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Christine looked unconvinced.

“Now,” he said, “your mother is looking for you by the pool. Go find her, okay?”

Christine sighed.

“Fine.” She gave me a small smile. “I hope you guys work things out.”

“Thanks, Christine.”

She really wasn’t a bad kid.

She walked away, leaving Greyson and me standing in the middle of the lobby. For a moment, neither of us spoke.

Then he stepped closer. “She’s right, you know.”

“About what?”

“I really like you.”

I looked away. “Greyson…”

“No. Please. Just let me say this.” I waited, and he took a deep breath. “I care about you, Heather. A hell of a lot more than I ever expected to care about someone I’ve known for such a short time.”

My heart started pounding. That was almost exactly what I said to Angela.

“Then, why did you say those things?”

He exhaled slowly and glanced around the busy lobby. “Can we go somewhere a little quieter?”

We walked toward a small seating area near one of the resort’s windows, away from the main flow of guests. It wasn’t exactly private, but it would do.

Greyson waited until I sat before taking the chair across from me. For a moment, he just stared at me, something almost desperate in his eyes.

“Do you remember when I told you that I always wanted to play football?”

“Yeah.”

“That wasn’t the whole story.”

“What do you mean?”

He leaned back in his chair, his expression turning distant. “My mom died giving birth to me. I never knew her, so I can’t say I missed her. But I grew up knowing that she died because I was born. And my dad made damn sure I never forgot it.”

My stomach twisted. “What?”

“He was a drunk. A useless, miserable bastard who spent most of his time feeling sorry for himself. And when he wasn’t drinking, he was angry.” Greyson looked away. “Sometimes he was angry when he was drinking too. Those were the worst nights.”

I stared at him.

He’d mentioned before that his father was a terrible man, but I hadn’t realized how terrible.

“Did he hurt you?”

Greyson’s jaw tightened, and he looked down at his hands. “Sometimes.”

My heart ached. “I… I’m so sorry.”

He gave me a sad smile. “Football was the only thing that made sense to me back then. I had all this anger inside me, and when I was on the field, I could use it. I could hit somebody as hard as I wanted, and people cheered instead of telling me to calm down.”