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“A coachable athlete anyway.”
I nod.
As an athlete, a coachable one, as he pointed out, you don’t always like what you see, hear, or are asked to do, but you do it anyway for a number of reasons.
“This is a lot different, Noah.” He speaks my exact thought out loud.
“Yeah, it is, but it’s not the ‘holding the words back’ part that’s hard for me.”
Understanding draws his features in and he sighs. “No, son, I don’t imagine it is.”
Both of our gazes lift then, pointing toward the ocean, toward the waterline, where Ari stands, her hair blowing around in front of her face, a wide smile spread along her lips as she laughs… at something Chase has said.
Tension builds in my sternum, and I force my eyes to my feet.
Sitting back this time means watching firsthand as my future grows blurrier by the day, but what she wants is what I want for her, so really, there’s no decision to be made on my part.
I’m here until she’s ready for me.
Or until I’m forced to let go.
“You love my little girl.” Mr. Johnson speaks low, turning to me.
“I’m not the only one.” My lips press into a tightline, my eyes lifting to the sand once more. “I’m beginning to wonder if I’ll ever get the chance to tell her.”
His hand clamps onto my shoulder then, giving a little squeeze. “If it begins to look like you won’t, you might have to go on and do it anyway.” His chin lowers, and I manage a nod.
Slowly, he pushes to his feet. “It’s an honor to have you here, son.”
“Thank you, sir.”
He glares, and a low laugh slips from me.
Mason comes out of the house then, looking between the two of us, but his gaze is quickly pulled forward, to Chase and Ari. A deep frown pulls at his forehead.
Mr. Johnson chuckles, slaps his shoulder and heads around the side. “I’m walking down to snag my wife for lunch. See you boys.”
He leaves, and the two on the beach walk back this way, pausing not too far from us now.
Chase says something and Ari’s sweater-covered hand comes up to cover her laugh, but it still echoes in my ears.
My lips twitch, my body confused by the happiness her laughter brings, and the devastation bleeding through me that I’m not the one who earned it.
“Fuck.” Mason sighs, and we glance toward each other. “What are you doing, man?”
“Wondering how to show a girl who’s wanted one man all her life that she doesn’t want him anymore.”
Mason winces, his glare sharpening more and more as he stares at the two. “Fuck this.”
He jolts forward, and I dart to my feet, catching him by the wrist, halting him in place.
His eyes narrow on me. “Noah.”
“I need you to promise me something.”
His brows furrow. “Don’t.”
“Mason, come on. Please.”
Angry, he plants his feet. “What?”
“When he tells her he had a change of heart, don’t interfere.”
“What the fuck?” he throws back. “Are you serious right now?”
“Yes, and I know you don’t want to hurt her. Going apeshit will do just that.”
“This isn’t about keeping my sister from my friend. It might have been before, but it’s different now. This is about her getting back the life she lost. You’ve got to get that.”
“Trust me, I do, but I’m trying to do what’s right here. This is what she wants.”
“What she wants is you.”
“Mason.”
“She loves you, bro! That’s what’s right, end of fucking story!”
“Keep your voice down,” I warn him, but it’s too late.
Ari hears her twin’s shouts, and sure enough, her eyes are pulled this way.
She stutter steps, tucking her hair behind her ear as she tugs the corner of her lower lip between her teeth. Her chest rises with a full breath, and she doesn’t look away.
She doesn’t move at all.
But her eyes, they aren’t on Mason. They’re on me.
“Look at her, Noah.” Mason’s whisper is desperate. “Just… fucking look at her. It’s written all over her and she doesn’t even know it. She’s yours, man. Don’t let her lose what she always wanted and finally found.”
A knot forms in my throat, and I swallow past it. It does nothing to hide the turmoil in my tone. “In her mind right now, she loves him. She wants him. I need you to let her figure it out on her own.”
Frustrated, he runs a hand over his face. “Tell me why.”
“Because she’s lost, you said it yourself. She only has what she knows, and what she knows is—” I swallow. “What she knows is the way he makes her feel.”
We’re both quiet a moment before I add, “He’s the only thing that makes sense to her right now.”
“You know this is fucked up, right? That it could backfire? If he really loves her and she gives them the chance they didn’t get ‘cause I’m a bastard, this could mean you losing her.” He faces me fully. “Are you prepared for that? ‘Cause it could fucking happen.”
