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"What?"

"Don’t even try not bringing her. You can run, but you can’t hide. Not from Mom, at least.”

I hang up on her laughter. A few seconds pass before I place the phone on the nightstand, and look over to find Sophie looking at me.

"So," the dark-haired vixen says after a moment, "your mom knows about me."

"Apparently."

"Because of math."

"And Natalia's big mouth."

She sits up, pulling the sheet with her. "Is this bad? Should I be worried? Should we…"

I kiss her, mostly to stop the spiral of panic I can see building.

"It's not bad," I say against her lips. "Just...complicated."

"Because of the feature?"

"Because of everything." I run a hand through my hair. "The feature, the team, my family..."

"Your ex-wife?"

The words hang between us, heavy with everything we haven't discussed.

"Sophie…"

"No, it's okay." She starts gathering her clothes. "We should get ready for practice anyway."

"Wait." I catch her hand. "That's not...I'm not ashamed of this. Of you."

"No?"

"No." I pull her back into bed. "I'm just...not good at this."

"At what?"

"At letting people in. At mixing personal and professional. At..." I gesture between us. "At whatever this is becoming."

She's quiet for a moment, fingers tracing patterns on my chest.

"And what is this becoming?"

That's the question, isn't it?

"I don't know," I admit. "But I know I don't want to stop."

"Even if your mother wants to meet me?"

"Even then."

"Even if the team notices?"

"They're just jealous."

She laughs. "Of what?"