Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79800 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79800 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
I laugh bitterly. “Once again, I was rejected. I put myself out there, and she stomped all over my heart. I was pissed. She was there with me through all the planning. She was an active participant. Not once did she show me, tell me, or let me know she wasn’t sure or was having second thoughts. Her no to my proposal came out of nowhere. She told me she couldn’t wait to be my wife, and then just no.”
“Fuck,” Landry mutters.
“I didn’t fight for her. I just… walked away. So many times over the years, I wanted to reach out, but when I looked her up, she seemed happy. She was dating another doctor, and she was living a life we planned without me.” Silence falls around the table. I’m sure I’ve shocked them.
Knox raps his cards on the table, clearing his throat. “I stand by what I said,” Knox tells me. “I believe that you loved her, but I don’t think she was the person you were meant to spend your life with.”
This time, instead of getting defensive, I think about his words. “I don’t know if you’re right,” I admit. “I know I loved her. I know that when she said no, it turned my world upside down. I know that, all these years later, I still think about that day. I think about what I did wrong, or what I could have done differently. I didn’t even try, Knox.”
Knox tilts his head before saying, “You all know about my parents. My mom adopted me, and you all already know how it all came to be. Maybe it’s how I grew up, maybe it’s my love for my wife and son that has me so blinded by what I feel for them, and that’s all I can see. But I think it’s because life works in mysterious ways. It has a way of giving you things you never knew you needed or wanted.” He laughs. “I didn’t see Corie coming. I mean, sure, that first meeting, I ran into her in the hallway, but that’s not what I mean. I didn’t know what my life was missing until she crashed into it. I didn’t know what love meant. I grew up seeing it. I watched my dad and my uncles love my mom and my aunts. I knew what it looked like, but I’d never really felt it. Maybe that’s the same for you.”
I open my mouth to rebut his claims, but he holds up his hands.
“You loved her, Foster, that’s obvious, but there are so many different types of love. I think you’ve yet to find your forever love.”
“I wanted her. I needed her,” I say, my voice low and gravelly.
“Yeah, but I think what Knox is trying to say,” Baker says, “is that she didn’t need you in the same way. A year ago, I would have called bullshit. I would have said Beckett had lost his mind, that our captain had gone off the deep end, but I lived it. Sloane was the last person I thought I’d fall in love with. She’d been in our lives because of Corie and the other ladies for years. It took us being thrown together to really get to know her. I wouldn’t have given her, or anyone, the time to do that otherwise. All I wanted to do was play ball and take care of my son. Now, all I want to do is see them both smile, and maybe give Cam some siblings.” He chuckles.
“None of us were looking,” Reid chimes in. “But it found us when we least expected it. I agree with Knox. She’s still out there. The one woman who changes everything.” He smiles, and I know he’s thinking about Bellamy and their daughter, Coral.
“Look at me,” Landry says. “I found my wife, and she accepts me for who I am. I’m sure we can all agree, I was the last person y’all thought would settle down.”
“I don’t know,” Baker muses. “You have a softness to you. Right here.” He rubs his flat abs.
“Fuck off.” Landry laughs. “You know what I meant.”
“So, you think, what? It was just young love, and there’s still someone out there who will look past that? I have no blood relatives, no family to offer her. And there’ll be someone who just accepts me, scars and all?”
“You have a family,” Knox says, his voice stern. “Look around this table, Foster. We are your family. We might not share DNA, but there is more to family than blood. If anyone knows that, it’s me. And your high school coach, and his wife, they chose to be your family.”
“Fuck, I know. That’s not what I meant.”
“We know that, but I need to make sure you understand. I don’t give a fuck who your parents were. I don’t care if you grew up in the woods, eating worms to stay alive, you’re Foster fucking Vaughn, one of my best friends and my brother. Nothing will change that.”