Her head tilted, eyes narrowing slightly. “What makes you think he can’t have both?”
“I…” I had nothing to say to that. Long distance wouldn’t work, I was almost positive.
“You’re assuming he wouldn’t pick you, regardless, and I think if he could have both, he would.”
Hope sprung like a flower coming out of winter. I knew that was a dangerous feeling, but I closed my eyes for a moment,letting myself imagine what it might look like to ask instead of assume.
I released a breath that felt like it had been stuck for days.
“I don’t want this to be a secret anymore.”
The truth of that didn’t scare me; it made me realize everything I’d been denying myself. I wanted to talk to him. I wanted him.
44
Connor
“Thank you for talking with me, sir. I’ll send over the details tonight.”
I hung up, standing there in a moment’s peace while my phone went dark. I just took a big step. One I knew was the right path. But I didn’t have time to celebrate yet. I’d just finished a gym session with the team and needed to get back in there to cool down. Traveling always left me a little extra stiff, and I needed to work it out. My plans would have to wait.
The lads were clustered near the bikes, stretching out hamstrings and calves, voices overlapping in that familiar post-set haze.
“So that’s it, then,” Ramirez said, leaning back against the wall. “Season’s cooked.”
Jake snorted. “We tried our best, you know.”
“We still have games left,” Nate grumbled. “You don’t stop playing until Cap says so.”
I grabbed my water bottle and joined them. “Nate’s right. We finish it properly,” I said. “Playoffs or not.”
“We owe it to the fans,” Bobby said. “And ourselves.”
It might not have been the season we all wanted, but the fact that we got it at all is a small miracle. This year had tested all of us, but my team was stronger for it.
I wondered how long that would still be true once they realized this could be the last season I’d be standing in front of them as their captain.
***
“Teddy, wait up,” I called out, pushing through the door to the hallway after her.
She stopped and turned, her braids swinging over her shoulders as she faced me. There was still a sharpness to her expression, but I swear her eyes lit up when they found mine. “You’re back.”
“I am. Are you busy right now?”
She exhaled through her nose, a tired sound. “I was going to go home and eat my feelings with ice cream.”
My brow dipped. “Wait, why are you eating your feelings?”
“I heard from my dad. He’s coming in tomorrow.” Her mouth twisted after she spoke, as though she wanted to swallow the words back down.
The instinct to hold her hand and comfort her was almost unbearable, but aside from Micah and Bobby knowing, the rest of the team didn’t know yet. “Is he okay?”
She nodded, but it was automatic. “He’s fine. I think.”
Silence settled between us, thick but not uncomfortable. I didn’t want to smother her or make things worse; it was hard knowing the right thing to say. Then she hooked her little finger into mine, somehow reading my mind about wanting to touch her, and I found myself blurting, “I have ice cream at my place.”
Her lips twisted as she considered my offer. “What kind?”
