Page 99 of Almost Ours
Miranda tilted her head, her glossy curls bouncing. “Do you have plans for the holidays? Everything around here gets so busy right before Christmas.”
“We’re just hanging around here,” I replied with a small smile. “Still got a few things to get.”
Vanessa’s lips curved. “Speaking of the holidays… we saw you at the Christmas party last weekend–you and Ryan left together, didn’t you?”
There it was.
I kept my tone light. “Yup. He gave me a ride home.”
“Must be nice for Connor,” added Rachel, eyes narrowing as she studied me. “Having a male role model around for him.”
I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “Yeah… Ryan’s a great coach. Great friend, too.”
Nina shot me a knowing glance but didn’t say a word.
Kelly leaned in a little. “We’ve been meaning to invite you to ladies night and get to know you better! We hardly know anything about you, Harper. Like what brought you to Brookhaven… Fresh start I’m guessing? Nobody moves to Brookhaven for fun.”
I kept my smile neutral, ignoring the invitation. “Something like that.”
They all exchanged looks–too quick to catch if you weren’t looking for them. But I was.
“Ryan’s kind of the same,” Miranda said, shifting the conversation with a practised ease. “He carries a lot. Mostly keeps to himself.”
“Which makes sense, considering…” Rachel trailed off meaningfully.
“Yeah,” Kelly added, nodding slowly. “I mean, it wasn’t his fault. You can tell he still carries the weight of it, though.”
My stomach twisted slightly. I tried to keep my expression composed, though my mind immediately went to what Ryan had told me about his mom–the car accident, the guilt.
“He’s been through a lot,” Miranda said gently. “But you probably already know that. You and he seem… close.”
I opened my mouth, then closed it again. “He’s… easy to talk to,” I said finally. “I don’t ask questions that aren’t mine to ask, though.”
That seemed to stop the probing–for now. Kelly gave me a tight smile, her curiosity barely concealed behind it.
“Well,” she said, adjusting the coffee cup in her hand. “I’m just glad he’s got people around him now.”
Nina jumped in before anyone else could add more. “Alright, this was fun, but we’ve got to get to the bathroom before the next period starts.”
The moms blinked, their eyes snapping to her like they’d just realized she’d been standing there the whole time. Kelly offered a half-hearted smile. Miranda muttered a polite “nice seeing you,” and Rachel just nodded, already distracted by something on her phone.
Nina didn’t seem fazed–just raised one perfectly groomed brow and gave them a tight lipped smile that said she saw it all and didn’t care one bit.
We said quick goodbyes and headed off, the moms’ voices fading behind us.
“You okay?” Nina asked, glancing sideways.
“Yeah,” I said, though the ache in my chest told me otherwise.
The pub was half-full,the warm scent of fried food and beer lingering in the air, Christmas lights strung along the beams overhead. Shane leaned back in the booth across from me, boots stretched out under the table, already on his second pint like he had all the time in the world.
“So, how’s the team in Oakville doing?” he asked, taking a sip of his beer.
It had been a while since he’d brought them up. The last time we’d talked about Oakville, he’d made some offhand joke I hadn’t taken well–snapping at him before I could stop myself. I wasn’t proud of it, and judging by the way he’d steered clear of the topic ever since, neither was he.
“They’re doing great,” I said, rolling the condensation from my glass between my palms. “On Christmas break now, so I won't be heading out there again until the end of February. They’ve got an away trip in January with Kyle, and I’m sitting that one out. I’ll catch the next one.”
Shane smirked, shaking his head. “What are they gonna do without you? Their offence is gonna tank.”
