“Whatever you want to do?” I offered, not knowing what to say.

One of those dimples popped, and he was partially smiling as he asked, “But what do you think I should do?”

I didn’t mind being put on the spot, but in this case, I didn’t want to. So I shrugged at him. “Whatever makes you happy, Jonah with a little j.”

His other dimple came out to party, and he wasn’t even trying to hide his big-ass grin.

“Seriously, go wherever you want,” I said. “Go to the team that offers you the most money and has the most potential for winning. Or go where they offer you less money if it’ll make you happy. Do whatever you want. We’ll support you anywhere you are.”

“And what if I decide to retire?”

I’d swear the neighbors were able to hear the gasp that Sarah let out. Hell, the neighbors down the street might have been able to as well.

But Jonah put a hand in between him and her and said, “Mum, wait.” He speared me with a look. “What would you say if I told you I wanted to retire?”

Now I could see why he wanted to have this conversation in private. I didn’t even want to be a part of it. But… he was asking me to be involved, and I wouldn’t tell him no. So what I did was tell him the truth.

“If you want to do that and it’ll make you happy and you won’t regret it, then do it,” I said. “But, if I were you, I wouldn’t be a little bitch and quit. I’d play as long as I could if I still enjoyed it and it didn’t screw my back or my knees up too bad. You don’t give up on shit you love, Jonah. Not until you don’t have a choice. But that’s just what I think, and I told you, we’ll support you with whatever you decide to do or wherever you decide to go.” I looked at my girl sitting in her aunt’s arms and said, “Right, Mo?”

And Mo agreed with a very loud, “Da!”

*

Hours later, after giving Mo a bath that ended up with Jonah and me both nearly soaked, putting her to bed, and walking Jonah out to the porch so he could leave with his mom and sister, I went and found Grandpa. My lips were still tingling from the kiss Jonah had given me before taking off. He was sitting in front of the television with a basketball game on the screen, one of his romance novels spread open facedown on his lap. He didn’t even look up as I sat on the couch next to the love seat he was on.

What he did do was jump right into it. “That was an awkward dinner.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. It had been awkward as fuck after Jonah had asked me what he thought he should do. His mom had kept trying to bring it up, but my girl’s dad hadn’t let her, changing the subject and telling her that he would make a decision when he was ready.

Basically, she’d been shooting him annoyed looks all night, even after dinner, and Natia had sat there with a shit-eating grin on her face that she kept aiming at me so I could join in too.

And I had. Because what was their mom going to do? Get mad at me?

“Peter’s going to be disappointed he missed out.”

Grandpa snickered, and it was because of that snicker that I wasn’t expecting him to say, “He’s a good kid, Len.”

My mouth gaped, and I raised my eyebrows at him. “Now you think Jonah’s a good kid?” I asked, finally realizing just how much of a drama-filled day it had been. It had to set a new record for us.

“Yes.”

“When did you decide that?”

“Earlier.”

The only person in this world who could out stubborn me was my grandfather, but I’d still give him a run for his money. “Earlier when?”

“Earlier.”

“An hour before you went to Maio House or while you were dropping bombs after dinner?”

A smile crossed his features, and he made a little puff of a muffled laugh. “Earlier, nosey.” He couldn’t help but laugh out of fucking nowhere. “He came to the house to ask if he could have Mo for a couple hours.”

“And then?”

It was his turn to sigh. “And then,” the smart-ass went on, “I asked him why.”

Obviously.

“He told me that Noah showed up at Maio House. He said he was pretty positive there was no way you were going to forgive him, but that he wasn’t going to take the chance, so could he have Mo so they could go together, and he could remind you of what you had together. To be sure.”

Grandpa Gus raised his own eyebrows back at me. “He said he’d understand if I didn’t want to use Mo because it was a dirty move or something like that, but that he didn’t want to take any chances because he was running out of time.

“He also said that he knew I didn’t like him, but that he loved you both.” He blinked, pressing his lips together. “Then he said that even if I hated him for the rest of my immortal life and kept calling him names from that vampire book, it wasn’t going to change anything. So could I please help him?”

Fuck me.

I sniffed, trying to pick up the barest hint of onions somewhere in the house, but there wasn’t any.

Not a single hint.

Maybe because I hadn’t used a single onion in the bowls I’d made for dinner.

But still, I fucking tried to find the scent because there was no way my eyes would tear up like this for no reason all of a sudden.

And when my grandpa looked at me and kept his expression nice and even, pretending like he didn’t see me struggling to keep my shit together, he made an expression that said he was going to tell me something and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to or not.

“You know how I feel about Noah.”

I didn’t say anything because, yeah, I did have more than an idea. He’d referred to him as that no-loyalty weak little bastard months ago.

“I thought of that boy as family for thirty years, Len. I thought of him as my… nephew.” Grandpa shot me a long look before he kept going. “Even after he left for school like a spoiled, selfish kid without warning you, I was still fond of him. I thought, he’s just a kid; it’s just a phase. You’ve been so mature over most things; I knew you were an exception. Your dad had been a shithead at that age. I was a shithead at that age. It pissed me off that he did that to you, yeah, but I figured I could forgive him, and you bounced right back. You didn’t let him get you down for long.

“But I’ve seen him since then. I’ve seen him grow up. At least I’ve watched him physically grow, and I’ve got to tell you, I told Peter at least once a week for years, that I hoped the rest of him never grew up. That he didn’t get his life together and get his head on straight, and finally see you. I prayed, Len. I prayed that you wouldn’t end up with him, even if I was confident that after what he’d done by leaving, that you wouldn’t forgive him for it.”

I had to hold my breath his words felt so raw. He wasn’t done either.

“And the more time went on, the more I knew that he was going to be too stupid to see what he had in you. That boy’s loved you his whole life, but he doesn’t have, and never will have, the focus you do. You’re better than him at everything, and you always have been. He doesn’t have half your heart or your brain. I’m grateful for that, because he wasn’t what me, or Peter, would have dreamed of for you. So I’m glad. I’m real glad he’s too late. You did the right thing, Lenny. I’m glad you’re smart like I am,” he decided to end with.

I just sat there, almost holding my breath, but mostly just staring at him and taking in every word he said. I picked one at a time and went with the last thing he probably expected. “So… you’ve decided Jonah is a better option?”

He made a face. “I think you’re going to be too good for anybody.” Then he took his face to a whole new level. “But that Jonah kid—”

“He’s almost thirty-one.”

It didn’t matter apparently. “If he cares enough about you to come over here and use Mo to gain an advantage….” He tipped his head to the side. “That boy does not give a fuck. He’s not afraid to do what he has to do to get what he wants, and he told me. He was pissed off, but he was ready to fight. He didn’t run away.

“I’m impressed,” he kept going. “If somebody cares that much about what you’re doing, how can I hate him? Especially when it’s Noah, the little shithead. If I had to choose between the kid who used to stick beans up his nose—the same one who won’t even come around anymore because he knows I think he doesn’t have any balls—or the kid who still comes by even though I’m not nice to him. You know who’s gonna win that. I’m going to want the one who stuck around even when he wasn’t welcome. I want my girl to be with the kind of person who fucked up but learned from it. I want someone for you who knows your worth and wants you to be a part of his life. There’s not much more I can ask for.”

Something twisted and turned inside of me.

“You might as well ask the kid to come stay with us the rest of the time he’s here. He’s already over here all the time anyway,” Grandpa threw out.