“Sorry.” I pull back, aware that we’ve never hugged before and this might be a weird time to start. Tears prick the back of my eyes, which is really embarrassing. I blink rapidly and a strained laugh slips out. “Thank you. I love being here.”
It’s true, I realize, and something I haven’t let myself say for fear of it going away. “Everyone has been so great. I’m really looking forward to continuing to work with you and Coach Rodier and everyone else too. There are so many incredibly talented gymnasts here. It’s inspiring.”
Her smile lifts higher.
“Anyway. Can you see where the payment came from?” I ask. I’m almost giddy with the relief and happiness of it. Freaking finally. Finally!
“Of course.” She moves back to stare at the screen and clicks around. All the while my heart is thundering in my chest.
I can’t wait to tell Travis. I can already see the big, proud smile on his face.
“Okay, here it is,” Liz says, then frowns.
“What?” My stomach bottoms out. Is this the world’s biggest cosmic joke? Because that would be cruel if she’s about to tell me it wasn’t really paid or it was an accounting glitch.
“It says here the payment came from Travis Bennett.” She looks up at me, a million questions on her face and the same ones running through my mind. “Your husband.”
31
TRAVIS
I’m at MVP with the guys when Hannah walks in. We’re playing shuffleboard and shooting the shit. I’ve been spending so much time at home with her lately, but since she wasn’t going to be there, I decided to hang out and catch up with them.
“This is a nice surprise. I thought you were heading straight to Helena.” I cross the bar to her, a grin stretching across my face.
It falters, slightly, when she doesn’t do the same. In fact, she barely has any life to her at all. She moves, wooden-like, with a blank expression.
Panic and fear lance through me. “Fuck, babe, are you okay? Did something happen?”
My hands go to her arms, and I dip my head to better look her in the eye. Whatever it is, I want to know so I can fix it. I’d move oceans for her.
Her gaze finally locks on mine. Instead of reassuring my worry, it doubles it. “Did you pay for my gym and training fees?”
A new kind of fear settles over me. I knew I was going to have to tell her, of course. This morning, I was prepared to bungle my way through it, but in the hours since, I’ve thought of little elsebut how to explain the situation. “This is what I wanted to talk to you about this morning.”
“Yes or no, Travis?”
“Yes.”
Her eyes close and her jaw clenches tight. When she looks at me again, there’s a fiery anger in her expression. She’s pissed. I hate that she’s pissed at me but it’s so much better than the lifeless look she walked in here with that I’m almost relieved. There’s my girl. And she is. She’s mine in a way no one has ever felt like mine before.
“I told you I didn’t want you to do that,” she says calm and even, despite the anger radiating from her.
“I know, but?—”
“Did you think I wasn’t capable of finding a sponsor?”
“Of course you will.”
“Do you feel sorry for me?” She fires off the questions without letting me explain much.
“No.” Not her specifically, more that anyone has to worry about paying the bills while chasing their dreams.
“Were you embarrassed that people would start associating my failure with you?Hockey Superstar Travis Bennett and His Struggling, Penniless Gymnast Wife!”
“There is no world in which that’s true and you know it.”
“Letting me stay with you, the coffee and muffins every morning, packing my lunches, fixing my Jeep, even this ring.” She lifts her left hand and then lets it drop back to her side. “And now, you’re paying for my training?! It’s too much. I can’t let you do it. I don’twantyou to do it. I’m never going to be able to repay you.”
