. "I didn't want to leave Poland. My grandparents made me, and now..." She sniffles, trying to hold back tears.

Since Paulina is here, Sutton hasn't filled me in on how they're recovering. "Are they getting better?"

Lifting her shoulders, she runs her fingers through the cat's fur. "Don't know."

"I want to show you something." I help her up and walk to the paddock where the alpacas are turned out. "I lost my mom when I was just a few years older than you. It was hard. Still is." I tilt my head, glancing at her. "I'm sorry you lost your mom and dad. It sucks."

Tears begin to rain down her face, and I'm not expecting her to pivot when she wraps her tiny limbs around my waist and buries her head in my stomach. "Why doesn't anyone stick around for me?"

I rub her back and return the same amount of pressure in my hug that she's giving me.

I realize why Sutton has created a bond with her—they both feel abandoned even though their parents or grandparents were doing what they thought was right, wanting them to achieve their dreams. But is living at a tennis academy her dream?

So many thoughts swirl through my head, but for now I keep them to myself.

My grandmother rings an old dinner bell on the porch. She does the same when she feeds the ranch hands, but they probably ate earlier. Paulina laughs. "What is that?"

"It means it's lunchtime. Haven't you seen an old Western movie?"

Her head shakes back and forth vigorously.

"Well, we'll have a movie night soon when Sutton can." I can't quite believe the words coming out of my mouth. What is wrong with me?

"Wash up," Granny says as we come through the screen door.

Sutton grins from ear to ear as Paulina washes her hands over the kitchen sink, and I follow suit. We sit, and Granny blesses the food.

Paulina tears off a piece of banana bread, hesitant to put it in her mouth. "It won't bite you," I say. "You're the bravest little girl I know. "

She smirks. "How many little girls do you know?"

"Well, I have one sister."

"Is she a preteen like me?"

"No, you've met Noelle."

She studies the banana bread as if it's an alien object, then sinks her teeth into it, closing her eyes as she lets out a delicious "Yum."

Granny says, "Told you so. I'll send some home with you."

"Thank you, ma'am."

Granny cackles into her napkin. "Call me Granny. I haven't been called ma'am in forty years. I've been called a lot of other things, but Granny is the best."

Paulina has been brought up to respect her elders, something that seems lacking in many kids today. "Yes, ma'am...Granny."

"Are you taking them to our special place?" Granny asks as she puts a spoonful of chicken salad on her bread.

She already knows I am. I called and asked if I could stop by. "Yeah, but you didn't tell Sutton, did you?"

"No, honey, I wouldn't spoil the surprise. But... I read in the paper that you had a little mishap in New York. In my opinion, it was noble. So many men these days stand by and watch bad things happen. I'm glad your mother raised you to be protective of all women, not just your family."

I wasn't expecting this. I talked to her a few days after the incident with Bodhi, and she didn't say a word.

Sutton and I do the dishes while Granny shows Paulina her latest knitting project. When we're done, I say, "We'd better get going, or we won't have much time. Thanks for feeding us. "

"You don't have time to thank me. I just wish I saw you and your siblings more."

"I know. It's hard with everyone playing sports and you having a ranch to run."

She seems sad, but then she hands me a bag. "Here are some cookies. Do you have water?" Granny gives Sutton and Paulina a quick embrace, but she hugs me for several minutes.

I kiss her cheek. "Love you. I'll be back on our bye week."

Back in the truck, I turn onto the dusty road and head out across her property. Most of it is flat, but where we're going is magical—an oasis in the middle of a ranch.

The open meadow turns into a landscape of trees and hills. I stop and turn off the truck. "Ready?" They nod. "Follow me."

We're weaving through the trees, no trail in sight, but I know every rise and hollow by instinct. "It gets rocky up ahead. Hold my hand," I tell Paulina. She slips her small hand into mine without hesitation, making me jealous of married people with children.

Sutton falls in behind us, her eyes meeting mine with a quiet smile that makes my chest feel lighter.

The ground becomes uneven with roots snaking above the surface and rocks jutting out, so I slow our pace.

A breeze stirs the branches overhead, and then there's a low, familiar sound threading through the quiet.

Sutton halts and tilts her head, her voice hushed. "What's that noise?"

For a second, even I stop and listen to the calm rush. "You'll see."

A few more steps, and the canopy of leaves opens to a bright blue sky. The sound intensifies, and I point around the corner. "Almost there. Close your eyes." Holding both their hands, I turn the corner. "You can open them now."

Sutton's lids lazily open, her hands flying to her mouth, gasping, "It's... gorgeous."

I lean in and whisper against the shell of her ear, "It has nothing on you."

She dips her chin, her face flushing at the compliment. All I want to do is kiss her, but that's not possible since I invited Paulina along.

"Can we get closer to the waterfall?" Paulina begs, bouncing on her toes.

"I've got a secret spot where you can see it all." Hiking beneath cedar and oak trees, I see the large rock with the best view. "This is it." I take my backpack off and pull out a blanket to put on the damp ground.

Water tumbles over a large limestone edge, pounding into the aqua-blue basin below.

The spray catches in the sunlight, turning into shimmering gold pellets.

"I've never seen anything like it," Sutton says in awe.

I sit and bring her down with me while Paulina's distracted by the pink foliage on a bush. "This place is special."

"It is. My mom used to bring me here when I needed to be centered."

"What do you mean?"

"She called it 'getting too big for my britches.'"

"In fairness, you are pretty big," she mumbles under her breath.

"I was full of myself. Our teachers would do anything we asked. Can we put off a test until after the big game? We'd give them a little smile, and they would move it. In Texas, football is huge at every level."

She bumps against my shoulder. "I love your confidence."

"Thanks."

Out of the corner of my eye, I see the smile spreading across her face. The leaves rustle, but the sound seems unnatural. I've been here dozens of times and have never heard that noise.

Sutton asks, "What?"

"Shh..." I wait until I hear it again. "I'm going to go check it out."

"No, don't leave us. What if it's a mean animal?"

They wouldn't know how to get back, so my feet stay firmly planted, and I keep Paulina beside me while we eat cookies and watch the waterfall.

Afterward, we head down to the bottom and swim in the clear blue water.

Sutton's body sizzles, and I go under the water several times to coax my erection down.

As we splash and swim, their smiles reflect pure enjoyment. Paulina gets on my back, asking me to take her out deeper. Sutton wades beside us. It feels like a family—my family.

I wonder if I should talk to Dad and ask his opinion about how to handle this. Because if I'm in, I want to be all-in, not hiding in a diner an hour away or at my grandmother's ranch that's even farther.

Out in the open.

Holding her hand in the stadium.

Wining and dining her at restaurants.

Taking her two-stepping.

Family gatherings where she sits on my lap while we watch the deer prance through the grass.

It's our cue to leave when the sun falls behind the trees.

We throw our clothes over our swimwear and hike back up the half-hidden trail.

Sutton shakes out her hair, then brushes it with her fingers, and it may be the prettiest she's ever looked.

Maybe it's because she's completely at ease, relaxed.

No worries. No boardrooms. Just sun-kissed and free.

Paulina falls asleep as soon as we get in the truck. Sutton drops her head back against the seat, her head falling to the side as she stares at me. "Thanks for sharing your special place with us."

"I wanted to have a distraction for Paulina, and...I wanted you to see a place that's special to me."

Sutton shakes her head. "When was the last time you were at the waterfall?"

I clam up, not wanting to talk about it. "It's been years." Sutton doesn't press. I like that about her. Her intuition always seems to be on point. I'll share in my own time, on my own terms.

"Did you feel like you needed to be centered today?" she asks, looking back over her shoulder at Paulina while squeezing my thigh.

Answering that question brings on emotions I don't want to voice with a sleeping preteen in the backseat. "I wanted my mom to see you. I feel like if my mom is anywhere, she would choose her heaven to be in the exact spots where we sat and swam."

We swing by Hooked Hearts Ranch to sign the papers and load up the horses, but as I latch the door, I catch Sutton's lazy smile—and suddenly, the only thing I want more than a new horse is her.

Backing her against the door, my hand runs up her neck. I tangle my hand in her finger-combed hair and kiss her harder than a bull rider gripping the bull at the buzzer .

Breathless, with my heart racing, I have the overwhelming urge to tell her everything.

My outwardly picture-perfect life.

Not so perfect.

Her hands glide up my body, cupping my jaw. "You can trust me," she says as if she feels the weight of my thoughts. "I love you, too, Greyson O'Ryan."