I thought about it.
“No,” I said finally. “But I think about him sometimes. Mostly when I’m about to make changes. Or when I lose. I wonder if he’d believe how far we’d come.”
“I get that,” she sighed. “I sometimes wonder if that girl would recognize me now. Or if she’d be proud.”
“She would be,” I said immediately. “No doubt about it.”
Her lips parted like she might argue, then she didn’t. Instead, she let out a slow breath, shoulders dropping as if the weight she carried all day had finally eased. She had no idea how I saw her, how much she was shaping parts of me that had been untouched for years. Teddy Sloane had awakened something deep withing me, and I couldn’t switch it off. I didn’t want to. She was one of the most inspiring people in my life.
“Connor?”
“Yeah, sunshine?”
She hesitated, then shook her head lightly, like she was clearing it. “Nothing. Just—” A breath. “You still owe me the thing you were going to ask.”
A corner of my mouth tipped up. “Right. That.”
I shifted on the bed, the hotel sheets rustling beneath me. “I was wondering if you’d be around when I get back. I’m hosting a barbecue for both teams, and I wanted to invite you before everyone got a blanket message.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “A barbecue?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Low pressure. Food, beers, just a bit of mid-season fun.”
She tipped her head, considering it. “A both-teams thing, really?”
“Unfortunately,” I said, teasing. “There will be heckling. Probably swearing. I’m hoping nothing gets broken, but Jake is there, so…”
Her smile returned. “You’re really selling it.”
“I know.” I chuckled. “But I thought you might want to come. You can stay ten minutes or the whole afternoon.”
Her gaze flicked down, then back up to the screen. “You asking me as captain, or…?”
“As Connor,” I said without hesitation.
The flicker of relief in her eyes was enough to knock the wind out of me. I wanted to kiss her so badly.
“Okay.” She nodded once. “I’ll come.”
Relief settled into me, and I relished the feeling. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” she repeated, still smiling.
We lingered for a second longer, neither of us moving to end the call.
“Get some rest,” she said, her voice softer than normal.
“I’ll try.”But I’d sleep better next to you.
Her smile was the last thing I saw before the screen went dark. And for the first time all night, the hotel room didn’t feel quite so empty.
37
Teddy
“I heard his house is as big as his—”
“Lola!” Micah shouted, twisting around in her seat.
