The words lingered between us.
Part of me wanted to argue. Part of me wanted to remind him that six months wasn't nearly enough time to recover from losing a parent. Grief didn't care about calendars. It showed up when it wanted, stayed as long as it pleased, and ignored every deadline people tried to give it.
I also wanted to tell him that fear had a way of distorting everything. That maybe the guy who couldn't trust his own game right now wasn't the best person to decide whether his career was ending.
Before I could say any of that, Tannen rubbed a hand across the back of his neck again and let out a long breath. Then he shook his head. The movement felt deliberate. Like a man closing a door before somebody could walk through it.
"So."
I immediately recognized the look in his eyes.
The subject change. The tactical retreat. The man could spot an escape route in a conversation faster than he spotted an open teammate.
"So?" I asked.
A grin tugged at one corner of his mouth. "Tell me about him."
I chuckled. The transition was abrupt enough to give me whiplash. A minute ago, we'd been talking about grief, pressure, and the future. Now we were apparently discussing the mystery man currently occupying half the sports blogs in North America.
"You've seen the pictures."
"Pretty hard not to."
I groaned.
Tannen looked entirely too pleased with himself. "The internet seems very invested in your love life."
"The internet needs hobbies."
"The internet thinks it found one."
The strange thing was that I didn't mind talking about Kieran. In fact, I realized I wanted to. And the thought didn’t concern me at all.
Tannen must have noticed some kind of change in my expression because his smile widened. "Oh, this is serious."
"Why do you think it’s serious?"
"Thane."
"It's been a handful of days."
"That wasn't a denial."
I pointed at him. "You're annoying."
"I've been told that."
"Mostly by me."
"Your point?"
The idiot actually looked proud of that fact. For a moment, I considered ending the conversation right there out of principle. Then I thought about Kieran. And just like that, my smile grew wider.
"There it is."
"What?"
"That look."
