I could only nod, my words caught somewhere in the back of my throat, overwhelmed by the intensity of the moment.
“Good.” His lips met mine, soft yet firm, and every nerve in my body lit up.
When he pulled back, he kept his hands on me as he guided me into the car. My legs felt shaky, and I was grateful for the support—without it, I wasn’t sure I would’ve stayed standing.
“Until next time,” I murmured, the warmth of his touch lingering on my skin as he gently shut the door.
He gave the car door a small pat, and I watched as he walked back toward his own vehicle.
But then he paused, stopping midway. He turned, catching my gaze again, and gestured for me to roll down the window.
“Charlie?” He stood with his hands in his pockets and his head cocked curiously to one side.
“Yeah?”
“You said you have health insurance, right?”
14
charlie
“Why would he bring up health insurance? That’s how the dateended? He didn’t say anything else, just nodded like he was asking about the weather?”
I was sitting in Jennie’s apartment, cradling a cup of tea as she paced back and forth across her living room. I had called her right after the date and asked if she could meet for breakfast in the morning to debrief. She insisted she couldn’t wait, demanding I come over immediately.
“Yeah... It’s weird, right?” I said, confusion creeping in.
After a kiss that practically made my knees give out, I hadn’t anticipated how the date would end, but him asking about health insurance wasdefinitelynot on any list of things I expected.
Jennie sighed dramatically, then flopped into her bright red oversized reading chair in the corner. Her apartment was so her—vibrant, with a mix of colors and patterns that didn’t match, but somehow worked. Everything was oversized, and there was barely any free space left to walk around. It was chaotic and cozy, like her.
“I searched him up on the Internet.”
“Ugh.” I rolled my eyes and kicked my feet up on the ottoman. “No. I asked you not to.”
“I know,” Jennie cried and held up her hands. “To be fair, the other girls said I shouldn’t either, and we all vowed we’d leave it alone since it was your life and not ours, but then I came home. It was lonely. I hadn’t heard from you...”
Truthfully, I kind of understood where she was coming from. If Jennie were dating a stranger, I’d probably call Jacob and see what he could dig up using his connections. We had a pretty tight security network back in Georgia, and the guys who worked for us could hack into pretty much anything to find someone’s background info if needed.
“Okay, go on,” I finally said, giving in.
Jennie’s eyes lit up as she pulled her phone from her pocket. “Can I please show you?” she asked, her fingers already flying across the screen as she typed, but she hesitated before turning it my way.
Did I want to know what was on the screen? Absolutely. Yet, a part of me felt like it was crossing a line—an invasion of Austin’s privacy. I wanted to hear the truth from him, not some report from an online search.
“It’s nothing you don’t know,” Jennie assured me.
“It isn’t?” I asked, the tension easing a little.
If it was stuff I already knew, then maybe it wouldn’t feel like I was digging too deep.
She nodded, and that was all the reassurance I needed to lean in and look.
“Okay,” I conceded. “Show me.”
She handed me the phone, and I scrolled. “The articles start with the oldest first, then the newer ones.”
The first few articles were glowing, all about Austin being one of the youngest recruits in the NHL. They talked about his incredible talent and how he was the rising star of the league. A few highlighted his standout performances, even in gameswhere the Chicago Ravens lost, praising how his efforts kept the team in the fight.
