Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80774 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 404(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80774 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 404(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Shit. Has Lucas never talked about her? “Her name is Isla.”
“Are they in a relationship?”
“No. I don’t think so.” He’s in one with me. He spends most of his nights in my bed, making me smile and feel free.
“He won’t settle down even if he cared about this woman, just because he knows it’s something his mother and I would like to see. Just like he threw away his talent to spite me,” Coach Blake complains.
The hairs on the back of my neck rise, the urge to defend Lucas building inside me. Does he know Lucas at all? “He was a kid when he chose not to play. It’s just not who he is. But he’s an incredible photographer. Have you seen any of his work? And the gallery is doing well. From what I’ve seen, it’s really popular. Just because Lucas isn’t playing football doesn’t mean what he’s doing isn’t valid.”
“That’s not what he meant, dear. We both know how talented he is,” Abbie says, trying to keep the peace, to smooth over the moment, and it’s not until this second that I realize how often she’s done that. How she’s always trying to keep her husband happy and defend him, while also trying to support Lucas.
How did all this make Lucas feel? He pays attention to things, more than I ever did. He’s good at seeing what others don’t take the time to see. Even when he was a kid, he had to have seen this…had to have felt it.
“I think Lucas is exactly where he’s supposed to be,” I add.
I feel Coach’s gaze on me, know he’s wondering where that came from, why I’m coming to Lucas’s defense in a firmer way than I’ve ever done.
“Lucas threw away his legacy to spite me. Ellis would have never done that. You would have never done that.”
The tower of guilt I’ve been building higher and higher over the years collapses on top of me, but not for the reasons I would’ve thought. It’s because of the pride I always felt in being the one to accomplish Coach Blake’s dreams for a son, never asking how any of this made Ellis feel, or how all of us left Lucas to carry the burden of his father alone.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Lucas
I’m surprised when my phone rings and it’s Hunter. We always talk when he travels, but normally by text because he’s so rarely alone. Even when he’s in his hotel room, he shares with Oakley, so it’s easier to text than have a conversation.
I was certain I wouldn’t hear from him today. He went to see his mom and then to have dinner with my parents. That’s nothing new, but things are different now, the burden of my relationship with my family heavier, because they will never approve of my having been in love with Hunter my whole life, and that I have him now, even if temporarily.
Before that train of thought drags me down, I answer the call. “Miss me?” I tease, and he sighs.
“Yeah. More than you know.”
I freeze, not having expected him to admit that…hell, to feel it. I thought he would joke and we’d give each other shit, before changing the subject. But he sounds…sad, alone, which is exactly how I feel.
“Where are you?” I ask.
“Hiding behind the hotel. I wanted to be alone.”
“But you called me.”
“Not from you,” he says, again with this realness and rawness I’m not sure what to do with. He makes me want him more, feels even more like he’s mine, and that’s a scary thing to feel because I know I’ll never really have him. “I’m sorry,” Hunter continues, making my insides crystallize.
This is it. This is the moment I’ve been dreading. I should have known it would come after seeing my family—that being in our home, with all those memories, would remind him how much he still loves Ellis and that he doesn’t want me. That my father would hammer home all the reasons I’m a bad choice, even without knowing what we’ve been doing.
“It’s okay, Hunter. I figured this was coming. We had our fun. It’s not like this is going anywhere.” Can he hear the fake detachment in my voice? Does he know this moment is fucking killing me?
“Wait… I’m not… You don’t want to be with me anymore?”
I always want to be with you.
“Isn’t that what you’re saying?”
“No. I…I’m apologizing for your dad…for me. Hell, maybe for Ellis and Abbie too. We should have been better to you. We should have defended you more. I should have defended you more. Jesus, I let him praise me, acted like I was the fucking crowned prince or something—being invited into your family the way I was—and I never did jack shit to tell him what he does is wrong. I let him lavish this attention on me while he was terrible to you.”