He’s in the driveway when I pull in, lifting a duffel bag from the sidewalk and setting it carefully into the trunk of his BMW, still dented from the first day we met. There’s another bag by his feet.
My stomach drops.
I get out of the car slowly, like if I move too fast I’ll spook him into finishing whatever this is before I can stop it.
“Colson.”
He freezes but doesn’t turn around.
I walk closer, every step heavier than the last. “What’s this?”
He stays quiet long enough that my chest starts to ache. Then he closes the trunk.
“I’m going back to Chicago.”
The words hit hard and clean, like a punch I didn’t see coming.
“What?” I whisper.
“My agent called. The photo is on every significant sports news outlet and it’s making the rounds. I’m going to try and get ahead of it. Or something. I don’t know.”
“You can’t leave,” I say, like the only words my brain can produce.
“It’s better for you. For the kids. You won’t have any other parents afraid to leave their kids with you if I’m back in Illinois.”
I shake my head. “You didn’t do anything wrong. This isn’t fair.”
“I don’t know what world you live in, but mine has never been all that fair,” he replies, short and to the point. He still hasn’t even looked at me. “You saw it today, firsthand.”
“That doesn’t mean—”
“It means it’s better if I leave now. Before all the parents band together and tear down the thing you’ve worked your ass off to build,” he cuts in, not harshly but tired. “I can’t cost you this.”
“This?” I gesture wildly. “The rec center? The league? I can handle a nervous parent, Colson.”
“I can’t handle being the reason you have to,” he argues.
My chest tightens painfully. “This is my fault.”
He stiffens. “No.”
“It is,” I insist. “If Nick hadn’t shown up, you wouldn’t have had to step in.”
Colson pauses for a second, his hands resting on his hips. It takes everything in me to not wrap him up with my arms. Kiss him until my words make sense. Until he has to believe that I don’t blame him. That I need him to stay.
He sighs a breath and continues, “Part of this is Nick’s fault. Definitely not yours.”
Hearing Colson say my ex’s name is like lemon juice on a cut you forgot about. It fucking stings.
“You know what? I’d do it again,” he says instantly.
That almost breaks me.
“I know,” I agree softly. “That’s the problem.”
He looks away, jaw clenched. “To be fair, this is what I was worried about. Letting you down. Disappointing you.”
I take a step closer, “You did not let me down. Why are you falling on your sword like this? Running away? Why don’t you fight?”
