Page 36

By the way, did you know your sister sleeps in an NPU shirt that barely covers her ass?

Yeah. No. I toss my phone onto the bed.

Definitely not a conversation I need to have with Beckett. Some things, a guy knows better than to notice. His best friend’s little sister standing in his bedroom without pants is pretty fucking high on the list.

She’s Beckett’s little sister—Coach’s daughter.

Baby Becks.

I’ve known her most of my life, which should make this easy… quite the opposite.

I glance toward the hallway again.

The apartment is quiet, a different kind of quiet. Usually, when I come home from a road trip, there’s nothing waiting for me except whatever I left behind. Same dark apartment. Same clean counters. Same silence.

Tonight there’s an off-limits woman sleeping across the hall. And cat hair on my pillow.

Evidence of Delaney is everywhere, and she’s been here less than two days. And tomorrow she will be gone. She’ll find an apartment, move her shit out, and I’ll go back to not having to worry about coming in late and scaring anyone.

I unbuckle my belt.

What happens if she doesn’t find one?

The thought comes out of nowhere. Chicago rent is brutal. She’s just starting out. She won’t take money from her parents. Definitely won’t take it from Beckett. And after hearing her talk about that fellowship mess, I’d bet my next paycheck she’d rather sleep in her car than admit she needs help.

Laney has always been stubborn. It’s a classic Beckett family trait.

I pull on a pair of sweats.

So, what happens if she doesn’t find a place this week… and that week turns into two? And that couple of weeks turns into a month?

I look around the room. Nothing, I guess. The place is too big for one person anyway, and I’m gone half the season. She’d have the apartment to herself most of the time. And she would be safe. Hell, it might be good having someone there.

I stop.

Where in the hell did that come from?

I like living alone. I’ve always liked living alone. Nobody touching my stuff. Nobody asking when I’ll be home. Nobody complaining when I leave at six in the morning or get back after midnight. I don’t even have overnight guests.

No expectations. No accusations. Just freedom.

After growing up the way I did, you get used to it. For the first eight years of my life, I got real comfortable being alone. It wasn’t until a cruel twist of fate landed me in Evergreen, Michigan, on my grandpa’s doorstep that I learned what it meant to have an actual family. A family that included Coach, Mrs. B, my best friend, and his little sister.

Delaney staying here doesn’t change that… can’t change that.

I won’t let it.

She needs somewhere to stay until she finds a place of her own. I have a spare room. Simple as that.

I pull back the covers on the other side of the bed and drop onto the mattress.

Every muscle in my body protests. I reach over and switch off the lamp; the city lights still shine through the windows, but I’m too tired to care.

Right now, everything feels heavy. My legs. My shoulders.

I close my eyes.

Five seconds.