I’d made it a habit to grab my phone as soon as a game ended to call Katie. At first, it was to check on her, and if it were a late game, to say goodnight. But over time, I found myself yearning for the last inning and the final out, regardless of the score, just to hear her voice. I didn’t want to overthink it or psych myself up for what it meant. I had allowed myself to become invested in Missy, thought she would be there forever, only for her to walk away while stomping all over my heart. I didn’t want to risk that happening with Katie. Considering we were having a child together, I trusted that she wouldn’t just walk out. But if I gave her the freedom to hurt me, and she did, I’d be reminded of that pain for the rest of my life. So to protect myself, I refused to analyze my need to talk to her after every away game.

The screen lit up just before the phone unlocked with my thumbprint. It was only a split second, but long enough to see Katie had sent me a text. She knew I was in the middle of a game, so when I saw her name, my chest immediately constricted. It was absurd, considering there was a better chance of it being something stupid to make me laugh before calling her than it being something serious. She had the numbers to call if she needed to get ahold of me. However, rational thought was fleeting on a good day and almost nonexistent toward the end of a string of away games.

When her text came up, I couldn’t breathe.

I couldn’t tap the call icon fast enough.

“Hey, hold on a minute,” she said when she answered. And then her voice sounded farther away like she’d set the phone down.

The more I listened, the more I heard noises I couldn’t recognize. I tried to convince myself she was at the grocery store, but it wasn’t true. Even though I couldn’t make out what was said, there was no doubt in my mind it was a serious conversation. With a man.

“Sorry, they were just updating me, and I didn’t want to let your call go to voicemail.”

“Where are you?”

“Um…the hospital. But before—”

“The hospital? Oh my God. What happened? Are you okay? What about the baby?”

“Gage!” Her harsh tone felt like a slap across my face, although it served its purpose—she gained my attention. “Everything is fine with the baby and me. I was in a minor car accident, and the EMTs wanted me to come here to get checked out since I’m pregnant. It’s just precautionary.”

“A minor accident?” The world was spinning, and I couldn’t find my bearings.

“Yeah, an old lady ran into me at a stop light. A fender bender. Honestly, I’m more shaken up than anything. They did a complete scan, and now we’re just waiting for the results, but they think there’s nothing to worry about.”

“You drove yourself to the hospital?”

She was quiet for a moment, which didn’t settle my nerves one bit. “Not really.”

“Katie…start talking.” I had somehow walked into a quiet corner, and I wasn’t about to leave until I had answers. I was minutes away from flying home and telling Coach to play tomorrow’s game without me.

“Well, when she hit me, I hit the SUV in front of me, so my car had damage to the front and back. They had to tow it. I felt bad for the woman who initiated it. As soon as she realized I was pregnant, she started to cry.”

I didn’t give two shits about the old lady or how upset she was. My one and only concern was for Katie and my unborn child. “When are you supposed to get the results from the scan?”

“Not sure. The nurse said it shouldn’t take long to read, but I guess they’re kind of busy tonight, so who knows when the doctor will get to it.”

“Okay, I’m going to make a few calls and then call you right back. Make sure you answer. I want to be on the phone when the doctor comes in.” I barely said goodbye before hanging up and dialing Coby’s number. “Is Ellie home?”

“Hello to you, too. And it’s one thing to call my daughter, kinda different when you call for my wife.”

“It’s Katie.” That was all I needed to say to get his attention. “She’s at the hospital.”

“Is she okay?” Concern dripped from his voice.

“She says she is, but we’re still waiting for the results. She was in an accident, apparently nothing major, but she doesn’t have her car. It had to be towed. Is there any way you or Ellie could pick her up and take her home? I’m gonna look up flights while we’re waiting for the doctor.”

“Absolutely. I’ll send Ellie. I’m sure she’ll be more helpful than I would be.”

“Thanks, Coby. I really appreciate it.”

I called Katie back and had her on speaker while I found the next available flight home. She kept telling me it wasn’t necessary—I only had one more game before the team was back in Tuscaloosa, waiting another day wouldn’t make a difference. I didn’t care if I only had one more hour, this was yet another reason to add to my ever-growing list of why I couldn’t do this anymore.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long before the doctor came in with the results of the ultrasound. Katie put me on speakerphone so I could hear the whole thing and ask questions if I needed. Which I did. In fact, I asked so many questions that Katie cut me off. As it turns out, asking if the seatbelt had been able to move the placenta away from the cervix was a waste of the good man’s time. Actually, she said using the balloon analogy when he didn’t answer my question was the true waste of time.

After being cleared and getting her discharge papers, she let me go. I told her Ellie would be there to pick her up, which she didn’t sound too excited about. Though that didn’t stop her from using it to argue why I needed to stay in Kansas City one more day instead of flying back tonight. I promised I’d leave as soon as tomorrow’s game ended, and then she hung up.

There was no way I’d get any sleep.

As I stared at the ceiling in the hotel room, my phone rang next to me. I nearly jumped out of my skin to answer, hoping it was Katie—even though I’d told her to take it easy and rest, not to worry about me. Coby’s name flashed on the screen, so I quickly answered, knowing he was calling me with an update.

“She told you it was a minor accident?”

I wasn’t sure why he’d start with that, but I figured I’d play it out and see where it went. “Yeah, she said it was a fender bender. Why?”

“I’m staring at her car right now. Hold on, let me take a picture of it.” There was some rustling on his end of the line, some tapping, and then he was back. “There, I just sent it to you. She didn’t want to tell me where her car was towed, but I finally got it out of her and came down to see what I could do about getting it fixed quickly. I expected a crumpled bumper or, at the most, a little bit of frame damage. Not this.”

Just then, his text came through, and I tapped on it to pull up the picture. The rear fender looked tucked beneath the car, the trunk caved in…and that was just the back. On the front, her hood had buckled, and the bumper was missing.

“Holy shit. Have you talked to Ellie? Is Katie okay?”

“I did, and she is. Ellie said her nerves are fried, but that seems to be about it. Other than a little discomfort in her neck, but she said it’s nothing she can’t handle. I don’t know what to do, man. The shop said she doesn’t have insurance, and with as old as the vehicle is, he doesn’t think it’s worth it to fix. Right now, it’s a pile of garbage.”

I couldn’t fathom why Katie would drive around without car insurance, but asking Coby would get me nowhere. I’d ask Katie, except I didn’t want to disturb her if she was resting. I hated being so far away, so helpless and useless. It was like I couldn’t do anything, and likely, I’d feel the same if I were home, but at least I could see with my own eyes that she was okay.

“Just leave it. I’ll deal with it when I get back. Thanks, man. I really appreciate it.”

“Anytime. You know we’re always here to help.”

I tossed the phone back to the mattress to prevent me from obsessing over the picture. This would be a long twenty-four hours.

* * *

All the lights were out when I crept up the stairs to my room. It had been the worst and longest day of my life. I wasn’t sure how much sleep I’d gotten the night before, but I could tell it wasn’t much. I was sluggish during the game today—although we managed to pull out a win—and my head felt like it was trapped in a vise. The only thing I could think about since Katie’s accident was getting home and wrapping her in my arms.

Normally, if she were in bed when I got there, I’d wake her up and then keep her up until the sun lightened the sky. But not this time. Instead of dropping my bag by the bedroom door, I carefully set it down and toed off my shoes. I tugged my shirt over my head, stepped out of my jeans, and slid beneath the covers with my boxers still on. And when I settled into my place next to her with my arm wrapped around her and my hand on her hip, she curled into me like it was natural. Granted, we’d slept like this every night I was home since the beginning of the season, but she was always awake when she draped her leg over mine and snaked her arm up my chest. This time, she remained asleep as she made herself comfortable on me.

Again, I refused to overthink it and just let sleep take me under.

In fact, it was probably the best night of sleep I’d gotten in a while, and by the smile on her lips the following morning, I could tell she felt the same.

She traced her fingers down my chest until her hand disappeared under the blanket. I was still waking up, so when she wrapped her fingers around my hard cock and began to pump me in her fist, I couldn’t think about anything other than how amazing it felt.

Until life smacked me in the face.

“Stop, Katie. You were in an accident like less than forty-eight hours ago. You need to take it easy.”

“I’m not crippled, Gage. Aside from a slight kink in my neck, I’m virtually pain-free.”

“You aren’t allowed to do anything until you’re completely pain-free.”

“That’s impossible. As long as you’re in my life, I’ll always have a pain in my ass.”

I shook my head and laughed. “Trust me, I’m dying to spread your legs as much as you are, but I’m not risking it. I’m home for a whole week, so hurry up and get better so I can leave you with a reminder of why they call me the King before I’m gone again.”

“I don’t come to you for sex because you’re any good at it. I do it because I’m pregnant and horny, and no one else will touch a woman who’s carrying another man’s child in her womb.”

“Why not? That’s the best time to fuck. I mean, no risk of knocking up the chick? Hell yeah.” It seemed she did not see the value in the point I made. “But if it’ll make you feel better, I’ll take care of you in other ways.”

I was in the midst of crawling between her thighs when she stopped me. “Sorry, Gage, but as much as I like what you do down there, I’m way past that. I need penetration. Stat.”

I stuck my fingers into my mouth and pulled them out with a pop. “I got ya covered.”

“Nope.” She smacked my forehead with her palm and locked her elbow to keep me from advancing. “That’s not good enough.”

I shrugged and backed off the mattress. “Oh well, can’t say I didn’t try. I’m gonna go make breakfast and then we’re going to have a little chat.” I didn’t miss her groan as I walked out of the room.

Within thirty minutes, I returned with a tray of food. I set it on the bed, passed Katie a plate and a hot mug, as well as her vitamins, and took a seat next to her.

She held the mug between both hands and stared at the piping liquid inside as if the steam had hypnotized her. Her attention bounced between me and the cup a few times before she hesitantly asked, “Coffee?”

“Yup. I felt bad. You’re like an injured bird, and this was my way of taping popsicle sticks to your wing.”

She was leery, as she should be. I gave her coffee, but that didn’t mean it was caffeinated. Although, I had no intention of telling her that. It was like having my own personal entertainment every time I saw her close her eyes right before taking a sip, and then humming to herself as if she were tasting heaven.

“All I had to do was get into a car accident to get back my java? Why didn’t I think about that weeks ago?”

“If you think you’re being rewarded for that, think again. Honestly, I only brought that back for you because we need to have a serious talk and I wanted you to be levelheaded.”

She set the mug on her nightstand and shifted on the mattress to sit up higher, concern creasing her brow. “A serious talk? I wasn’t sure you knew how to have one of those.”

“Of course I do.” I let her have her laugh before starting in on her. I purposely didn’t bring this up over the phone because I wanted to be next to her when I asked something that could potentially upset her. “Coby showed me a picture of your car.”

“I figured he would. That was why I didn’t want to tell him the name of the body shop. It looks way worse than it was. I guess I was hit in the right spot in the back to shove me under the bumper of the SUV in front of me. I promise…I was at a complete stop, and the old woman couldn’t have been going more than a few miles per hour.”

“Actually, I spoke with the mechanic, and he said looking at the damage to both cars, he’d guess she was going at least ten. But that’s not what I wanted to talk about. The damage to the car is neither here nor there considering you and the baby are okay. My question is why you don’t have insurance.”

She immediately dropped her gaze to the plate of untouched food in her lap. Her tongue peeked out and slid along her bottom lip, wetting it just enough to make it glisten in the sunlight dancing through the blinds.

When she finally did speak, her voice was raspy, scratching over every other word. “It’s no surprise that I was upset after Granny died. I guess I had missed a few payments, so they dropped me. And I just hadn’t thought about it too much since then.”

It was plausible, and truth be told, there were many things in my life that I’d let fall to the wayside after Granny’s death because I just didn’t have it in me to care about much. Actually, that was the reason Missy had left, saying I’d given up and she couldn’t sit back and watch me become a shell of who I was. I guess her solution was to turn her back on me during one of the worst times in my life so she wouldn’t have to “sit back and watch” it.

“Well, I guess that answers that.” When she continued to stare at me without saying a word, I asked, “What?”

“Was that all you wanted to talk about?”

“Yeah.”

She nodded slowly. “Awesome. Good talk.” And then she began to shovel her breakfast into her mouth and swallow it down with the decaffeinated coffee I’d cleverly poured into a regular bag.

* * *

Katie was in the bathroom with the shower running when her phone lit up on the mattress next to me. We’d spent all morning in bed watching TV, and when I denied her a round of Sir Nix A-Lot for the hundredth time, she said she needed to wash off the scent of desperation from her skin. She hadn’t been in there long, so I decided to answer her phone in case it was the doctor’s office—I mean, I couldn’t imagine anyone else calling her.

“Hi, may I speak with Kathryn Crisp, please?” a young-sounding woman asked.

“Um, she’s busy at the moment, can I take a message?”

“Oh, sure. My name’s Georgina Hattleberry, and I’m calling from Morrison’s Feed Supply regarding Kathryn’s job application. If you could please have her call me back at her earliest convenience, we would love to get her in for an interview providing she’s still interested.”

“Hold on, I’m taking notes.” I wasn’t. I still had the remote in my hand and hadn’t budged from my spot on the bed. But she didn’t need to know that. “And what did you say this job was for?”

“Oh, I didn’t. She had applied for a cashier position, but we have an opening in the back unloading the trucks of fertilizer and seed. I can discuss the logistics with her later.”

“Thank you very much, Georgia Haddyson.”

“It’s Georgina Hattleberry.”

“That’s what I said. I’ll make sure Katie gets this message, although I’m not sure you’ll hear back from her. She already has a job.” And then I disconnected the call.

My emotions were as all over the place as my distracted thoughts tended to be. In one breath, I was angry that someone would entertain the idea of a pregnant woman lifting heavy bags of cow shit. Then I wondered if Katie had even told them she was pregnant, which in turn made me question if she was ashamed of it. Although, that thought was fleeting because I knew in my heart she wasn’t—the jury was still out if she was ashamed of me, though. And before I could fully let go of the hurt, I was hit with a wave of sadness I hadn’t experienced since I was a kid.

The only reason Katie would be looking for a job was if she were planning to leave.

Abandonment and I went way back, to the playground days when “butthole” was the worst insult you could call someone. Correction, I found out one day in fourth grade just how bad the name “pencil dick” was. In my defense, the kids in the class weren’t offended—the principal, on the other hand, didn’t appreciate being called one. That same day, I also learned how hard it was to get the taste of Palmolive out of my mouth. There was a reason I never allowed that shit in my house. If it stuck to cups as well as it did to a tongue… No thank you. I didn’t care for a side of soap with my OJ.

Anyway, over the years I had become a master at avoiding any situation where I could possibly be abandoned. I didn’t do relationships for that very reason. If I slept with some chick and then walked away, I eliminated the chance of her leaving first. Missy had been my only girlfriend, and even though it had taken her three and a half years, she eventually proved me right. Granny was the only woman in my life who had never abandoned me—not even when I’d given her multiple reasons to. And “multiple” was a drastic understatement. Regardless, she was always there, even when I didn’t want her to be…such as the time in third grade when I slapped my teacher on her ass and asked her to be my sugar mama. Yeah, I really didn’t want her to be there that day.

I slipped on a pair of jeans and pulled a T-shirt over my head. No matter how badly I just wanted to walk out the door without a word, the running water in the bathroom wouldn’t let me. It called to me like a song, so I cracked the door, stuck my head in, and told Katie I had to run into town but I’d be back.

And the whole time I was in the car, driving away from one girl in search of another, I couldn’t stop thinking about how badly my mother had fucked me up. Seriously, I couldn’t remember a single moment of my life when she was there. Not one. She had me at fourteen, and two years later, she dropped out of school and left. It took nearly twenty years before I saw her again. And even though I don’t remember the day she left or how I felt when she was no longer around, at some point in my life, I realized I wasn’t good enough for her. I realized my own mother didn’t want me. And if the woman who gave me life could turn around and walk away without blinking an eye, anyone could. Granted, I know now that she loved me—she was just a kid herself—and Granny had never told me otherwise when I was growing up, but that never erased the feeling of not being enough. It never eased the fear of abandonment. So now, even entertaining the idea that Katie was about to do the same, had me running—straight into the arms of the only living female I trusted to never give up on me.

“Gage…” Ellie practically rolled her eyes when she opened the door. “Coby isn’t home.”

“That’s good, because I didn’t come to see that blind fucker.”

“Well, I just got both boys down for a nap so—”

I held my hand in front of her, fingers spread like I was about to palm her face, and made a noise that, in my opinion, perfectly resembled that of a car coming to a screeching halt. “Errrrk. I didn’t come to see you, either.”

When I stepped inside, pushing past the arm in my way, she closed the door behind me.

“I’m here to speak with my advisor.” I didn’t get ten feet in before my best friend came barreling down the hall, a string of blue feathers flying behind her. “There she is!”

“Age!” Corinne ran and jumped into my arms.

I lifted her, took note of her feather boa and red lips, and turned to Ellie. “See? She’s already dressed for our meeting. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have important business to discuss.”

“Gage, it’s her naptime.”

“She can sleep when we’re done. It won’t take long.”

With Corinne in my arms, I headed down the hall to her playroom and set her down next to her princess table. I’d given it to her for her second birthday—it was a selfish gift, really, since every time we hung out, we didn’t have a place to drink our tea and discuss business.

“You get the tea ready while I grab our thinking caps.” Sitting on a shelf were two wide-brimmed, old-lady hats. I set the pink one on her head and pulled the blue one onto mine. Then I grabbed our “hater shades” from the hanging basket and took my seat at the table. “Here, put these on so your mama can’t see us.”

She took the pair with the swirl pattern on the lenses and left me with the eyeball ones—the springs that kept the large eyes attached to the glasses were stretched so far out the eyes dangled past my chin.

My knees were practically in my face, and the chair could only hold one and a half of my ass cheeks. “I think you need a bigger table. We’re kinda outgrowing this one. I guess I didn’t imagine how much bigger we’d get in a year.”

She handed me a decorated teacup and smiled, the glasses that were too big for her face making me laugh. “I got bigger! I free!” She held up four tiny fingers and then used her other hand to hold down the last one, leaving three wiggling in the air.

“Nah. That can’t be true. You don’t look a day over two.”

“Realwy, Age. I free.”

“Enjoy it, kid. There’s a bunch of money in the Botox business from women who want to have skin like yours. Then again, they can’t smile or move their foreheads. Seems kinda pointless. No one can tell if they’re happy or pissed off.” I tapped my finger on my chin and watched the excitement dance in her eyes. “Actually, now that I think about it, maybe your mama needs some…then I wouldn’t always feel like she’s mad at me.”

“Mama needs it?” She cocked her head to the side with her plastic cup close to her lips, as if she was in the midst of taking a sip of tea and stopped to ask her question.

“Yeah, but don’t tell her I said that. Tell her Daddy said it.”

“Kay.”

“All right, let’s get down to business. We don’t have long before your next appointment. I wanted to talk to you about Katie.”

“I wike Eighty.”

“I know you do. That’s why I came to you first. I know you’ll give me an unbiased opinion. So, I found out today that she’s looking for a job. I mean, I know that with Granny gone and all, she doesn’t really have a lot to do, but it’s not like she did when Granny was alive, either. She basically drove her around anywhere she wanted to go and occasionally cleaned up here and there. So really, her life now isn’t that different from before—except the whole baby in her tummy thing.”

Corinne watched and listened while sipping her tea.

“Anyway, I’m worried that she’s looking for another job so she can move out of the house. And I don’t want her to. I like her there, and I don’t think I can live alone again. Not to mention, once the baby comes, I don’t want to be in a different house than my son.”

“You wiv wif baby.”

“Yes. Exactly. Glad you get it. So how do I keep Katie from leaving? I got lucky today. She was in the shower when Boy George called from the moo poo store about an interview. I answered the phone and told the lady she wasn’t interested. But how am I supposed to do that when I’m gone? What if someone else calls when I’m not home and she takes the job…and then she’s gone before I come back?”

“Eighty’s foam?”

“Yeah, keep up. I picked up her phone when she was in the shower.”

Her brown eyes widened, and she shook her head, her mouth forming an O like she just got in trouble. “Don’t dwop her foam, Age. It bwake, and she get mad wike Mama.”

“Oh, good thinking, Rinny. I could break her phone to keep her from getting calls while I’m away. I’m really good at that kinda stuff and not getting caught, too. One time, before you were born, I broke your mama’s computer and blamed your daddy. She never suspected anyone else.”

“Mama get mad.”

“Yeah, she was. Really mad. Don’t tell her it was me, though. Okay? When she got it fixed, she found out it crashed because of por—uh, because of a video that was downloaded. Something about a virus. Although, after seeing the chick in the video, I’m sure there were several viruses. Anyway, she can’t know it was me. Got it?”

“Got it, Age.”

I brought the cup to my lips and made a slurping sound with my tongue. Then I swallowed, because you can’t pretend to drink something without going all the way. “Now that I think about it, I can’t break her phone. If I do that, then I won’t be able to talk to her when I’m out of town. And right now, our texts and calls and video chats are the only things that keep me sane on the road. So that won’t work. What else ya got?”

“I wike it when you cawl me.”

“Yeah, me too. But I think your daddy and mama would be upset if I called you late after a game. They seem to like it when you’re asleep. You sure they aren’t putting NyQuil in your milk? You should check into that. Make sure you watch your mama pour it before you drink it.”

“No, silwy. Not miwk. We have tea.”

“Oh, I bet she’s giving you that nighttime herbal tea, then. In that case, you should make sure you read the label on the box when she makes it for you. If she’s giving you the wrong one, you call me, okay?”

“I can cawl you?”

“Of course you can, silly. Anytime day or night. My phone’s always on.” That gave me an idea. “You’re a genius, Rinny. Do you know that? This is why I come to you for advice…you always have the answers. I’ll just call all the stores in the area to update Katie’s phone number on her application and give them mine. She’ll never know.”

“All right, you two. Your time’s up.” Ellie stood in the doorway, and out of the corner of my eye, I noticed she had her arms crossed over her chest. “Corinne, you need to wash your face and then get in bed for a nap.”

“It’s a good thing your mama isn’t here,” I said to Corinne, ignoring Ellie’s presence. “I always have to watch what I say around her.”

“Yeah, she say you have potty mouth.”

“Corinne…” In about two seconds, Ellie would pull out the middle name, and then we’d be in trouble.

In an act I’d never be able to recreate in a million years, Corinne took off her sunglasses, turned to the door, and acted incredibly surprised to see her mother standing there. “Oh, dare you are, Mama. I not see you.”

I glanced around the room with short, dramatic head movements. “Your mama’s here? Where?”

She came around the table, took the googly-eyed glasses off my face, and then pointed to Ellie—who, by the way, did not look amused. “White dare!”

“Oh, would ya look at that. Ellie, when did you get here?”

She huffed and fought against her grin while waving us out of the room. “Hurry up, sweetheart. Say goodbye to Gage and then go wipe that lipstick off.”

I lifted Corinne into a big hug. “Wuv you,” she said with her face tucked into the crook of my neck and squeezed me as tightly as her tiny arms would allow. When I set her down, she ran into the bathroom, leaving me alone with her mother.

“She’s really smart,” I said with my thumb hitched over my shoulder toward the bathroom. “Like genius-level smart. I’d be willing to bet her IQ is off the charts. You sure she’s not my kid?”

“Unless I’ve been lied to my whole life about how babies are made, yes. I’m sure.”

“Then I have no idea where she got her brains.”

“You know, when the twins get older, they’re going to feel left out,” she said while leading me down the hall toward the front door. She wasn’t very subtle.

“Why? Do they want ponies, too?”

“Gee, I don’t know, Gage, maybe because their sister is your best friend? And speaking of horses, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate my backyard smelling like manure.”

“You’re welcome. I hear it’s great fertilizer. And don’t you worry your pretty little head, there’s more where that one came from. The boys won’t be left out. I’m just waiting for them to start talking. Then they’ll be my wingmen. I’ll take them out on the town to pick up chicks. But I have to wait until they can talk, because the last time I tried, it didn’t go so well.”

“Oh, yeah? What happened?” The lack of interest in her tone wasn’t unusual. It was a good thing I knew she loved me; otherwise, I’d think I annoyed her.

“One of them started crying—not sure which, they both look the same—and I had asked this hot blonde with huge knockers if I could borrow one of her tits. Needless to say, it didn’t turn out the way I planned.”

Ellie rolled her eyes and shook her head, but she couldn’t hide the whispered laughter that seeped past her smiling lips. “I probably would’ve believed you had I not just overheard you talk to a toddler about how to keep the mother of your child from leaving you. You talk a good game, Gage, but I can see your playbook.”

“I should probably let Coach know. He wouldn’t like it if the other teams caught wind of what he had in that thing. A coach’s playbook is like their holy grail.”

When we made it to the front door, Ellie grabbed the handle but didn’t open it. Instead, she waited until I turned to face her and said, “She’s probably bored. I haven’t spent much time with her to really get to know her well, but the day I was there after her accident was enough to understand her a bit better. I really like her, Gage. She’s good for you, and as odd as it sounds, I think you’re good for her, too.”

A warmth spread throughout my chest and curled my lips.

“I honestly don’t think she’s trying to move out of the house and leave you. She’s more than likely applying for jobs to give her something to do while you’re gone. Coby and I may not have been dating when he played, but we were living together. He was my best friend, and when he traveled, it got lonely here. And I was a full-time student with a boyfriend and group of friends to keep me company. So if I had all that to occupy my time and still felt lonely when he was away, imagine how Katie feels.”

“I’ve tried to get her to come with me, but she won’t.”

“I know this is all new to you, considering you haven’t had much experience with relationships outside of Missy—who, in my opinion, gave you more freedom than most would—but there’s nothing appealing about living out of a suitcase in one hotel after the other. You’re used to it, she’s not. Plus, she’s pregnant. Airplanes and cheap mattresses are uncomfortable for the normal person; imagine how bad it is for someone who has a baby sleeping on their bladder or digging a heel into their ribs.”

I nodded because she made sense, but I wasn’t about to tell her that. I didn’t need to feed her ego. Coby would never forgive me if his wife couldn’t fit her head out of the door because I’d told her she was right about something. So a nod was all she’d get from me.

“Thanks, Ellie.”

With an easy smile, she opened the door to let me out. I’d made it about five steps before she called out after me, “You owe me five hundred bucks for my computer.”

“Sure thing, kitten.” I tossed a hand in the air without turning around. “Send me a bill.”