Page 105 of Hard to Hold

“Not a single one of you has said a word about the Esme situation.” There. It’s finally out in the open. The reason I’ve walked on eggshells around my dad on this. “Why is that, Dad?”

“Because, honey, we trust you.” He pats my knee.

“You what?”

“We trust you. It’s as simple as that. If you say Rush is who he says he is, then I believe you and trust your judgment over a newspaper article.”

“I don’t even know what to say.”

“There’s nothing more to say. I’ve got a plane to catch,” he says as he rises and then leans over and kisses the top of my head like he used to when I was a little girl. “Happy Birthday, Lenn. Everything will work out for the best.”

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

LENNOX

“WHY WAS I HOPING THAT this time when you said get in the car, that you were kidnapping me for another retreat to the beach?” I pant. I glance at Rush, who isn’t fazed at all by our uphill ascent of Runyan Canyon.

“You’re hanging with me just fine.” He pats my ass. “Besides, exercise is good to clear the mind, and we need it after that ridiculous thing we had to go to last night.”

I laugh. “Mitzy definitely had your number,” I say in regards to a little old lady who would not leave Rush’s side all night during the MLS benefit for league sponsors.

“I think she drenched herself in ten bottles of perfume.” He mock shivers. “Our bet was interrupted the other night by your surprise. C’mon. First one to the top gets—”

“I’m winning this baby,” I say as I jog a few steps in front of his long stride. No woman is going to give up the chance of getting a tonguegasm by Rush McKenzie.

The man may have skills on the pitch but when it comes to that tongue of his, it puts everything else he can do to complete shame.

* * *

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Rush asks, as he takes a seat beside me on one of the benches at the top of the hike.

“Not as beautiful as the picture I have when I look down to see the top of your head between my thighs,” I whisper into his ear.

“You’re filthy, Kincade, and I fucking love it.”

“Thank you very much.” I glance his way and my smile fades when I see the way he’s looking at me. “What’s wrong?” I ask immediately.

“It was great meeting your family.” He gives a reminiscent smile. “They’re a great bunch.”

“They’ll drive you crazy after too long.” I reach out and link my fingers with his.

“I had a small taste of that after the Mathesons took me in.”

“The Mathesons?” I ask.

“After I made the academy team, a teammate. Rory Matheson?” he asks and I nod, the name nothing more than a blip in my head. He’s definitely not a starter with LFC. “His parents took me in as a part of their family for holidays so I wouldn’t be alone. But it was nothing like you guys.” He squeezes my hand. “And before that, it was just me and my mum figuring out how to stretch every penny so we had both food and shelter, and preferably both at the same time.”

“I’m sorry.”

He chuckles. “That’s not why I’m telling you this. Again, I don’t want your pity, Nox, I . . . shit,” he mutters and runs a hand through his hair and sighs.

“Rush?”

He turns to look at me with eyes so clear and focused, surrounded by a host of unfathomable emotion.

“I came from nothing. No dad. My mum was sick for so long, working wasn’t an option, and so what little money we had saved, ran out. And when she died, no one asked what would happen to her only child. Distant family members assumed other distant family members had me and vice versa, while I lived in an abandoned shed I found behind a flat.”

“Oh my God,” I say but it falls on deaf ears, because Rush is on a mission to tell me something. I am here to listen.