Roan stared at Seg, taking in the dark shadows on his face, trying to peer into his eyes, to find the comfort he needed, because he was quickly falling apart.
"Roan … "
The next thing he knew, Roan was sobbing, Seg's arms coming around him and holding him tight.
This was all too much. Every damn bit of it.
Liam.
Seg.
His father.
The stupid fucking reporters.
Roan didn't want to fight his parents for custody, and he shouldn't have to. If Seg hadn't pulled his stunt, none of this would be happening. But damn it all to hell, Roan would do what needed to be done in order to protect his son. He wanted Liam in his life, wanted to raise him. So what if he was fucking gay; it didn't mean he didn't love that boy with all that he was.
Seg's hand cradled the back of Roan's head, warm, strong, comforting. He didn't ask questions, didn't offer any meaningless words of comfort. He merely held him, and Roan needed that right then. He needed the physical security, something to hold him together while he let it all out.
Several minutes passed before he managed to compose himself. Pushing away from the warm man offering him solace, Roan looked up at Seg's face, backlit by the light from the parking lot.
"Cam called you." It wasn't a question.
Seg touched his forehead, then brushed one blond eyebrow down with his fingers. That was a tell of his, Roan had noticed. It didn't necessarily mean he was lying, but it did mean he was uncomfortable about something. Which likely meant that Cam had called him and he'd also asked Seg not to say anything about it.
He would have to have a conversation with Cam later.
"How're you holding up?"
Roan wasn't sure how to answer that question, so he shrugged. He wanted to ask Seg why he was there, but his answer really didn't matter. Roan wasn't sure how he felt about it yet, but he'd been an asshole long enough. Right now, he simply needed to process what was going on in his life and not focus on the shit that didn't matter.
Not that Seg didn't matter. He was a … Roan was going to say friend, but that was bullshit. Seg was everything. He'd long ago fallen in love with the guy even if he was too stupid to accept it. No matter how hard he tried, Roan couldn't completely write him out of his life, but right now, he didn't know what to do with the giant blond staring back at him. He wanted to ask Seg to hold him some more, to turn back time and erase everything that had taken place in the last couple of weeks.
But no matter what, Seg couldn't hold him because Roan needed time to himself, time to process what his next steps were. He knew Seg wanted to work things out, and maybe that was a possibility, but Roan wouldn't know that for sure until he could wrap his head around all the shit going on.
"Knock, knock."
Roan peered around Seg to see Teague peeking in the small gap in the door where he held it open.
"Shit," Roan grumbled. "Did I wake you up?"
"No. I'm not an old fucker like you. I don't have dinner and fall asleep after," Teague assured him with a smirk as he stepped inside. His expression sobered. "Hudson and I were watching TV. I heard the door chime a second time and wanted to check on you." Teague glanced over at Seg. "Looks like that's already being taken care of."
"Yeah." Roan didn't look at Seg. "Thanks. I'm just gonna hang here for a while. Cam and Gannon are watching Liam."
Teague frowned. "I heard about your stepmother, man. I'm really sorry she's pulling this shit. If you ask me, he's better off with you anyway. He's happy. That's what matters."
Roan nodded. He briefly wondered how Teague had heard, but he didn't ask. It didn't matter anymore. "Thanks. That means a lot."
Teague rolled his eyes. "Whatever, man. You might not believe me, but it's true. I'm not blowin' smoke up your ass. But anyway. You do what you gotta do." Teague cast a quick look at Seg. "You stay with him. Keep him from thinkin' too much."
Before Roan could protest, Seg's hand came down on his shoulder, giving him a gentle squeeze. It was a silent reassurance that doing what Teague said was the right thing to do.
"Thanks, Teague … for everything."
"Anytime. Let us know if you need anything."
Roan hoped he wouldn't have to ask for help. He wasn't big on leaning on other people or relying on them. However, he was starting to think it might be time to. If nothing else, he needed to know he had people behind him, people who believed in him.
Because no matter what, Roan wasn't letting anyone take Liam from him. He would give up everything else before he allowed that to happen.
JUST WHEN HE THOUGHT THINGS were starting to look up …
Seg had realized after the game that Roan was ignoring him. Rather than blowing up the man's phone, Seg had hopped in the Range Rover and headed right for Roan's house only to find no one was home. He'd remembered Roan telling him that Cam and Gannon lived somewhere close to the marina, so he'd headed that direction while searching for Cam's phone number.