I nod at the door, silently telling her that it’s time to go.
Sam jumps when the door slams shut behind us.
“Sorry,” I say when she makes eye contact with me. Setting my bag against the wall, I gesture for Sam to head farther into the house. I step around her to avoid bumping into her as we both enter the living room. She peers around awkwardly as if she hasn’t been here before.
“It’ll be a few hours before practice is over and the guys get here.”
“That’s fine.” Sam awkwardly waves her phone. “I texted Gracie, she probably won’t come till later, too.”
I nod, fidgeting in place. “Are you hungry?”
Sam turns her head in my direction and nods gingerly.
“I’ll order food. We probably only have protein and supplements in there.”
That makes her laugh. It’s a barely there chuckle, her lips hardly tilting up, but her eyes soften.
“Can you order me a breakfast sandwich, anything really, and orange juice?”
“Yeah.” Pulling out my phone, I quickly open the delivery appand order food for both of us. “I’m going to change out of my practice gear right quick.”
Sam nods. “Okay.”
I race off to undress, returning just as Sam’s phone lights up in her grasp. Her muscles tense, fear rearing its ugly head again. Concerned, I move toward her, nervous and already on edge, but when her features soften, my heart rate settles.
“That was my best friend, Evan. I texted him to make sure my brother was okay, and he just texted back a picture of him with a milk mustache.”
I breathe out a sigh of relief. “Does he know what’s going on… Evan?”
She shakes her head. “No. I don’t want him mixed up in any of this. Honestly, if I had known it was this deep, I never would have pushed it or involved any of you.”
I reach out to touch her hand without registering what I’m doing. We stare at the connection for a beat, as if neither of us expected it. Yeah, we might have crossed a line already, but that was hate-filled and spur-of-the-moment. It was also supposed to be just once.
Besides, she has Alex and Mountain and neither of them have the complicated history with her that I have. But touching her now—even just the back of her hand—is electrifying.
“This isn’t your fault.”
She huffs. “It sure isn’t anyone else’s.” She looks away. “And I’ve gotten you all wrapped up in this.”
“That picture had all our moms in it. We were already wrapped up in whatever this is long before we were born. But when the boys and Gracie get here, we’re going to figure this out.”
“I don’t want anything to—”
“Nothing is going to happen.”
“You can’t be sure of that. It’s hard to defend yourself against something when you don’t know who’s coming after you. I think it’s the chancellor, but without solid proof—or even a clear crime—it means nothing. I don’t want to risk leaving Des alone.”
Her voice lowers. “He’s already been through so much, he can’t lose me, too.”
“He won’t,” I promise. “What happened with your mom… after she left the facility?”
Sam sighs. “She was in and out of Wyndmoor during those last years. And she seemed to be doing better, taking her meds and using all the coping skills they taught her. But, one day she just—” Sam chokes on her words. “Life just became too much, I guess.”
I open my mouth to speak but the words die on my tongue. There’s no right thing, no magic phrase that’ll make this wound less raw.
Sam starts to pace, but before she can walk away, I catch her wrist. She doesn’t pull away like I expect her to; instead she peers up at me and for the first time I see everything she’s been holding back. It’s all there, the pain, the anger, the vulnerability.
I pull her in slowly enough to give her an out, but she doesn’t take it. We’re only inches apart, sharing the same air. Her eyes dart between mine, and I feel the shift in her breathing. It’s slow and labored, almost deliberate, like she does it to ground herself. I can’t help it when my gaze falls to her lips, where I watch her mouth part.
