For a moment, neither of us spoke. The world was just salt and skin and breath, the weight of something too big for either of us to hold.
It was the first time thatbreakingdidn’t feel like a curse.
The first time it felt like…
A miracle.
CHAPTER 34
MATTY
The wind stung like needles as I lined up for another drill, the December air cutting through my jersey and settling deep in my bones. The Tennessee cold wasn’t supposed to hit this hard when you had an indoor facility, but Coach was on a “mental toughness” crusade and refused to let us practice indoors. “Playoffs aren’t played in a dome,” he’d said, which was rich coming from a man in three jackets and a heated hat.
By the time he finally blew the whistle for a water break, my fingers were numb inside my gloves. I yanked off my helmet and trudged to the sideline where Jace was crouched near the bench, grinning like he didn’t even feel the cold.
“I’m still shocked you actually cleaned my room,” I said, shaking my head. “After the…you know.”
Jace blinked, all wide-eyed innocence. “You mean after Riley’s heroic exorcism with a fire extinguisher to get rid of Emma?”
I glanced around, suddenly panicked. “Don’t say her name out loud!”
“She’s not actually a demon,” Parker said as he jumped up and down a few times to try to warm himself up.
“Says the man who didn’t wake up with her in his room in the middle of the night,” I griped.
“You were giving me compliments,” Jace reminded me, helpfully steering us back on track.
“Yes. I was thanking you for getting my room cleaned up so it was easy to move Ophelia in,” I said.
Jace’s grin was cocky. “Of course I cleaned. You think I’d leave your crime scene-looking room like that? I’m a good friend. Thebestfriend.” He pointed a thumb at Parker. “Way better than QB1 over there.”
Parker was now jogging in place, and he snorted, bumping Jace with his shoulder. “Yeah, the best friend whohired a cleaning service. Don’t let him milk it too much, Adler. He didn’t even take out the trash himself.”
Jace threw his hands up. “Excuse me, Isupervised! That’s emotional labor!”
“Yeah, I’m sure yelling ‘get the demon residue off the posters’ was real taxing,” Parker said.
I huffed out a laugh, shaking my head as I tipped my bottle back for a drink. “I’ll give you some friendship points for getting my room cleaned regardless of how it happened,” I said, “but you only get a few. You scared away the home security company this morning by answering the door naked. And we really need those cameras and alarms. There’ve been way too many people entering our house uninvited lately.”
I shivered again, picturing Emma touching my things. And talking. And being in my presence at all.
Parker barked out a laugh, nearly choking on his water. Jace turned, eyes wide with mock outrage. “Okay, first of all,I didn’t knowwe were having company. That might have been a good thing to warn me about. Second, I was coming from the shower, so it was nice of me to answer the door at all. Third—” Hepaused, gesturing dramatically. “Did Iintendto drop the towel? No. Did it happen? Almost no.”
Parker snorted. “Those men were probably traumatized for life.”
Jace nodded. “It would have been better for Matty to have done it. That extra inch was probably terrifying for them.”
I was about to open my mouth to object, but then I glanced over at the parking lot…out of habit, and I forgot all about Jace’s supposed larger dick.
A familiar white car was back in its spot.
A slow pulse started in my chest, something between relief and possession.
She was here.
Ophelia was watching again, just like she always did before. Only now, she didn’t have to hide it. I’d told her she could. I’d told her I wanted her to.
She’d gladly taken me at my word.
