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I groan, scrubbing my face. “This is why I shouldn’t have gotten involved.”
“Because she likes to steal cars?”
“No, because I care. I care about whatever else is going on in her life that caused that horrifying look on her face this morning. I care about what she’s doing outside of practice, who she’s talking to, who she’s spending time with. And I shouldn’t. Once she leaves the pool deck, she should be out of my mind.”
Conor sighs. “We all do a lot of things we shouldn’t. You can’t get caught up on that. You two aren’t hurting anyone being together.”
“What if it was your daughter?”
His knuckles tighten on the steering wheel and he glares at me. “Don’t go there, Fallon. Because we’re not talking about my daughter, who is decades away from dating FYI, and it’s different. If my nineteen-year-old daughter was dating her thirty-year-old coach, I would want to beat the shit out of him. Because I wouldn’t know the man, but I know you. You’re a good man. You’ve never cared about dating because water polo was your life. And now you found someone who shares that passion, and it’s different.”
My stomach twists at his words because they don’t do anything to calm the shame that’s been building ever since the first time we kissed.
“But his age would bother you?”
Conor shakes his head, then grimaces. “I mean, yes a little bit. But my first thought would be someone in a position of power manipulated her into the relationship. Tell me, Fallon. At any point, did you use your job as a coach to force her to do anything?”
I swallow the lump in my throat. “Of course not.”
“Then stop beating yourself up and give her the option to walk away to appease your conscience if you need to.” He turns the music down, and ducks down a little to turn into the driveaway.
“Do you know which apartment it is? Do you need me to wait in case she holds your keys hostage?” he asks.
I roll my eyes, hop out of his car, and tap the side of the door after I shut it. Glancing at his kids still happily oblivious in the back, I turn back to him. “Thanks for taking me, man. It’s nice to have a friend in town.”
Conor slaps a hand to his chest. “Love you too, dude.”
I flip him off and jog to the building and up the stairs I watched Sage disappear the day I dropped her off. It leads to a hallway with two doors on each side and I pause, unsure which apartment is hers.
Chancing it, I knock on the one closest to me and step back, shoving my hands into the pockets of my pants as my heart beats wildly in my chest. My breath catches in relief when she opens the door, but the dark circles under her eyes rob me of that brief reprieve. Sage glances behind her before stepping out, shutting it behind her.
“Hey,” she says softly.
“Hey.”
We’re quiet for a moment, her gaze trained on the floor with crossed arms. Finally, I tilt her chin up to look at me.
“You okay?”
Sage visibly swallows, her eyes misting slightly. “Family emergency. Sorry to take off like that. Let me–umm, grab your keys.”
I clutch her shoulder, keeping her in place. “I figured it was something like that. What happened?”
She exhales loudly and nods. “Do you want to come in?”
Looking at the door behind her, I hesitate. A teasing smile turns the corner of her lips.
“My mom isn’t home.”
I narrow my eyes. “That doesn’t make me feel better.”
The small giggle that escapes eases some of the tension and I let go of her shoulder to pull her into my arms. She returns my hug, resting her cheek on my chest. “You can tell me another day. I was worried,” I whisper against her hair.
Her grip on me tightens before she leans her head back. “Come in. I’ll tell you everything.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Sage
