Page 45 of Fighting Chance

He snorts. “At least you’re still your cheery self.”

“I would be a lot better if you weren’t out of Froot Loops,” I mutter.

“You know you have your own house, right? And your own money to buy cereal?”

“Of course I do,” I say, blinking back at him.

“Then maybe buy your own?”

“I do.”

He shakes his head. “Fucking cereal,” he murmurs under his breath.

Both his hands remain glued to the wheel, his gaze quickly jumping back to the road. I don’t think he’ll ever be able to feel relaxed driving again, but he’s come a long way since last year. He even earned his eleven-month sobriety token last week.

I text him all the time how proud I am of him and how he’s turned his life around.

Grayson sighs loudly as he flicks his blinker on.

“What are you doing?” I ask.Is he taking a detour?

“You’re going to be a nervous wreck if you don’t have some.”

Before I know it, Grayson is pulling into a gas station and a laugh is bursting from me.

I clap his shoulder as I jump out of his truck. “You’re a legend, Crawford!”

“Yeah, yeah, go get your goddamn cereal and hurry up, you weird freak.”

Practically skipping into the gas station, I finally feel like I can breathe as my eyes land on a small box of Froot Loops. I whistle under my breath, smiling like the damn Cheshire Cat as I pay the attendant and make my way back to the car, my hand already buried in the box.

Grayson just shakes his head at me as I slide into his truck.

“Are you ever going to tell me the fascination you have with cereal?”

“Nope,” I lean back in my seat, my knee finally still.

I check my messages to see if Layla has texted but come up empty. This is the first time I’ve left Emmy with someone else and you’d think I’d be more nervous aboutthatthan telling the team I have a daughter I just met, but apparently not.

“I’m telling you, the guys will be nothing but supportive.”

Chewing around a mouthful of cereal, I nod along. “I know, I have no idea why I’m even stressed.”

“I mean, your situation isn’t exactly the norm.” He keeps his gaze pinned on the road as he rolls to a stop at the lights, waiting to turn into the arena parking lot.

Fuck, why couldn’t the car ride be longer?

“How do I even say it though? How the hell do you announce that you just found out you have a daughter who sat next to her dead mother—who, like the dick that I am, Istillcannot remember—and now I’m terrified she’ll never speak again?”

Suddenly, not even the cereal is working its magic, and as Grayson places the car in park, my chest heaves.

Grayson turns to me. “They don’t need to know that. They only need to know whatyouwant them to know.” He peers at me, worry lining his face. “Are you sure you want to do this now?”

Shoving my hand in the cereal box, I keep it there, just the mere act of my fingers brushing the Froot Loops calming my breathing slightly. “No, I want to do it now. Rip the Band-Aid off.” I inhale another heaping mouthful before gently placing the box on the floor of Grayson’s car. “Just freaking out a little is all,” I confess quietly.

Sliding out, I round the truck and meet Grayson at the trunk, averting his troubled gaze.

“A little freak-out is okay,” he assures me as we grab our kits.