Hope Falls: Stealing Home (Kindle Worlds Novella) by Lori Ryan

Author:Lori Ryan [Ryan, Lori]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kindle Worlds
Published: 2016-01-26T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Jason watched the firelight dance off the amber liquid in the glass. He’d poured the whiskey over the now-melted ice over an hour ago, but had yet to take a sip. As he sat in the bed and breakfast’s comfortable living room, he didn’t really have anything particular on his mind. Other than not taking that first sip. He focused the majority of his energy on that single goal. The rest of it was focused on pretending his dad hadn’t called to see how his off-season training was going. Or that his dad hadn’t exploded when he’d heard he was in Hope Falls teaching kids instead of keeping himself in shape for the next season.

There was a time when the chance to connect with his dad even a little bit—to simply have his dad look at him again instead of pretending he didn’t exist—had meant the world to Jason. There was a time when he would have lapped up every bit of attention he could get from his dad. But, lately, he’d begun to realize that attention was coming at a cost. And Jason wasn’t sure he wanted to pay that price anymore.

As he let his eyes stray back to the glass in front of him and the thought roll around in his brain, he was almost startled by it. The cost of his dad’s attention was playing ball. And didn’t Jason love playing ball as much as his dad loved that he played it? For the first time ever, he wasn’t entirely sure of the answer. So he went back to shutting down his brain and blocking everything out.

He swirled the glass under his nose, breathing in the scent. He didn’t know why he was torturing himself like this, but in an odd way being able to decide whether or not he took that sip made him feel better. It grounded him. Because for once, he felt in charge. He felt like he was controlling his life. Sure, Mama had been the one to set him on this path, but for the first time in a long time, it wasn’t a path designed to get his parents’ attention. He wasn’t trying to atone for his sins or somehow replace what he’d taken from them when his sister had died. That felt good. It felt freeing.

“Hey.”

Jason spun around to see Laken standing in the entrance to the room, looking a little unsure of herself. He didn’t blame her. He wasn’t sure of anything where she was concerned either. He hadn’t seen her in three days. Not since she’d taken off like the devil was chasing her after that kiss that almost became a hell of a lot more than a kiss. He had a feeling he was the devil she was running from. Like him, she seemed unable to resist the pull between them. He put out his hand to her and she walked to him, taking it and letting him tug her onto the couch beside him.

“Long day?” she asked, nodding to the glass in his hand.

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