She answers right back.I’m good.
I’m here if you need me.
She waits a beat, and I wonder if she’s going to talk to me. But all she sends back is,I know. Thanks, Reid.
She doesn’t say anything more, and I let her be. It won’t help to hound her. I spend the next hour working on my paper until the words start blurring on my screen. Finally, I shut it down and climb into bed for the night. I haven’t heard anything from Riley’s room for a while now, so I’m assuming she’s asleep. Atleast, I hope she is. I lay in bed and stare up at the ceiling, wondering if maybe I should just go for a run instead. My wolf’s on edge; I’m on edge. Maybe it’d just be best if we went for a run. I lay there a little while longer seriously considering it. The only thing holding me back is the fact that my mate's sleeping across the hall, and it feels like she’s extra vulnerable tonight. I’m not sure I can leave her. I’ve finally convinced myself that I should do it when I hear a soft sound. The door to my room opens next, and her scent hits me hard. “Reid,” she whispers softly, uncertainly. I hate that; I don’t want her ever uncertain with me.
“Hey, Baby, I’m here.”
“Can I—” she pauses.
I don’t wait for her to finish. I pull back the covers and pat the bed next to me. She crawls into bed next to me, and I don’t hesitate to wrap my arms around her and pull her close. I think we both sigh at the contact. She lays her head on my bicep, and I breathe her in. My wolf relaxes for the first time in hours, and I feel myself relaxing as well. I run my hand up and down her spine, hoping to soothe the tension in her body. I don’t ask her anything; I don’t want her to tense up any more than she already is. I just want her to know that right now, she’s safe. I feel her begin to relax against me. Her breathing starts to even out, and I know she’s getting close to sleep. “I played for three hours tonight.” Her voice is quiet and tentative. Riley's a lot of things, but tentative is not one of them. Not usually, anyway. “I was terrible.”
I rub my hand up and down her spine and can’t resist disagreeing. “I know that’s not true.”
“No, it really is. She put me under the basket, which I just knew was going to happen. I was terrible. I don’t ever play down there. She yelled at me constantly. It was really bad.” I force myself to stay calm, even as my anger spikes. I will never understand why coaches scream at players. It’s not like gettingyelled at makes us play any better. She’s quiet a moment, and I force myself to stay quiet so she can process. “She told me she doesn’t care who my brother is or the fact that I have a scholarship. She said if I can’t prove myself tomorrow, I won’t play for her.” She’s quiet a beat. “And she told me I dress like a bum.”
I stiffen against her, my hand freezing on her back mid-stroke. “What?”
She blows out a breath. “She told me that if that’s the way I dress and carry myself it’s no wonder I’m so terrible on the court.” Her words are barely a whisper. “And then she asked me,” she pauses, and I hear the catch in her voice. I force myself not to react, but this is killing me. “She asked if I’ve actually played basketball before.”
“She’s an idiot.” I can’t help my words or the force of them.
“No, I’m the idiot because I told her I’m not used to playing that position, and then she just leveled me—asked me if I was trying to tell her how to coach, said that players that can only play one position are worthless, and that I have one more chance to prove tomorrow that I deserve a spot on the team. Oh, and I made the mistake of saying ‘Yes Ma’am’.”
“How were you supposed to address her? Sir?” I bite out.
“Coach.”
I bite my tongue, so I don’t give in to my desire to tell Riley what I really think about her coach. It won’t do her any good, not when she has to face her coach tomorrow. Instead, I pull her closer. “I’m sorry. If you want, tomorrow, we’ll go to the court and do some drills. We’ll get you ready for tomorrow afternoon.”
She makes a sound. “Neither of us have any extra time in our schedule.”
“Hey.” I wait until she’s looking at me. I use my wolf sight to see her clearly. “I’ll cut class if I need to. You will make it ontothe team, and you’ll show your coach what an amazing player you are.”
“I don’t know, Reid. Maybe I just need to hang it up.”
“Riley, no. You’re good, really good.”
“But what if I’m not?” she whispers. “Sure, I was good...in high school. That was a smaller pool. This is much bigger. What if I’m just not cut out for college sports?”
I don’t refute her. “Okay. Let’s try this. Do you want to play? Do you want to be on the team?”
She doesn’t wait even an extra second. “Yes.”
“Even with the coach from hell?” I ask.
She laughs. “Yes, even with her.”
“Okay, then you can’t give up. If you give it your best shot and don’t make it, then fine. Walk away from it, but don’t walk away from it before you’ve even tried. You’re not a quitter, Riley. You’re the strongest person I know; now it’s time to prove it. Where’s the girl that refuses to give up? That keeps running even when she has a stupid leg fracture.”
She smiles as she remembers. She hurt her leg when she was younger, fractured it in an obstacle course race against Zane and me. But she wanted to win so badly, she kept going and didn’t tell anybody until the end of the race. Pretty sure her mom’s never forgiven her for pulling that stunt. Good thing shifters heal quickly. “Okay.” She yawns, and I can practically feel the exhaustion coming off her. “Can I stay in here just for a little bit? I’ll go back to my bed as soon as I get the energy.”
I pull her closer. “You can always stay in my bed.” I know that I could carry her back to her bed, and I would if she wanted me to. But she seems as happy to be in my bed as I am to have her here. I lean towards her and kiss her temple. “Get some sleep.” But I’m pretty sure she’s already asleep.
Chapter 21
Riley
