Out of My League: Complete Box Set

by Sharon Cummin

  “She hasn't let me help her once,” Parker added.

  “I have made a home for the kids and me, and I work every day to pay for that and everything else we need,” I said. “That feels damn good, better than I ever thought it could. Goodbye, Jeff.”

  With that, I turned and walked out with Parker by my side.

  The moment we were on the road, I looked over at him.

  “You knew,” I said. “That was why you had an attitude. How?”

  “Your grandma,” he said. “She told me she thought we'd see a familiar face, and she was right.”

  “How does she do it?” I said, more to myself than to him.

  “I don't know, but that woman gets it every single time,” he said.

  When I finally pulled up outside of his apartment, I was so damn ready to go home.

  “Thank you so much for going with me,” I said. “I honestly don't know what I would have done today without you there.”

  “You would have been fine,” he said. “You're stronger than you think, Cassie.”

  He leaned over and gave me a long, passionate kiss. If Sammie and James hadn't been expecting me, I think I would have gone in to spend some time with him, but they were, so I needed to go. It was already going to be bad enough hearing my brother go on and on about Parker and me being together. Add to that the fact that Jeff was there, and I was in for one long discussion.

  “I love you,” he said, as he pulled away from the kiss.

  “I love you too, Parker,” I said. “I don't know what I've done to deserve you.”

  “I am pretty great,” he said, as he got out and leaned in to grab his bag, “but so are you. I think we're pretty good together.”

  “Me too,” I said.

  He took a step back but didn't shut the door.

  “One other thing,” he said. “I will take care of you and the kids, and you will let me.”

  Then he shut the door and walked away.

  Chapter 30

  Parker

  Cassie text me as soon as she got home from picking the kids up. When I asked her about James, she said it had gone better than expected. He hadn't even mentioned me, and I was glad. It wasn't something he needed to be putting on her shoulders in the first place. She'd been through enough and deserved some rest.

  In the weeks that went by, I went to Sammie's place as much as I could, and it was great, but the days Cassie went too were even better. Watching her play with her kids always melted my heart. I was damn proud of my woman. I noticed her taking pictures of the kids, of the kids and her, of me, of my kids, of my kids and me, and of all of us together. I'd even taken a few of my own. She didn't know it, but I'd changed my social media picture to one of us all together. I was proud to have her as mine, and I didn't care who knew it.

  I'd text my ex so many times to ask if I could take the twins to Sammie's, and each time, she'd turned me down, so when she actually said yes, I was sure I'd read it wrong, but I wasn't. I called Cassie, and she let me pick the kids up from daycare so they could go too. She met us there after work, and we had a blast. When I saw her post a picture of all of us on her social media page, I was so damn happy. It was something small, but it mattered a lot to me.

  I was even more shocked when my ex agreed to let the kids go to a game. Of course, it cost me, but I didn't care. I'd have given her an extra million just for them to be able to see me play.

  They were so damn happy when we picked them up. Cassie and the kids came with me. The twins were going to stay with her when I needed to be with the team. When the coach found out they were there, he let me bring them all down. The kids were all so excited, and the guys were great with them. I kept Cassie tucked in next to me the entire time, and I could tell she was just as happy as I was.

  During the game, I looked up to see the four kids standing there watching with Cassie and Jake right there with them. I waved up at them multiple times, and each time, they'd jump, yell, and cheer. They were my team, my crew, my family. That was when it hit me. Cassie was the one, she truly was it for me. I was going to make her mine for good, I just had to figure out when I was going to make my move and hope she wasn't going to pull some I can do this on my own shit. She was my woman, but I was going to make her my wife, it didn't matter what I had to do. I wanted to look up every time I played at home to see my family standing there, rooting for me, just like I would always do for each and every one of them.

  Chapter 31

  Cassie

  Things were going great for Parker and me. We were having so much fun together in and out of the bed. He was gone a lot, but soon he'd be home more, and I was looking forward to it. Both of our families were meshing very well together. Even though he'd been gone so much, we made it work. I'd been so worried that something would happen and he'd change his mind about being with me or that he'd just go and be with someone else, but he hadn't. I'd been to his apartment often, and some of those times he hadn't even been home. When he'd come in from being on the road, he'd come to my place. He really did love me just as much as I loved him. I was starting to believe it down deep.

  We'd been around James and Lance, and neither of them had given us shit. I couldn't believe it, but I also wasn't about to bring it up myself to ruin it. Most of the time, I only saw James at work and Lance at Sammie's place.

  Things were getting back to normal slowly with my family, but there was still a small wedge between Lauren and me. I wasn't nearly as upset as I had been, and I was beginning to realize it wasn't completely her fault.

  I was sitting at work, looking out the window, and the money from the divorce popped into my head for the millionth time. It was still there, in a separate account, not touching any of my hard earned money. I'd moved into James and Sammie's house a year before. It had been a long, sad year, but it had been amazing as well. I didn't want the money, and I didn't plan to ever spend one dime of it on the kids or myself, but it was still there. Why? Was I afraid I would need it? Even if I did, I would never want Jeff to be the one to help me. What if the kids needed it, I wondered? They wouldn't. They had me, and they had Parker. Their dad hadn't asked about them once since we'd left. That was pretty sad. The even sadder part was that they never asked about him either.

  I reached into my desk, grabbed my purse, and pulled out the list I'd been keeping of the money I owed James. I still had the receipts for each time I bought things, even the big bill for the clothes I bought the day Jeff almost got me busted. Just looking at the receipt had me laughing. The amount I spent was ridiculous. I'd never spend that much at once, not anymore, I thought. I could still see the look on James' face from when he paid the clerk, and it made total sense why that look was there. At the time it hadn't made sense at all, but a year later, I got it. Then there were receipts for each time he gave me twenty here or twenty there. It didn't seem like a lot when it was happening, but it added up to be so much more than I would have guessed. There was also the furniture and apartment expenses he'd taken care of so I could move into my own place. I even added in the money it would have cost for the things to fix the dent my phone made. On a separate part of the page, I added together the money for both of the lawyers. There was no way my brother was paying for any part of my divorce. That was all on Jeff. By the time I was done, what I owed my brother was actually not small at all. It was huge. I looked down at the total amount and then back toward his office door.

  “He's an amazing brother,” I whispered to myself.

  Even though he kept something huge from me, I knew he loved me. I'd been gone for so long, but when I showed up needing him, he dropped everything to help me. I was so upset to find out that he had another sister, but it really hadn't impacted my relationship with him. He really did have enough love to go around. James was a great man, and he was married to an equally great woman. She put up with way more than anyone should have when it came to me, and even though she'd said some words, she was still there.

  I reached back into my purse and took out the
checkbook I'd gotten for the account that held the divorce and house money, and I wrote the first check. It was paying my brother back for every penny he spent on my divorce. Then I pulled out my other checkbook, the one that held the money I actually worked for, and I wrote the first check of many with my brother's name on it. Then I walked into this office and handed them to him. When he looked down at them, his eyes grew huge.

  “What is this?” he asked.

  “That is the money I owe you for my divorce,” I said. “Including the second lawyer. You were right, it was a good idea, and it wasn't your job to pay for it. The other is my first payment toward what you've given me since I got here.”

  “Cassie,” he said in warning.

  “Cash them, James,” I said. “I need you to cash the big one soon. If you don't, it will sit in that account forever, and I don't want that. I'm going to close it the second all the money is gone. I need to know that my life has changed and that I'm a better person than I was a year ago. You cashing that check is going to help with that.”

  “I'm so damn proud of you,” he said, as he got up, came around his desk, and hugged me tight, “even if you're with that damn Parker guy. You're a different person, Cassie. You should be proud.”

  I nodded, as I hugged him back.

  “I don't know what I would have done without you and Sammie,” I said. “Thank you for everything.”

  “You would have been fine without me, Cassie,” he said. “You're stronger than you think you are.”

  “That's what Parker said,” I said, before I could stop the words from coming out.

  “Yeah,” he said. “Well, he's right. You've done amazing with the kids. They are so damn happy, and that's because of you.”

  I nodded. Then I pulled away and hurried back out to my desk before I became a blubbering mess.

  When lunch came, I took off for the bank.

  The moment my workday ended, I headed for the store, the same one I'd been to that day, the one where James had had to come rescue me. When I walked in, I saw her, the clerk that had been there that day, so I grabbed a candy bar and headed for her register. As I waited for her to take care of the person in front of me, I thought about the words she'd said to me that day, the same ones that had played through my head multiple times since she'd said them, and she was right.

  When the customer in front of me left, the clerk rang up my candy bar without looking up and read me the total from the screen. I handed her two dollars, and she handed me my change.

  “I don't know if you remember me,” I said. “It was almost a year ago, but I was in a pretty rough spot. I'd left my husband after catching him cheating on me. I bought a lot of stuff, and when I handed you my card, it had been reported stolen.”

  “The black card,” she said, as she looked up at me. “I remember. You seem different. I hope everything worked out for you.”

  She had perked up at bit, but I could still see sadness in her eyes.

  “I need to thank you for that day,” I said.

  “What do you mean?” she asked. “I didn't do anything.”

  “Yes, you did,” I said. “I'd been through a lot, and when that happened, I didn't know what to do. Each card I had given you showed the same thing. That day could have turned out so much different. You could have called the police, but you didn't. Instead, you waited so my brother could bring me money. That was something you didn't have to do, but I'm so happy that you did.”

  “I wouldn't have wanted someone to call on me, and I believed you. You seemed genuinely surprised,” she said.

  “I was,” I replied. “You said something to me that day, and your words have played back in my head at some pretty rough times. You told me that at least I had someone. You said that you'd had to go through it alone. There were times I didn't know what to do, but I'd hear your words and know that things could be worse. Nobody should have to go through things alone.”

  I reached into my purse, grabbed the ten one hundred dollar bills I'd put in it at the bank, and folded them together, before handing them to her.

  “What's this?” she asked.

  “It's for you,” I said. “Just know that you're not alone, even when it seems like you are. It's not a lot, but I hope it helps you in some way. Take your kids out, pay a bill, or just use it to relax a bit. I probably left that day and you forgot it even happened, but I didn't. Thank you for being kind when I was a mess.”

  She looked down at the money and then back up at me, and she came around the register and pulled in to hug me.

  “Thank you,” she said. “You will never know what you just did for me.”

  “You're never alone,” I said. “Have a great day!”

  “You too,” she said, with a huge smile on her face.

  It might not have helped her for long, but she knew that what she'd done had meant something, and that was very important to me.

  I walked out of the store, and it hit me. I knew exactly what I was going to do with the rest of the money.

  Chapter 32

  Cassie

  Halloween was approaching, and James and Sammie were planning to take their kids to Lance and Lauren's. We'd been invited as well. Lauren had even text me herself. I went back and forth in my mind, trying to decide if I wanted to go. Part of me didn't want to. It wasn't right, but I was still having a bit of a hard time with the whole James' other sister thing. Another part of me didn't want the kids to miss out on having fun with their cousins. As much as I didn't want to admit it, Lauren's son and baby girl were their cousins too. It might not have been by blood, but our family had never worked that way.

  Parker said he'd paid his wife, and she'd agreed to let him have the kids. I thought he was joking, but he wasn't. He actually said I'll give you a thousand dollars if you let me take them, and she seriously agreed. How fucked up was that? He got the twins for Halloween, and that meant more to him than any amount of money.

  Then my grandma called to let me know that she was coming, which meant my parents were coming too. How could I let them come and go without the kids seeing them? I couldn't. I might have wanted to see them too, but I used the kids as an excuse. I was still mad at them too.

  Add all of that to the fact that I'd never really had Halloween with my kids. The year before, our lives had just been turned upside down. Our first real Halloween needed to be one to be remembered, so I'd finally sent back a message letting Lauren know that we would be there too.

  When we took the kids costume shopping, they had so much fun. Jenny and Sarah had agreed on matching costumes, and Jeff and Sam had done the same. Parker had found an adorable baseball costume for Jake. As soon as he picked it up, his eyes were filled with excitement. There was no way I could say no to him. On top of all of the costumes, the kids wanted to decorate the apartments. I told them we wouldn't be home long enough to worry about it, but they insisted that they needed just a few decorations. Parker agreed, and I shot him a look, the one telling him not to mess with me. His smile grew, as he leaned in and kissed me on the head.

  “Not this time, princess,” he said. “They get the decorations.”

  He wasn't kidding either. Parker let them get whatever they wanted, and when we got to the register, he wouldn't even let me pay for my own kids' costumes. I argued, but he gave me his best don't mess with me look, and his was much worse than mine, so I gave in.

  As soon as we got back to his place, the kids started decorating. They had stuff everywhere. There were even webs on his trophies. I honestly thought the man was going to lose it, but he didn't. Instead, he laughed just as hard as I did. The man was amazing. He even made sure my kids had a bag, with the same decorations, to bring home with us. I thought the excitement would have worn off, but it didn't. We walked in our door, and Jenny and Jeff started all over again. I couldn't remember a time in my life where I'd had that much fun.

  When I finally got the kids to bed and fell into my own, I couldn't wipe the smile from my face. Just as I closed my eyes, I hea
rd the ding of my phone and reached over to get it.

  Parker: Really? Do you think I don't put on clean boxers? If you ever put money in my drawer again, I'm going to spank that ass so hard. Then I'm going to bring you right to the edge of an orgasm and deny you of it, over and over again. You get me, Woman?

  I did it so he knew I wasn't to be messed with either, but it hadn't really worked, and I knew it. Just the thought of him spanking my ass had me ready to get him alone again, but I wasn't about to tell him that.

  Me: You wouldn't dare?

  I hit send with a smile on my face. Before he could reply, I sent another message.

  Me: Goodnight, sexy beast.

  Parker: So not fair, princess. Goodnight!

  Halloween came, and the kids were all dressed and ready to go. I started taking pictures, and Parker was right there behind me taking his own. Between the two of us, the kids were going crazy.

  “We have to get to Aunt Lauren and Uncle Lance's,” Jenny said, as a frustrated look took over her features.

  Aunt Lauren, I thought. She was their aunt. The kids loved her, everyone did. I even did before I found out who she was. What made it even harder was that she loved us all too, and she was very good to my kids, even after I'd been a bitch.

  “Let's go,” Parker said, as he picked Jake up. “Come on, ballplayer. You're with me today.”

  When we walked in, I let out a laugh. Big Lance was sitting on the couch with a baby in each arm. For such a tough guy, he sure was a softy when it came to his family. My grandma hugged Parker tighter than she did me, and I was actually a little jealous, until I saw how happy it made him. When I turned around, the kids were gone.

  “They're fine,” Lauren said. “Jackson had his toys all out and waiting. He couldn't wait for them to get here.”

  “That's a lot of kids,” I said.

  “Doesn't matter,” she said.