“All the time. It's part of my charm,” Avery quips.
We finish our lunch and walk back toward the arena together. The sun is warm on my face, and the city seems a little less overwhelming than it did this morning.
“For what it's worth,” Avery says as we reach the entrance, “I think you're being too hard on yourself. What happened with Ethan wasn't a crime. It was two people connecting in a moment of honesty. That's not something to be ashamed of.”
“I'm not ashamed. I'm just careful.”
“There's a difference between careful and closed off.” She kisses my cheek. “Think about it.”
Careful and closed off.
Is that what I've become?
Avery is right. I’m being too hard on myself. It’s okay to admit that I want Ethan, even if nothing can ever come of it.
11
Ethan
Theo's living room smells like baby powder and stale coffee.
I'm sprawled on Theo’s couch with a beer I've barely touched while Logan sits across from me, bouncing Maya on his knee like he's done it a thousand times. Maya is giggling and grabbing at his beard, and Logan is making ridiculous faces that would destroy his reputation as the most intimidating goalie in the league.
“She likes me better than you,” Logan says, grinning at Theo.
“She likes everyone better than me. I'm just the guy who changes her diapers.” Theo says, emerging from the kitchen with a fresh round of beers.
“Where's Cole?” Logan asks.
“On his way. Harper needed him to drop her at the boutique first,” Theo says, plopping down.
I take a sip of my beer and try to relax. It's Saturday afternoon, and the guys are trickling back into town for the Skills Showcase next week. Logan flew in yesterday from his summer house in Maine. Cole never left, and neither has Theo. He’s been here the whole time, juggling daddy duty while Olivia does whatever it is wives do.
Today, that means shopping. The girls are out in full force, buying dresses for the party after the showcase. Natalie is with them.
“How is the knee?” Logan asks, handing Maya back to Theo when she starts fussing.
“Getting there.”
“I heard you're off crutches.”
I nodded. “Cane now.”
“Progress.” Logan raises his beer in a mock toast. “You'll be back before you know it.”
I grunt and take another drink. Everyone keeps saying that. You'll be back. It's only temporary. Stay positive. I'm tired of hearing it from people who don't know what it's like to wonder if your body will ever work the same way again.
The front door opens, and Cole walks in, looking annoyingly good in a polo shirt and khakis. “Miss me?”
“Not even a little,” Theo says.
Cole drops onto the couch beside me and steals my beer. “Harper says hi. Also, she says Olivia is spending too much money, and she's enabling her.”
“That's rich coming from Harper,” Theo mutters. “The woman who bought a three-thousand-dollar purse last week.”
“It was an investment piece.”
Theo deadpans. “It was a purse.”
