Page 93 of Payoff Pitch
I take a few breaths. “Wow. I don’t know what to say.”
“I’m certified. You’ll be attached to me while I control the parachute.” He smirks. “Your life will be in my hands. It’s the ultimate act of submission for you.”
“Did you just make skydiving sexual?”
He wiggles his thick eyebrows. “Oh, sweet girl, you have no idea.”
Tanner
We’ve had an amazing week in Vail. Not surprising at all, Bailey picked up skiing very quickly. She’s such a naturally gifted athlete.
We’ve settled into a routine. Harper and Dylan go to ski school in the mornings, leaving Bailey and me to have coffee and then ski on our own.
We have lunch with the girls and then ski all together during the afternoons. We go out for dinner every night. If there’s time afterward, we play board or card games, and when the girls go to bed, Bailey and I sit in the hot tub and talk. We then go at it for hours and fall asleep together. She wakes at some point during the night and sneaks back into her room. Just to be safe.
It’s been heavenly, and I don’t want it to end but it is. Fallon arrives tomorrow, so this is my last night with Bailey. We can’t risk any sneaking around tomorrow night.
We’re in the hot tub with drinks, and she smiles. “This was one of the most relaxing weeks of my life. Thank you for bringing me.”
I chuckle. “A vacation with two kids was relaxing?”
“It was. They were great. They’re so fun. And obviously getting this uninterrupted time with you has been perfect.” She lets out a laugh. “Do you realize that this is the longest Kam and I have ever been apart?”
I shake my head. “That’s incredible. Hard to believe.”
“It is. I love my sister. Not having her around feels like a limb is missing, but there’s also a little bit of peace I don’t always get to enjoy with her being…her.”
“She’s a character, for sure. Have you spoken with her?”
“Of course. She and Cheetah are up to all kinds of shenanigans.”
“No doubt about that. Do you think there’s something genuine between them?”
She shrugs. “Who knows? If there was ever anyone perfect for my sister, it’s him. I’m not sure she’s the settle-down type though.”
I blow out a breath. “I’m not sure he is either.”
She bites her lip. I know she wants to ask me the same question, but I don’t want to talk about this right now. She won’t like the answer.
I continue, “I think this is a healthy break for you and her. The codependency is a lot. You’re getting too old for that. You’ve lived your life for her. It’s time you live it for you.”
Her face falls. “I live it for me.”
“Is that so? Why aren’t you teaching? Oh, because of Kamryn. She needs you to play softball with her. At twenty-eight. Why do you live in Philly? Because of Kamryn. What about your books? You’ve mentioned two drafts sitting on your computer. You have time to work on them. Why haven’t you? Let me guess. Kamryn.”
Her stare hardens. “You have a lot of opinions for a man who keeps everyone in his life at arm’s length.”
“No, I don’t.”
“You do. Besides your monthly poker game with clients, you don’t really socialize at all. And you’re only forty-three. Why won’t you consider getting married again and having more children?”
I start to speak but she holds up her hands. “I’m not talking about doing it with me. I mean in general. There’s no reason for you to close that door and seal it shut the way you have.”
“I’m not interested in talking about this.”
“Right. Because anytime things get too emotionally intimate, you turn away. You deflect. I’ve watched you do it for as long as I’ve known you. You’ll talk about me, judgeme, but not you. I don’t really know that much about you. We’ve been doing this,” she points her finger back and forth between us, “for months. I’ve been in your house three or four days a week for nearly six months. I know about your marriage ending, but nothing substantive beyond that.”
She looks like she wants to say even more but then thinks better of it and stops herself.