Page 16 of The Offside Rule
“I know.”
“It’s good for her,” she said. “Feeling independent, having adventures, knowing she can step into the world and come back to you. That matters.”
I nodded because if I opened my mouth too fast, I wasn’t sure what would come out.
Cole stood on my other side. “You held it together better than I expected.”
“Thanks, Coach.”
“Well.” Cole cleared his throat. “We’re heading to dinner. Come with us.”
I shook my head. “I’m good. I’ll head home and complain to Quinn on the phone for an hour.”
Holland turned to me. “No, you won’t. You’ll come eat with us,” she insisted.
“I don’t want to crash family dinner.”
“You’re not crashing anything,” Cole said. “You’re family enough to suffer through dinner with us.”
CC stood slightly behind Holland with her arms folded loosely over her middle. She hadn’t said much since the girls walked away, but I could feel her there, which was insane. I should not have been able to feel someone standing five feet from me in the middle of an airport. My instincts told me to say no to dinner. The less time I spent around CC, the better. She was Cole’s daughter. My coach’s daughter. I was already feeling guilty after the shower fiasco. But I had my empty condo waiting in the city, quiet and clean and missing every sign of Isla. No voice talking through movie scenes. No backpack dropped by the door. No reason to cook more than eggs or pretend I wasn’t counting down the days until she came home. Dinner with the Davises was safer than being alone with my own head. The fact that CC would be there had nothing to do with it.
“Sure. Thanks, man.” I clapped Cole on the back because I apparently had a death wish.
CHAPTER 4
Hunter
We ended up at a Texas barbecue place not far from the airport, the kind with dark wood booths, metal chairs, framed rodeo photos on the walls, and the smell of smoke and spice soaked into everything. The hostess led us to a booth meant for four, then dragged a chair to the end because there were five of us.
Perfect. I reached for the chair automatically. “I’ll sit at the end.”
Jaden dropped into it before I could. “I want the end.”
Holland gave me an apologetic smile as she slid into the booth beside Cole. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” I said, even as the only open space left was beside CC.
She moved in along the bench, and I sat beside her because making a scene about it would have been more obvious than enduring it. Enduring it lasted approximately three seconds. Her bare thigh was close to mine under the table. Not touching, but close enough that my body seemed to take inventory of every inch of space between us. She smelled different than she hadon the 4thof July. Less chlorine and more vanilla mixed with something citrusy. Her hair was loose over one shoulder, and the yellow tank top had ridden up slightly when she sat, revealing that maddening little diamond at her navel. I picked up the menu like it contained classified information.
Cole, mercifully, started talking to CC about the elective. “You’ll meet a few of the development camp guys this week,” he said, resting one arm along the back of the booth. “Some of the rookies are already in town. Good kids, most of them. Excited. Terrified. Trying not to look terrified.”
CC smiled. “That sounds about right.”
“We’ve got a few forwards I want the staff watching closely. One defenseman with a history of shoulder instability, though he’ll tell you he’s completely fine.”
“He’s not?” she asked.
Cole snorted. “They’re never completely fine when they’ve played in the NCAA.”
Holland gave Cole a knowing look. They had met in college, and the rest was history.
I kept my attention on the menu. “Watch out for the rookies.”
CC turned her head toward me. “Why?”
Because they’ll take one look at you and forget their own names. I didn’t say that. Instead, I kept my voice even. “Young guys get excited about the new city, the new team, and the new pretty faces around the facility. Some of them think signing an entry-level contract means they’ve become irresistible overnight.”
Cole pointed at me. “He’s not wrong.”
