Page 95 of The Offside Rule
I nodded once and picked up my fork again. Catherine was silent, and I hated that I couldn’t check on her. I hated that I was sitting with her family, giving advice about a future boyfriend, while every possessive part of me was thinking, me.
Lunch wound down after that. I managed to eat most of my chicken. Catherine managed to avoid looking at me for more than three seconds at a time. When the bill came, Cole snatched it before I could reach for it.
“You were invited,” he said.
“I’m also a grown man.”
“And I’m older, richer, and currently holding the bill.”
Holland rolled her eyes. “He loves doing this.”
“I do,” Cole said.
Catherine stood from the booth, grabbing her purse like it contained state secrets, which it did because of a pair of very incriminating underwear. I looked away before my brain could betray me again. Outside the restaurant, the late afternoon heat hit hard. I kept a careful distance. Catherine glanced at me once. And that was exactly the problem.
Holland hugged Catherine. “Come home soon. Don’t hide at Taylor’s all day.”
Catherine stiffened for half a second. “I’m not hiding.”
Holland smiled. “I didn’t say you were hiding from us.”
Catherine blinked. I almost swallowed my tongue again. Cole was watching me.
Jaden ran ahead toward the car. Holland followed, calling after him to stop running. Catherine looked at me, just for a millisecond. A small, private look. The kind of look that made me forget where we were. Then she turned and walked toward her car. I should have left. I should have gotten in my SUV, driven home, taken a cold shower, and started mentally preparing for the disaster that was clearly my life now. Instead, Cole said my name.
“Hunter.”
I turned. He stood by the curb, keys in one hand, sunglasses pushed up on his head. My stomach dropped.
“Yeah?”
He nodded toward the side of the restaurant, away from Holland and the kids.
“Hang back a second. I want to talk to you.”
Every muscle in my body locked. Catherine heard him. I could tell because she stopped beside her car. She didn’t turn around. I looked at Cole. My coach. My friend. Catherine’s father. And for the first time in years, I had no idea how to read him.
“Sure,” I said. My voice sounded steady. Nothing else about me was.
Cole waited until Holland, Jaden, and Catherine were near the car before he turned back to me. For one awful second, I was sure he knew. I could feel Catherine watching us from across the lot, but I kept my eyes on Cole because looking at her felt like a confession.
Then Cole clapped a hand on my shoulder and said, “I’m glad you came today. Catherine seemed lighter lately. I know she’d never admit it, but she’s had a rough few months. Keep an eye onher at prospects camp this week, okay? The place gets chaotic, and I trust you.”
I trust you.
The words landed harder than any hit I’d taken on the ice. I nodded because I didn’t have a single safe thing to say. Cole headed for the car, and Catherine looked back at me once before slipping inside. My phone buzzed a minute later.
Catherine: Are you alive?
I stared at the message, then at the car pulling out of the lot.
Me: Barely.
Then I added the truth before I could talk myself out of it.
Me: He doesn’t know, so don’t worry. But that might be worse.
CHAPTER 17
