His eyes widened comically. “Oh—uh—we used to talk about it. Nick, Luke, Grant, Will, and me. It wasn’t that any of us thought it was a right-now thing, but, um, yeah. I never thought about what I’d do after I retired from pitching because—” He looked away. “Well.” He swallowed. “I used to think I’d do the dad thing when I retired.”
That flipped Taran’s stomach. She could see it. She’d seen him with Beth’s twins and with her older kids at Nick’s wedding. She thought of the finger paintings and photos that covered his walls. The way he played with her niece and nephews. It wasn’t hard to imagine him with kids of his own.
“You’d be a good dad, Corey,” she said quietly.
He looked down, and just the corner of his mouth turned up. “I always wanted to have a family.” He paused, but before she could jump in, he added. “Back then, I wanted kids because I wanted someone who would love me.”
Every time he made those statements, he guttered her. Her heart ached for the kid he used to be. She wrapped her arms around his waist, and he leaned into her.
“That’s not a reason to have kids, and I know that now. They’re a lot of work. Look at Beth and Marc—they haven’t slept in months.”
“They seem to handle it together,” she said.
“I always wanted that too.”
Her breath caught at his last statement because she used to want that too. Before. Before she was broken. But the strange thing was, she’d never felt broken with Corey. He made her feel alive. He made her feel whole. He made her feel.
“Damn it,” Corey said, and she looked up to see Will throw back another shot. “Give me a second, chipmunk.”
She pinched his side hard, and he flinched. “I hate that.”
But he laughed. “I know. That’s why I picked it.”
“You’re so annoying.”
He smirked. “But you like it.”
Her gaze hung on his tight ass in the navy-blue suit pants as he walked away.
“The ass on that man,” said a voice beside her.
Taran turned to agree, but her eyes widened at who stood beside her. “Oh wow, you’re you. I mean. You’re here.” Taran winced as Mel Holly laughed at her. “Congratulations? Or—” Taran shook her head and swallowed. “I’m fangirling a little even though I promised myself I wouldn’t, so just tell me to shut up, okay?”
She laughed again. “I came over to say hi and thank you, but if you really want me to tell you to shut up, I can.”
“Thank you?” Taran asked, finally pulling herself together.
“He would never have come without you, so I appreciate you being here.”
“She also planned to lecture you about not hurting our boy, but we can see that’s not an issue,” Hunter said.
And Taran’s fangirling started again.
She opened her mouth and then shut it twice. “Hunter Cannon, I’ve literally seen all of your movies, and now I’m talking to you, and it’s kinda blowing my mind. Thank God Corey is at the bar and not watching me act ridiculous.”
Hunter shrugged. “If it makes you feel better, when Holly introduced me to your boyfriend, I called him my idol and asked him to sign my shirt.”
“He did,” Corey said, coming up behind Taran. “Stop overwhelming my girl or I will happily tell that story every time we’re together.”
“That was before I knew you were a dick.” Hunter laughed.
His new wife whacked him in the stomach. “Corey’s just an acquired taste.”
“That’s why you begged me to come today?” Corey rolled his eyes. But Taran couldn’t stop the smile that pushed at her lips at the genuine affection between these three. Her mind flicked back to the conversation about just wanting to be loved. Corey had the kind of heart that made him so easy to love. It was crazy that anyone could not adore this man.
She swallowed hard at where her thoughts were heading; she couldn’t fall for him. Not when it could all come crashing down around her as soon as he found out about the article. They had to talk about it tonight. It couldn’t wait any longer.
“I hate to be that guy, but I’m leaving,” Corey announced.