“…Isabelle. I expect you boys to behave.”
That name.
My mind instantly conjures an image of long blonde hair, a nose that crinkled when she smiled, and grey eyes that saw deeper into my soul than anyone else. And alongside that memory comes a stab of pain in my gut.
“I think I need to stay here.”
“In Italy? For how long?”
“I don’t know, Kai, a while? I need to figure out my life, who I am, all of it. And I can do that here, with my family.”
“Why can’t you do that here, with me? I love you, Isabelle. Don’t do this. You promised you’d come home.”
“I’m sorry…”
Fuck. No. I give myself a mental shake to clear the flashback to that goddamn phone call that almost derailed my entire future and try to catch up on what the hell Coach is talking about that apparently has all the guys smiling like fools.
“Congrats, Coach, that’s awesome,” Monty calls out.
I lean over to Rhett Darlington, my closest friend on the team. “What’s awesome?”
He rolls his eyes, well aware I wasn’t paying any attention. “Coach got married a couple months back. He was sayin’ his new wife and stepdaughter will be at Family Day before the season opener.”
Well now, that’s a surprise. Painful memories once again locked up in the box in the back of my mind, I turn to look at our head coach, trying to picture him as a father. Well, stepfather, but still. I grin, imagining a little girl with pigtails runninglaps around him while he looks on, baffled. Coach embodies thegrumpy old manstereotype most of the time. Sure, he might be used to dealing with us, who can certainly behave like rambunctious kids sometimes, but in general are fully grown adults who know when to pull our heads out of our asses. But gaining a wife and a kid? Suddenly Coach Stirling’s intensity this past week makes sense.
I start to clap my hands and let out a whistle. “Nicely done, Coach.” He gives me a tight smile.
“Thanks. But I meant it about Isabelle. Don’t mess with her.”
“Best behaviour, we got it. Right, guys?” I look around at my teammates and we all nod. Although, why Coach thinks we’d be anything but kind and respectful to a kid, I don’t know. Oh well. Not my problem right now.
Right now, I need to hit the field with my team and make some magic happen. We’ve come so damn close to the championship the last three years. Closer than ever before. And fuck, I’m hungry for that win.
Chapter three
Isabelle
The sound of my mom and Tony laughing downstairs is the first thing I register when I slowly wake up. I’ve been enjoying the lazy mornings in the weeks that I’ve been here.
Tony’s back from spring training, and I have to admit, I like the guy. When we met at their elopement, he was awkward as anything, clearly trying to make a good first impression with me. I set him straight that as long as he treated my mom well, we’d be fine. The smile he gave me told me I had nothing to worry about.
Mom told me in confidence that he’s always wanted to have kids, so he desperately wants to do right by me, even if I am a fully grown adult. I might not need a second father figure, but it’s sweet how he cares. We’re still getting to know each other, and I’m looking forward to having some time with him as well as my mom.
There’s probably a close to ten-year age gap between them, and his gruff exterior is the opposite of her bubbly one, but it’s obvious to anyone who knows them that they’re happy together.
Even if it does get a little uncomfortable being around them sometimes. They’ve only been married a couple of months and are very much still in the honeymoon phase. Which means lots of hugging, and kissing, and giggling.
So yeah, it’s uncomfortable. Because deep inside of me, I’m just a teeny bit jealous. My dating life has been fairly nonexistent for the last several years. No one can come close to making me feel the way Kai did. I get lonely, sure, but that’s easier to handle than a string of meaningless dates.
I drag myself out of bed and pull a sweater on over my pajama top before stumbling down the stairs to the kitchen. Only to walk in on my mom and Tony kissing. I really shouldn’t be surprised by this anymore, yet each morning, I have been.
“Oh, sorry.” I whirl around.
“Honey, it’s fine.” Mom laughs. “It’s not like you’re a kid anymore, you know what grown-ups in love do.”
I arch my brow at her. “That doesn’t mean I need to walk in on it before I’m caffeinated in the morning.”
“Sorry, Isabelle,” Tony answers in his gruff voice as he picks up a travel mug full of coffee. “At least now that the season is about to start I won’t be home all the time.” He winks. “You won’t have to walk in on us every morning.”
