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“Put those away. They’re dangerous,” she quips.
“I know. That’s why I like them.”
HALFWAY THROUGH THE FLIGHT, Tessa is sound asleep in the seat. I kind of figured she would be. While she tries to play it off like she’s getting better, her nightmares haven’t gone unnoticed. I wake up almost every time she does, but after the first couple times of her having to lie to me about them, I started to pretend I’m still asleep
. It seems to make her feel better about them, since she doesn’t spend a half hour apologizing for waking me up, and that’s all that matters.
I get up to grab a beer and on my way back, Coach nods to the seat beside him. I glance at Tessa to make sure she’s still okay and sit down.
“What’s up, Coach?”
He gives me a no bullshit look. “What are you doing, boy?”
My brows furrow. “What do you mean?”
“How old is that girl?”
I drop my head, realizing that if he figured it out in a millisecond, everyone else probably can, too. “She’s eighteen.”
“And?”
“And one of my students.”
A heavy sigh leaves his mouth, and he shakes his head. “You’re playing with fire, Asher. You’ve never been the type to take big risks. Why start now?”
I shake my head. “It isn’t like that.”
He laughs, but it lacks humor. “Sure it’s not. Son, I’ve only ever seen you look at one other girl the way you look at her, and you almost married her.”
My stomach churns at his words, and I think he notices because his tone changes.
“All I’m saying is be careful.”
I nod. “Will do, Coach.”
Just as I get up to go back to Tessa, he stops me with a hand on my wrist.
“And you may want to make sure the press doesn’t get any pictures of her. You know how they can be.”
Shit. I hadn’t even thought about that. It’s been months since I was forced into hiding to avoid them. With the exception of coming to the games I coach, they’ve left me alone, which has been nice. However, if they catch wind of me potentially dating someone, and especially if they find out who she is, it’ll start a paparazzi free-for-all.
THE CAPTAIN ANNOUNCES THAT we’re going to be landing in a minute, and I look over at Tessa, who is still fast asleep with her feet in my lap. I reach over and put a gentle hand on her shoulder.
“Tess, you have to wake up,” I whisper, and thankfully, her eyes peek open. “We’re almost there.”
She sits up and rubs her eyes with the back of her hand. It’s unnerving how adorable I find it and how beautiful she looks half asleep. I clear my throat and force myself to focus.
“Hey, listen,” I start, “I’m going to need you to wear one of my hoodies, Colby’s hat, and your sunglasses.”
She cocks a brow at me and I can tell she’s not happy. “In Miami? Asher, it’s like 80 degrees.”
“I know, but the press is going to be out there, and we can’t have them seeing you. Your picture will end up everywhere.”
That seems to get through to her, and she nods in understanding. “Okay.”
I squeeze her hand and lean over to kiss her forehead, feeling grateful that she didn’t fight me on it like I thought she would.
The pilot lands the plane with ease, and Colby comes over to help me with Tessa. I hand her my sweatshirt and she puts it on. It’s no surprise that it swims on her—she’s tiny. Colby puts his hat on her head and with her sunglasses, she’s completely unrecognizable. Her hair is even tucked into the hoodie. The only way you can tell she’s even female is from her petite size.
