Practice is over and everyone is heading to the showers when I call him into my office. He doesn’t seem surprised when I do.
“Looking good out there today.”
“Thanks, Coach.” He nods respectfully, fully lacking that signature cocky smile as he takes a seat across from my desk.
I force myself to look more closely. I’ve battled with my demons long enough to know how to spot them on someone else.
And Ace? He looks fucking haunted.
I change tactics, putting my brother hat away and instead do what I know Daisy would do in my position. Offer to help and lead with grace. “I’m not going to beat around the bush, man. I know something happened between you and my sister—”
“I didn’t know she was your sister. She never—” He lets out a humorless laugh. “Doesn’t matter. It’s all good, Coach. Promise. I’ll keep my head in the game and leave all my high school bullshit in the past.” His gaze falls to his tightly clenched hands.
I raise a brow at that. “High school?”
He sucks in a breath. “She never mentioned—” He shakes his head. “Like I said, it doesn’t matter.”
“Well, it does to me. I’m your coach and she’s my little sister. Clearly something went on with you two, or neither of you would be acting so bent out of shape lately.” I sigh at the reminder of Val’s sunken eyes the last time I saw her. “I’m trying to figure out if I’m supposed to beat your ass for hurting her, or if she—”
“Hurting her?” His head snaps back up, and I see that his eyes are red, rimmed with tears.
I know I’m not a man of many words, but fuck me if I’m not stunned into silence. And I have no idea what to think.
He stands abruptly, making it to the door in a flash.
“Ace.”
He shakes his head. “You don’t have to worry about me. Like I said, I’ll keep my head in the game. But when it comes to your sister, I’ll make one thing clear. The last time I saw her was thefirst and last time I ever said ‘I love you’ to a woman I wasn’t related to. She was my everything. My first love. First…” He clears his throat. “And then…”
I shift in my seat, trying not to look uncomfortable with the new information coming my way. “And then?”
His eyes meet mine and the pain laced in them is all too familiar.
“And then she was gone. Different school, differentcountry. Without a single explanation. And even though I’ve stalked her online a few times in moments of weakness, I never saw her again, not until I saw her standing in Daisy’s apartment. And she had the audacity to look at me like I was the enemy. Like I did something wrong. Like I ripped out her heart and broke it into a million pieces while I stand here as the physical embodiment of her handiwork from doing just that.”
“Ace, fuck.” I run a hand down my face. “I’m sorry, man. But there has to be an explanation for all of this.”
“I’m sure there is, but I’m pretty sure it’s too late.”
“And why is that?”
“Because look at me.” He smiles, eyes devoid of emotion. “I’m already the monster she made me out to be.”
forty-three
My long-awaited dinner withmy father was scheduled for tonight, but Valentina begged me to cancel, or at the very least to move it to tomorrow. Which is something I never would have done a few weeks ago, but now had no qualms about.
First, because Valentina clearly needs me tonight, and I would never leave her hanging. And second, because I’ve spent far too long being at my father’s beck and call. This time around, he can wait on me.
It’s been two weeks since Luke’s birthday party, and I’ve been slowly trying to coax her back into hanging out with us.
So when she told me she’d be waiting at home for me, I jumped at the chance to finally have that one-on-one time with her.
I try to ignore the fact that it’s Mother’s Day, the one holiday I’ve never been able to celebrate with my own mom, as I rush through the rest of my workload. Unfortunately, I get tied upwith all the holiday festivities since we threw a private brunch for the players’ wives and moms, and since I was already working on a Sunday, I decided to get a head start on prepping for the big game coming up this weekend.
That’s why I’m arriving an hour later than intended. When I slip inside my apartment, I instantly bump into a wall of solid muscle. “Oh, hey. What are you doing here?”
Luke frowns before taking my purse from my hands and planting a quick kiss on my lips. “Aren’t you supposed to say “honey I’m home” or “get naked immediately” when you greet me after a long day at work?”
