Read Balls Fore (Ball Games #4) for Free Online Page A

myself against you.’
    Beth’s voice is becoming louder and more panic stricken with every sentence. Suddenly I visualise our roles reversed. A scared mother. A virtual stranger. But who’s to blame for that? It’s not me.
    ‘I’ve no intention of scaring my son. I have a DBS check that’s up to date and I’ll bring it with me tomorrow. You’ll find out I’m not so different from the man you abandoned four years ago.’
    Beth looks downward. She says nothing.
    ‘I’ll tell you what. Let's make a temporary deal. I’ll not blame you for robbing me of three years of my son’s life if you try and trust me to do what’s best for him.’
    ‘Temporary?’ Beth looks confused.
    ‘Well, I’ve yet to hear the amazing reason I was kept from him.’
    ‘I didn’t want Trey to impede your career.’
    I laugh before I realise her words aren’t a joke.
    ‘Let me clarify. You didn’t tell me you were pregnant because of my golf?’
    ‘That’s right.’
    ‘You’re taking the piss. It’s ridiculous.’
    Her jaw tenses. ‘Not to me it isn’t.’
    ‘I could have played golf around having a son.’
    ‘Joe told me your mind needed to be focused. A baby would have interfered. He said you were the sort of bloke to give it all up to stay home. He made it clear what we would take away from you. I couldn’t do that. Make you feel you had to stay with us. You’d have resented us eventually.’
    I bring my hand to my head as tension pounds my temple. I wince. ‘Joe knew?’
    Joe. My agent and best friend. Past tense. When my career ended so did our friendship. Money grabbing fucker moved onto the next big thing, his paychecks from me gone. Joe knew and never said?
    ‘I came to visit you. To tell you. Joe was there. We talked.’
    My voice rises. ‘I’ll fucking kill him!’
    Beth gives me a warning look and uses her hand in the small of my back to move me back into the lounge.
    ‘He talked sense. You had a chance to be a huge success. You didn’t need to be trapped.’
    My voice rumbles like thunder. ‘Do you not think I should have been the judge of that? Do I not have a brain in my head?’
    ‘I did what I thought was right at the time. You’d just landed a huge tour. We were fuck buddies.’
    ‘Is that what you thought we were? Truly?’
    ‘That’s how I thought you saw us. We met in hotel rooms.’
    I wave her away. ‘Jesus Christ. I can’t take this. My head’s fucked.’
    ‘Leo, if I messed up I can’t rewind time. We can only move forward.’
    ‘I can’t take any more of this. God, I need to think.’ I rush to the hallway and grab my coat. ‘I’ll be back tomorrow. Er, I’ll call before I come over.’
    ‘Leo-’
    ‘Don’t.’
    Beth nods. I can tell she’s barely holding it together. How can one part of me want to strangle her while the other wants to carry her up to bed and make up for lost time?
    I head to my car. Then I race around the streets of Rotherham. Eventually, I’m pulled by a traffic cop. As soon as he sees it's me, an autograph and a warning and I’m on my way home.
    Then I realise I didn’t get my photos.
    A huge house in Whiston and not even a small photo of my son. My life is so fucked up.
     

Chapter Six
     
    Tim
     
    ‘Camille and Tyler are joining us for lunch at The Red Lion today,’ Dora informs me. ‘Family meeting.’
    My eyes widen. ‘Why? What’s the matter? Are they okay?’
    ‘They’re okay, but we need to talk about Beth.’
    I sigh and scratch my eyebrow. ‘It’s nothing to do with us Dora.’
    Dora’s voice rises. ‘Like Hell it isn’t. We’ve known that girl since she was small. We’re going to make sure she’s okay.’
    ‘She’s got her own parents to help her with that, love.’
    ‘The television zombies? They might have to break off from a programme to help. That ain’t going to happen.’
    I’m wasting my breath. I can only attend the family meeting and attempt to reign in my partner's plans.
     
    The Red Lion’s Yorkshire