Page 28 of Stealing Forever (Bridge Point Bears Baseball #1)

Gareth Fox

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but one of the kiss videos has nineteen million views.

Austin Cooper

How is that bad? We’re selling out games, baby!

Gareth Fox

It’s bad because that’s Coach’s private moment broadcasted for the entire world to see.

Jensen Fields Jr.

Not to be a dick, but maybe he shouldn’t have kissed her so openly then. Or, million dollar thought, maybe he doesn’t care and you’re making a mountain out of a molehill.

Austin Cooper

You’re always a dick, Jensen.

Jensen Fields Jr.

You wouldn’t like me if I was nice.

Austin Cooper

I’d like you more than I like you now.

Gareth Fox

Do you possess that quality?

Jensen Fields Jr.

You like me plenty, it’s why you try to pick fights with me like we’re an old married couple.

Austin Cooper

You’d be so lucky to have me as a husband.

Jensen Fields Jr.

Who said you’d be the husband?

Gareth Fox

Stop acting like teenagers.

Gareth Fox

Your boss is in this chat, or have you forgotten?

Austin Cooper

Is Coach technically our boss?

Gareth Fox

YES.

“Oh, God,” I groan, pinching the bridge of my nose as I toss my phone into the passenger seat.

It’s been a long fucking day and these three are grating on my nerves. Everything is grating on my nerves actually, including a certain mother of my child, if you can even call her a mother.

Addison’s called three more times over the course of the last five days, and ironically, when I finally have the energy to deal with her, she doesn’t answer the phone.

This is the most she has ever called in a short span, and it’s really fucking irritating me.

I’m not naive enough to believe she wants to speak to Sailor.

No, she probably saw those damn videos online.

Sitting in my driveway, I let the air conditioner run, taking a few minutes to myself and listening to an old AC/DC song. The cool air blows in my face, calming my nerves a bit.

It’s a start, anyway. It’s been less than a week since we’ve been back in town after the game against the Rebels, and so much has changed. Not only with our relationship, but my outlook on life.

I’ve spent so much time and energy worrying about everyone else, that I’ve forgotten to make myself happy in the process.

Hailey’s reshaped the way I prioritize my life.

Of course, Sailor is, and will always be, my number one priority, but for once in my life, baseball isn’t the second.

I love having Hailey around. In my home. In my bed. Sneaking her in and out so Sailor doesn’t notice has made me feel like a teenager again, and the lightweight, giddy feeling that comes along with it is one I’ve missed.

But last week was just the tip of the iceberg with my time management struggles. As games ramp up, so will my schedule, and I’ll have to re-evaluate how much extra time is spent on the field after what’s truly needed, so I can make sure I’m staying attentive to both of my girls.

That starts today.

I needed to go to the stadium for four hours, and as soon as practice was finished, I was out of there.

I held myself to it, too.

It feels good—really good.

And I can’t wait to spend the rest of my evening at home barbecuing, relaxing, and being with the two people in my life who shine the brightest.

Killing the engine of my truck, I hop out, keeping the keys in my hand as I stride up the walkway. There’s a pep in my step, a song from earlier on the radio stuck in my head that I sing under my breath while unlocking the door.

As soon as I push it open, though, my smile drops. Two things happen at once. First, the stomach-churning familiarity of Addison’s perfume pummels me square in the face, and second, I see a very expensive, very ostentatious purse sitting on my entryway table that I know for certain isn’t Hailey’s.

A string of curses fly from my mouth as I barrel through my house, looking for whoever I come across first. My first stop is Sailor’s playroom, which is exactly where I find my daughter and ex-fiancée playing tea party.

“Daddy!” Sailor shouts when she sees me, flying up from her chair so she can run to me. I catch her, bringing her in for a hug while staring daggers at her mother across the room.

“Hi, Sail. Did you have a fun day today?”

“Hailey took me to the airport!” she tells me proudly.

I kiss her cheek. “I know she did. That’s so cool.”

I find it very telling that Sailor doesn’t mention anything about her mom, them playing, or her being here. Jesus, does Sailor even remember who Addison is? She was a baby when she walked out.

Putting her down, I step closer to my ex, who’s now standing just a few feet away with a plastic smile I’ve come to realize is as fake as her breasts. “What are you doing here, Addison?”

“Hey, Decky. Miss me?” She bats her eyelashes, which I’m ashamed to say used to work.

“No,” I deadpan. “What do you want?”

Sailor leaves my side and goes to play with her Barbies, which thankfully are across the room. I don’t want to have this conversation in front of her. Hell, I don’t want to have it at all but here we are.

“Can’t a woman miss her family?” Addison lays on a seduction attempt thick, trailing her fingers from my pec to my shoulder. I shrug her off. “You look good, Declan. Fatherhood agrees with you.”

Laughter erupts from me—a mixture of frustration and exasperation. Grinding my teeth, I respond in a gritty whisper, “You have some nerve.”

“I want you back, Declan. I want us to be together, and to raise our daughter?—”

“The fact—” I yell, then remind myself I need to lower my voice, not wanting to sway Sailor’s attention. “The fact that you even just referred to Sailor as your daughter is absurd. You walked out on us when she was barely walking. You chose an attempt at a career over your own child.”

“She is my daughter, Declan. Whether you like it or not. You, me, and her—we’re a family. We can be one again.”

“Absolutely not, Addison. You lost that chance when you walked out the door. Now tell me what you’re really doing here because I don’t buy the ‘I want my family back’ bullshit you’re spewing.”

“You’ve always thought the worst of me.” She crosses her arms over her chest, glaring at me.

My eyes narrow into slits. “Only when you’ve shown your true colors.”

“I have a right to see my daughter.”

“Yeah, you do. But I have a right to tell you to get the fuck out of my house, too.”

“You can’t stop me from seeing her, Declan.”

“Then take me to court, Addison. Get a visitation schedule put in place. But don’t you dare show up to my home under the guise of wanting to get back together.”

“ Our home.” She put her hands on her hips. “This is our home.”

My jaw clenches. She knows damn well I owned this house before I even met her. She has no legal entitlement to it—we were never married.

“Fine, Declan!” she seethes. “You’re not interested in getting back together with me? Then whatever. But I know that red headed floozy has been warming your bed at night, and playing mommy to my kid.”

“What did you expect me to do? Not hire a nanny? Not move on? Life didn’t stop just because you picked up and moved to Hollywood. I figured it the fuck out.”

“I think you forgot that I carried Sailor for nine months. I went through twenty-seven hours of labor with her. Not you. Yes, I may have taken a path where I chose myself instead of motherhood, but I had my reasons for doing that, and I guarantee they’re not at all what you expect them to be.

I won’t stand here and let you treat me like shit just because I walked away from you. ”

“It has nothing to do with me.” I throw my hands up in the air.

“But it has everything to do with that little girl standing across the room, and that’s why I’m speaking to you like this, Addison.

Nothing has ever been about Sailor. She was a baby .

You don’t know what we went through after you left!

You didn’t deal with the long days and nights I spent consoling a screaming infant because she wanted her mother.

You abandoned her, and for that I will never forgive you.

” I start pacing in front of the kid-sized table, infuriated beyond belief but doing my best to keep as much of a level-head as possible because Sailor’s in the room.

“So yeah, forgive me for having a fucking attitude toward you. You want to stay? Then stay. You want to rebuild what you tore down with Sailor? Be my fucking guest, but you’ll do so under my supervision and rules.

Keep my personal life out of it, though, because as far as I’m concerned, the Addison I knew became a ghost the second you walked out the door and left your ring on the table. ”

She stands in front of me with her mouth agape, staring at me like I slapped her. Verbally, maybe I did, but it feels great to finally get that off my chest. For a brief moment, I feel guilty, though.

Maybe I was too harsh.

But then I remember watching the heart of a barely one-year-old shattered into pieces because of her , and I feel like my wrath isn’t even close to the intensity it should be.

Done with this conversation, I shake my head and leave the room, wanting to put as much distance between me and Addison as I possibly can. I can’t promise I won’t say something that I will come to regret one day, or that Sailor will overhear more of this conversation that she already has.

Wandering back toward the kitchen, I set off in search of Hailey, wondering where she is. The couple of rooms I check are empty, but when I go into the kitchen, I catch a flutter, her red hair as it dances in the wind outside.

I find her out on the back porch, sitting on the top stair with her head in her hands. A lump forms in my throat. I can’t even imagine the thoughts going through her mind, or her reaction when Addison showed up.

I hate that I wasn’t here to intervene.

“Hey,” I say gently, sitting next to her.

She turns her head, her red rimmed eyes glistening. “Hey.”

Seeing her so upset feels like a knife being twisted in my gut. I have no clue what Addison said, or did to make her so upset, but the fury ignites within me and I want answers.

“Sweetheart, I’m so sorry.” I wrap my arm around her, pulling her into me. She lays her head on my shoulder.

“Did you know she was coming?”

“Of course not.” I kiss the side of her head.

It’s a relief to have her in my arms, but fuck, I need to make this right.

“She’s been calling, but by the time I finally decided to call her back, she didn’t answer.

I thought she was just being persistent—figured she saw one of those videos online, and decided to stick her nose where it didn’t belong.

Which is what she did, but I didn’t think she would just show up. ”

“She was in your house, Declan. When I came back from dropping Hartley off at the airport, Addison was already inside and sitting at the kitchen table.”

My shoulders slump. “I didn’t even realize she still had an extra key.”

“Look, Declan, I know?—”

My heart plummets. “Whatever you’re about to say right now, just stop. Don’t let her get into your head.”

I look down at her, to see her lashes filled with tears. “Easier said than done.”

Gently grasping her chin, I tilt her face up to look at me. “Sweetheart. Tell me what she said to you.”

“Nothing really. Of course the things she said were snarky, but she’s Sailor’s mother, Declan. Can I really blame her for being a bitch to the woman in her house, helping to care for her daughter?” Her voice breaks. “She doesn’t know me.”

“And Sailor doesn’t know her . Addison lost her right to call herself a mother the second she walked out the door and never came back. She has no right to speak down to you, and I have absolutely no problem telling her that. This also isn’t her house, sweetheart. Never has been.”

“I don’t wanna make things more strained with your family. Sailor deserves to have both her mother and her father and I can’t get in the way?—”

“What family, Hailey? My family is Sailor, and now, you . Addison sure as shit isn’t a part of that.

You and Sailor are the only people who matter.

I don’t give a shit if Addison thinks I’m being a dick.

She doesn’t have the right to show up on a whim, let herself into my home, and be rude to my girlfriend. ”

A small smile appears on her face. “Your girlfriend? Is that what I am?”

“No, sweetheart, you’re so much more than that, but for fear of scaring you off, we’ll leave it at the girlfriend title for a while.

” Bringing my lips to hers, I kiss her. It’s soft and brief, but now doesn’t feel appropriate to kiss her as passionately as I’d like to, even if I do feel the need to remind her how much she means to me.

“You can’t possibly mean that,” she whispers, looking at me wide-eyed. “We’ve only been dating for a week.”

“What can I say? I’m a man who knows what he wants, sweetheart. And trust me when I say my ex isn’t going to get in the way of what’s developing between us. I’d never allow her to.”

Hailey snuggles deeper into my side and sighs deeply.

The whirlwind of the last hour or so replays in my mind as I start to process everything.

Nothing about Addison showing up makes any sense—the only logical explanation is that she saw one of the videos of me and Hailey and is using it as her attempt to have success at fame.

Wrapping my arms around Hailey, I rest my head against hers and we listen to the sound of the birds chirping.

My backyard offers a moment of peace before the storm returns the moment we walk back into the house.

I stand firm on what I said—I’ll never let Addison get between us.

We have something incredible, and I’ll protect it with everything I have.

But while I sit here and hold her, a jarring realization hits me like a Mac truck. How far is Addison willing to go to get what she wants? I might not let anything get between us, but what if Hailey does?