The Guy on the Left (The Underdogs, #2)(26)

She gives me the stink eye. “Only because you bat them all away. I can’t help that I’m a little over-protective.”

“Just a little.”

“He better not screw this up. I really will kill him.”

“Me too.”

“I can’t believe you gave in that day he cornered you. So unlike you.”

Swallowing a little liquid courage, I corner the sofa making my way toward her. “Parker, I haven’t been completely honest about Troy.”

“Meaning?”

“You know how I told you he would come around sometimes and watch us?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, the last few years, he’s been coming around more and more. And…he’s been sending checks.”

“What?” This finally tears her eyes away from the window.

“He’s been more diligent than I led on, waiting for me to give him any opportunity to meet his son.”

“Bullshit. Don’t give him any room on the rug, Clarissa.”

“I’m not. Trust me, I don’t want to, but it’s the truth. It took me a while to come around, but when he noticed me notice him, he kept coming back.”

Parker’s mouth parts. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I wanted you to hate him too. I know that makes me awful.”

“It’s me. We don’t keep secrets.” She’s hurt and angry, and I don’t blame her.

“Sometimes, especially in the beginning, he’d disappear for a few months, and I assumed that was the end of it. When he went missing, it was easier to ignore he’d been there. But he always came back.”

“I don’t understand why you didn’t tell me.”

“Don’t you see? If I admitted it to you, then you would have forced me to give him a chance. I had to stay strong. When he truly manned up and forced himself into our lives, that’s when I knew he was ready, and that’s why I gave in without much of a fight. I’ve been fighting with my conscience for a while now. I think on some level I always knew he was coming. I needed him to be ready. He was just a kid.”

“So were you.”

“You know what I mean.”

Parker turns back to the window. “Definitely not a kid anymore.”

“I know.”

“The ass on this guy,” Parker says before glancing over her shoulder at me. “I’m pissed at you.”

“Do you think I made a mistake?”

“I think you both had some growing up to do.”

“Ouch.”

“That’s me being nice. A mistake, probably, but time will tell. He really does need to earn your trust. But this isn’t about you. This is about our boy, and nothing is more important.”

“Agreed. I’m sorry I lied.”

“Maybe you should apologize to him.”

“One day I will, when he truly deserves it.”

I join Parker at the window peering through the blinds to see Troy clad in a backpack leaf blower, his jeans hanging low on his ass, his bare ass.

Parker’s laughter erupts when I gasp at the sight of his muscular butt on full display. “I give it an eleven out of ten. Have you ever seen such a fantastic ass?”

Troy continues his task blowing the debris from a giant oak tree while clueless he has mouths frothing on half the soccer moms in the neighborhood.

“I saw a lady with a turkey neck drive right into her garage door a few minutes ago, and your neighbor on the other side of Troy has been checking her mail for about ten minutes.”

Parker pours some wine into both our glasses, filling them as I try to control my laughter. “We need to tell him.”

“Five more minutes?” She asks with a whine similar to Dante’s.

“You’re horrible.”

She shrugs. “Not our fault. And payback is a bitch. Besides, how can you not know your ass is full-on out of your pants?”

“Kids these days,” I say, clinking glasses with her before bringing my eyes back to the tightest ass in the neighborhood. “Five more minutes.”

Fifteen minutes later, a breeze comes through, making Troy painfully aware of his nakedness. Parker and I both grumble in protest before tactically ducking when Troy self-consciously darts wide eyes around while adjusting his pants.





Troy



“We’ll be going over this more in-depth next time. See you then.” Our instructor flips the lights, and I remove my glasses, stand, and stretch. After practice it’s lights out, and I’m looking forward to my pillow and after, some time with Dante. I’m determined to ace senior year and bring up my GPA a few points. If I don’t get drafted, I want more for myself than just to settle for a different career. Though if someone told me years ago, I’d be majoring in electrical engineering and taking classes like computer science and analytic geometry, I would have laughed in their faces.

I’ve struggled in school my whole life. It wasn’t until I declared my major that I began to seriously crack the books. With the bulk of my course load under my belt and most of my struggle over, I can concentrate on doing more than just graduating. The best things in my life have always come hard-earned. If there’s anything I want to teach my son, it’s that sometimes the hardest route is the best route because it’s far more rewarding. Ball came naturally. And though I’ve done the work and put blood, sweat, and tears into the games, it’s been far easier than the challenge of school.