The Harper Family: Second Chances (Wattpad Version)

I wasn't expecting that

Keaton

Now, I regret letting my emotions get the better of me with Joshua. How could I be so stupid?

Thanks to that schmuck, I lost my virginity and treated sex like an afterthought. I destroyed my relationship with my family, landed in trouble, and got addicted. All for what? Because I let my infatuation with a guy cloud my judgment.

I sat on the back deck alone as everything crashed down around me. If you want someone to get sober, send them to a cabin in no-man's land and hold them captive. They don't have a choice but to sober their ass up.

The screen door creaked. I glanced behind me to see Ricardo coming outside. I shook my head, stood up, and started to leave.

"Keaton."

"It's fine. You have a job to do." I started walking away.

"Will you stop?"

I stopped and turned to Ricardo. "What?"

Ricardo walked toward me. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For everything."

"Why? It's not your fault I made a stupid decision leading to my current situation."

"I'm not sorry for that."

"Huh?" I arched a brow.

"I'm trying to do what's right. But it's hard. Even after discovering who you were, I wanted to be selfish."

"You're not making any sense." I shook my head.

"As an agent, they tell you not to let your emotions get in the way of the job. They teach you to treat people like a job. No emotions. No attachments. What they don't teach you is the loneliness that comes with it. For once, I could be just Ricardo, not Federal Agent Ricardo Muniz, with you."

I looked at Ricardo and shook my head. "It doesn't matter. You have a job to do."

Ricardo cupped my face. "But it matters to me. My training is telling me to treat this like any other job. My heart is screaming for you. How do you separate the two?"

I looked at Ricardo and knew if I caved, I would get left with a broken heart. I placed my hands on his and removed them from my face. "It's a nice dream. But that's all it is—a dream." With that, I walked away.

******
Ricardo

I stepped back and lowered myself on the deck as Keaton walked away. Brady warned me about what would happen if I got emotionally involved in a case. I didn't listen.

I rubbed my face, wondering why I couldn't be happy. Why does everyone else get to find their happiness?

The screen door creaked. I didn't bother to look.

Dexter sat down beside me. "Keaton's scared."

"What?" I snapped my head to Dexter.

"It's one reason Keaton didn't tell the family he's gay. He was afraid they wouldn't accept him. I made the mistake of threatening to out him."

"Why?"

"Long story short. I needed his help to confront Chelsea. She threatened to get rid of my kid. I didn't know everything that was going on. All I wanted was my kid."

"I wish I understood your reasoning, but I can't. I didn't grow up with a family that protected me. I had to figure shit out for myself."

"Ricardo, the Grays, and Harpers will risk everything for their family. We had the unfortunate pleasure of dealing with trolls trying to destroy it. My Uncle Michael was the glue that held our family together. When he died, Keaton and I couldn't attend his funeral. It broke us."