Page 21 of Bliss

She gave me an empathetic grimace and showed me to a table in the middle of the dining room.

Seeing me approaching, Mom hopped up and embraced me as soon as I was close enough. “Oh, my sweet girl,” she murmured, and a lump instantly filled my throat. “We have so much to talk about, baby.”

Teeth sinking into my bottom lip to keep it from trembling, I glanced at my dad, who had also gotten to his feet. He stood there waiting, his brows pulled low. Opening his arms, he waited for me to move first.

With a choked sob, I threw myself into his arms, not even sure why I was crying. I just needed his arms around me and for him to promise everything would be okay. As long as he said that, I would believe him, no matter what else happened.

He pressed a kiss to the side of my head, his hands rubbing my back the way they always had when he needed to reassure me and make everything better. It was several minutes before I lifted my head, tears and snot running down my face. “I guess you heard about last night.”

One brow rose over his blue-gray eyes. “I think we have a lot more to discuss than your date last night, B. Sit down. We’re going to have a long overdue conversation.”

Mom handed me a tissue, and I mopped up my face before blowing my nose as we took our seats. Dad held out the chair for Mom, then took the one beside her. Once I was across from them, they both reached for my hand not holding the tissue.

“Where do you want me to start?” I asked, feeling emotionally exhausted already, and we hadn’t even gotten started yet.

My parents shared a look before Dad sighed. “How about you explain how you met Noah Kavanaugh?”

“It was during my last year of college,” I admitted. “One of the basketball players was failing English. Noah was an assistant coach, and he asked me for a little help. I read a few of the guy’s papers, made some notes, and then proofread the final drafts. One player needing help turned into two, then five. And before long, I was seeing Noah almost every day.”

“So it was a platonic relationship?” Mom asked skeptically.

“No, not even in the beginning. There was chemistry between us from the first glance. And I wasn’t shy about how interested I was.” I shrugged, not the least bit embarrassed about confessing that I’d fallen hard and fast. “Noah was more reluctant to start anything between us, but he was my one, and there’s no running from that. However, there was a strict no-fraternization rule between students and any faculty. I wanted to be with him enough that I agreed when he insisted on keeping our relationship a secret.”

“I’m not sure how I feel about that,” Mom mused. “He made you hide stuff from everyone, including us. The school…okay, fine. I can understand that. But from your family?”

“He was worried about his career, something he’d been working toward his entire life. And I loved him enough not to want to put something he was passionate about at risk.”

“Did the relationship end because he took the North Carolina job?” Dad asked. “I know you kids are weird about being too far away from me for extended periods, but if that’s why you broke up, then we should have had a conversation. I could have handled it, Bliss. I mean, I dealt with the four years that Nevaeh was in Virginia for school. I would have survived you being in North Carolina for a while.”

“No, Daddy. That’s…” I swallowed roughly. “That isn’t why we broke up. I didn’t even know about the new job until after.”

They stared at me without speaking, waiting for me to explain. “He got scared,” I said with a shrug, telling them the same story that Noah had confessed to me. “We’d almost gotten caught by his boss one night. Apparently, Noah had already applied for the North Carolina job and hadn’t told me about it. When he got it, he didn’t know how to tell me. And then he was freaking out about the head coach questioning him about whether he had something going on with me.”

I didn’t tell them what Noah had said when he’d broken up with me, that he’d accused me of trying to baby-trap him. They didn’t need to know that part. It was between Noah and me, and I’d decided that if we were going to have a new beginning, I wouldn’t hold the past against him.

“And it wasn’t like he could take me with him when he moved. People would realize who I was, connect me to his previous position. Our relationship would have become a stigma for him that would have overshadowed any achievements he made with the team.”

“I guess I can understand that,” Dad agreed after considering everything. “I still hate that you went through an entire breakup and we didn’t know you were hurting.”

“Noah said he took the head coach position with the Titans because of me. There were a lot of offers that came his way, some of them with more lucrative contracts, but Los Angeles meant the chance to reconnect with me.”

“Last night was your first date since his return?” Mom asked.

“Yes, and it was going great until Odette Washington sat down at our table.” I made a face while saying her name. “She was apparently dating Ted Hawkins. We were all seated and had started eating when she joined him. That’s when things got crazy because she started spouting off.”

“Emmie told us what happened, and we’ve seen the incident from multiple angles, given how many people recorded it.” Mom’s nose wrinkled up in distaste. “Obviously, Odette didn’t learn her lesson the last time she ran her mouth like that. If Arella had been there, Odette probably would have thought twice about what she said.”

“Doubtful. She was feeling brave because Ted was her boyfriend and she didn’t think anyone would shut her down.” I remembered how Noah had jumped up the second I’d given the safe word, the way his voice had gone all growly and dangerous when he’d threatened his boss.

In that moment, he’d passed the test, and I’d known this time we’d make it. No matter what, I wasn’t losing the man I loved again.

“After Odette was escorted away, Aunt Emmie sequestered Ted for a private conversation, and Noah took me home. I wasn’t in the mood to put on a fake smile and pretend like everything was fine.”

Dad adjusted his hold on my hand, his fingers playing with mine in that way I recognized he did when he was unsure whether to tell one of us kids about something. Mom nudged him, and he turned so his other arm was draped around the back of her chair.

“What’s going on?” I asked, anxiety twisting in my stomach.

“It’s nothing bad,” he rushed to assure me when he saw how upset I was becoming. “I’m just not sure how you’re going to react to what I’m going to tell you.”