Page 26 of The Comeback

“I haven’t returned to in-person classes since my injury.” Her expression is wistful.

“Why? Were you worried about getting reinjured?”

Her face flushes as she continues to look downward, not making eye contact. “I was afraid people would make fun of me. My friends all disappearing. Well….” She pauses and shrugs. “They were there when I was in the hospital, but they had moved on by the time I was out of rehab. They had new friends. New boys they were talking about that I didn’t know.”

“I understand completely.” Her heartbreak hurts my heart. I blink to keep from crying as memories of starting new schools where I knew no one flood through my brain. “When I was in school, we moved around a lot. It was hard leaving people I was friends with, and it was even harder making new friends.”

She glances up, finally meeting my gaze as she removes her hand from mine and rubs hers together. “Did it ever get any easier?”

I start to say no, but stop. That isn’t exactly true. “It did get easier, and it helped we stayed in the same place during my high school years. I got good at fitting in. And now, as an adult, it’s easier. I know myself better, so I know the type of people I want to let into my life and those I want to avoid. After my youngest brothers graduated from high school, my mom moved here to be with our dad, and I changed colleges. I still talk to my high school friends, but my family is here. I wouldn’t have wanted to stay behind without them.”

“It’s not that different when I’ve moved to new teams. I’ve had to make new friends each time.”

“Well, you can’t do any worse than when you were dating Helena.”

“Thank you.” Weston rolls his eyes.

I nudge Piper. “I didn’t like her either. Not that I’ve ever met her, but I saw her on television. She seemed superficial.”

She bites her bottom lip to keep from giggling. “You’ve got her pegged completely. She was rude to me.” She stands and wraps her hair into a ponytail holder. “It’s kind of cool.”

“What’s cool?” Weston folds his arms over his chest, and I force myself not to drool. We’re friends. That’s it. I’m not going to feel those arms wrapped around me. Inhale his cologne. Have those hands all over me. God, why is it so hot in here? I need to turn the air conditioning up.

“It’s kind of like fate that you two met each other. If you hadn’t gotten hurt, you wouldn’t be here in Kansas City, and if Charlotte hadn’t gotten hurt, she might have been doing something else. You two would’ve never met, and I wouldn’t be hearing your stories.” She smiles. “Realizing I’m not alone is nice. This is the first time I’ve had hope in a long time. Maybe I can still play sports or at least….” She trails off and shrugs as my heart constricts. “Or at least be open to meeting people that understand what I’ve been through. You never know what path you’ll go down.”

“That’s great.” My gaze slips to Weston. It was kind of like fate. I’m glad I met him.

“I mean, look at you two.” She waggles her eyebrows and waves her hand in our direction. “I kind of thought my chances of finding a boy who would want someone with scars was out the window, but look at the two of you.”

“Stop.” He rolls his eyes and ruffles her hair. “Charlotte isn’t interested in dating a football player. She’s already been down that road with her family. Being uprooted. Having to leave friends behind. She doesn’t want to live that life again.”

“But you’re not her dad.” She wraps her arm around his waist and lays her head on his chest.

Oh, my sweet Jesus, this girl is going to kill me.

When he kisses her forehead, I melt into a puddle. “You’d be her boyfriend. That’s completely different.” She looks at me out of the corner of her eye. “Besides, he’s the real deal. He drags his sister out of bed at 4:30 in the morning because he cares.”

I bite my bottom lip to keep it from quivering. She’s right. He is the real deal. He has more substance than any guy I’ve ever dated.

He chuckles and squeezes her to his side. “I told you that you aren’t cute like a toddler. Taking my goth teenage sister to a girl’s place will not win me any favors.”

Oh, I beg to differ, and if I didn’t have to be online in fifteen minutes, I’d pull him into my office and show him just how wrong he was. Because the dude has game, and I like everything he’s bringing to the field. Enough to toss all my concerns out the window and give us a chance.

“I’m sorry, guys. I’ve got to get to class. Piper, it was wonderful to meet you.”

She steps out from Weston’s arms and into mine. I hug her tightly and then step back.

When I glance over at him, the energy in the air causes the hair on my arms to stand and my nipples to tighten. Down, girls. You’ve got class.

He smirks and arches his eyebrows. “What about me?”

I tilt my head and gnaw on my bottom lip. “If I didn’t have to turn on my computer and wait for it to boot up, I–”

“You talk too much.” He cups my cheeks and places his lips against mine. The kiss is soft and barely there, but nothing has ever impacted me as much as this moment. The butterflies in my belly flutter and flop.

He pulls back and rests his forehead against mine. “Meeting you is starting to look like the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Now, get to class.” He winks, steps back, and slings his arm over Piper’s shoulder.

I sag against the wall and place my fingers to my lips as they walk to the exit. There’s no way to stop the smile from forming on my lips. Piper is right. Fate put us on the same trajectory, and fate might be more powerful than anything I’ve ever come up against.

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