Page 43 of Ruff and Tumble

“You’ll only be in the way here.” She smiled in an attempt to show she meant no harm, but the damage had already been done. “Go do what you do best, Brother dear. Win. Make it to the divisional championship. Give him something to live for. You’ll only be a distraction if you linger around here. I’ve seen six nurses tiptoe past the door in the last two minutes alone.”

There was nothing Cole could say or do after that to convince his family to let him do his part. It was no use telling them that he wasn’t likely to get any sleep after a scare like this one or that he wasn’t going to be any good at practice if he was worrying about his dad the whole time. As a collective, they’d already decided the role he would play. He was the football star, the hero, the son whose only value was the glory he brought to the family name.

And that, if they had anything to say about it, was all he’d ever be.

* * *

“Cole!”

Hailey peeked through the narrow opening in the door, her chain in place against the late-night visitor who’d seen fit to stop by just as the clock chimed one in the morning. It would take a daring intruder to break into a house that often had several large, angry dogs living under its roof, but she knew better than to take chances. A single woman living alone was open to all kinds of dangers.

Including, apparently, nocturnal visits from football players.

“I’m sorry.” From the other side of the opening, a tired-looking Cole winced. “I shouldn’t have knocked, but I came back to get my car and your lights were on, so—”

She shut the door and slid the chain out before opening it all the way again. “Don’t be silly. I’m glad you did. I haven’t gone to bed yet.”

That wasn’t strictly the truth. Shehadgone to bed—and was wearing her favorite Lumberjacks pajama set to prove it—but sleep hadn’t been forthcoming. She’d tossed and turned and contemplated calling the hospital half a dozen times for an update before giving up and making herself some hot chocolate.

“How did it go?” she asked.

“Well, my dad is awake and stable, and he threatened to have me forcibly removed from his hospital room if I didn’t go home and get some sleep for tomorrow’s practice, so you tell me.”

The amount of relief Hailey felt at those words was hugely disproportionate to her relationship with a man she’d met only once, but she didn’t care. She’d been so worried—for Cole and for Reggie, for Paula and Mia—that she’d take anything she could get. A man making threats and worrying about his son’s future could only be a good sign.

“That sounds like good news,” she said. Catching sight of Cole’s expression, she added, “Also like you didn’t much care for the suggestion.”

His laugh was short and bitter, but at least it was a laugh. “Is it that obvious?”

To her, it was, but she knew enough about fathers in hospitals to recognize that Cole wouldn’t have been sent home if there was any chance of danger in the immediate future. In this, as in all things, luck had been on the Bennett family’s side.

“He’s not wrong,” she said. “You probably don’t want to miss practice this week. I don’t know why it is, but Texas’s defense always has a way of making you—”

This time, Cole’s laugh was much more natural. “I should have known better than to come here to get cheered up.”

“Yes, you should have. But now that you’re here, do you want some hot chocolate?” She felt a little ridiculous at making the offer, since brawny, football-playing millionaires were supposed to drink things like hundred-year-old scotch when they wanted to drown their sorrows, but Swiss Miss with stale marshmallows was all she had. “I know it’s not on your nutritionist-approved list, but—”

“Hot chocolate would be perfect,” Cole said, and so quickly that she believed him. “Thank you.”

Hailey ducked her head and went to the kitchen to prepare a second mug, careful not to jostle Bess or her sleeping puppies as she did. By this time, Philip had realized that his savior had come to claim him and ran wriggling to greet him. She could hear the enthusiastic sounds of their reunion in the background and felt a pang of guilt. She’d meant to do Philip a favor by placing him under Cole’s temporary guardianship, but she was starting to wonder if that had been a mistake. He was getting awfully attached in an awfully short time. Like Hailey, that puppy had no problems showing what he felt, opening his heart at the worst possible times and to the worst possible people. He was going to be devastated once he learned that he didn’t get to live with Cole forever.

She returned to the living room to find Cole making himself comfortable on the faded recliner and held out the steaming mug, complete with blobs of white marshmallow on top. Naturally, it was a teal mug with a football emblazoned on the side. Just as naturally, Cole noticed it.

“I know,” she said, feeling irritable at being caught, once again, Lumberjack-handed. “But you can’t tell me you’re the least bit surprised.”

“Not surprised, no. Just curious. Are we ever going to talk about what’s happening inside this house?” Cole took a long, careful sip from the mug, his eyes never leaving hers. “Because I have questions.”

“You can ask all the questions you want, but I can’t promise I’m going to answer them.”

Instead of accepting this rebuff as it was intended, Cole laughed. “Touchy subject? I can’t imagine why.” He paused a beat before adding, “I like your pajamas, by the way. I have the exact same pair.”

“You do not.”

“I do, too. They wanted pictures of us modeling them for a charity calendar.” He cast a sweeping glance around her living room as if searching for the calendar in question—which she knew for a fact didn’t exist. If that were the case, someone definitely would have purchased it for her by now. “I’m Mr. April, in case you were wondering.”

She lowered herself to the couch opposite Cole, watching as he sipped hot chocolate and ran his hand over his puppy as though both of these things were perfectly ordinary. It didn’t seem to occur to him that it was the middle of the night or that it was highly unorthodox to sit chatting about pajamas and sexy football-player calendars following the hospitalization of one’s father, but she suspected that was the point. He obviously wasn’t ready to go home yet—and just as obviously needed a friend.

As intimidating and unreal as it might be to have this man in her life, she knew that feeling well enough to give in.