Free Stacked Up: Worth the Fight Series by Sidney Halston Page A

another man break her. She whispered in his ear, so that his friends wouldn’t overhear, “I was going to say that he wouldn’t think you’re good enough because he doesn’t think
anyone
, including me, is good enough. And I was also going to say that not only did
I
think you were good enough, I thought you were
everything
. But that was before, and clearly I was wrong. Thank you for reminding me why I’m here in this town. Thank you for reminding me that the only person I can count on is myself and that men are only interested in sex.” She turned around and walked away.
    —
    Travis knew pain.
    Every bone in his body had at one time been broken. He’d had stitches on most surfaces of his skin. He’d also known what it was to inflict pain. He’d left men bloodied and bruised.
    But the words that Penny had whispered into his ear were a new kind of pain. They cut deep, through his flesh and right into his soul. The fact that she hadn’t yelled or cursed was the twist that felt like a spike directly into his heart.
    “There you are!” Enzo said, looking haggard.
    Still frazzled from what had happened in the last few minutes, Travis asked, “Who the fuck’s that?” He pointed to the little bundle of blond curls snuggled against Enzo’s chest. “That’s too big to have come out of my sister,” Travis added.
    Enzo looked at Penny apologetically.
    “It’s okay,” she said with a faint smile to Enzo, and extended her arms to take the baby. “Go be with your wife. I’m sorry you had to deal with her on top of the stress of the labor.”
    “You know she’s perfect. We don’t mind. Poor thing, didn’t even notice all the mayhem going on around her. Gotta run. I’ll let you know. JL doesn’t seem to be that far along, but her water broke,” he called out, jogging away.
    Travis stood there confused. “Who is that?” he asked again.
    “Sarabelle.”
    “Who is that?” he repeated.
    “My daughter.”
    “Pardon?”
    “You heard me.”
    “You have…how can…what?”
    “Shh. Keep your voice down.” Penny spoke softly as she rocked Belle soothingly.
    “You have a kid, and you kept the fact from me?” He took his hat off and ran his fingers through his hair. “That’s why you wouldn’t stay the night?”
    “I don’t owe you any explanations.”
    “I’m sorry about what I said a minute ago.”
    “Go be with your sister, Travis.”
    “Penny…” He didn’t know what else to say. He was beyond sorry for the shit he’d said. It had just come out of his mouth. He’d been busting his ass his whole life to prove that he was something. That he was good enough. That his mother had been wrong. And when Penny had said that he wasn’t—he’d just snapped. And a kid? There were just too many things happening at the same time.
    “You don’t like kids,” she said, as if it explained everything.
    “No reason to lie to me about it.”
    “I didn’t lie.”
    “That’s complete bullsh—” His words halted abruptly as he tried to curb his language despite his rage. “How could you keep something this fu— I mean, this big from me?” He paced around the room. “For a year we talked about everything.”
    “We didn’t talk about everything. We talked about nonsense. You talked about the weather and your training, and I talked about the customers at the Pier, mostly. You never told me anything real about you. Even tonight, what do I really know about you, Travis? You wouldn’t even tell me about your tattoo. You obviously have some secret you don’t want me to know, and that was okay. That was the agreement, right? So you don’t really get to be mad now.”
    He slammed his hat on a nearby chair and ran his hands through his hair.
    “And how could you kiss me in front of the camera?” Penny went on. “Expose me like that? I told you I didn’t want to be on camera.”
    “Who the hell cares about that right now?”
    “I do!” she hissed back.
    “How could you not tell me you had a kid?