employees or the kids working in their offices, so the girl Cat met gave her info on one of Billy’s sources. A private investigator in Atlanta named Weston Lloyd. He was easy enough to track down and pay off.”
“Wouldn’t he lose his license?”
Ryder shook his head, smiling at Reese. “No honor among thieves. The guy had debts. Cat had cash. He’d probably have sold his soul to get out of his situation. P.I. found Luke. He told the guy everything.”
“Why wouldn’t Cat tell me this?” she asked, stepping further into the living room. She sat with her foot under her on an upholstered chair, holding a fluffy white pillow against her chest. Ryder spotted the black nail polish on her toes and the green and black Slytherin wool sleep pants she wore.
Perfect, he thought.
“Who knows?” he said, following her in the room to sit in front of her on the coffee table. Reese sat up straight, eyes shifting to a squint as she watched him.
“So…” she started, clutching that pillow tighter. “Cat found out everything, just like this Lloyd person and then…?”
“Cat told me after our camp’s final game. I confronted Hanson. He admitted it…in front of Ricks and Gia.”
“Oh…” she said, slumping against the back of her chair. “So Hanson…”
“Might face consequences next season. Gia isn’t happy about it, and Hanson knows he’s on everyone’s shit list now.” When Reese only nodded, her mouth moving down into a frown, Ryder tilted his head, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “What’s wrong?”
“Why would everyone have him on their shit lists?”
Ryder stilled, frowning, watching her. She had to know, surely by now she had to get it. “Reesie, seriously? You don’t know?”
“What?”
“Hanson isn’t loyal. But we are. You’re our people. We always protect our people.”
Reese’s features relaxed, and a small pulse beat quickly against her cheek as she watched Ryder. “Because…because I can kick?”
“Because,” he said, leaning forward, dropping his tone, making it soft so she knew he meant what he said. “We love you.”
It seemed to Ryder that the air had somehow warmed in the room. Some kind of heat circled around them, a crackle of energy that he remembered but had not felt in a long time. Reese didn’t speak when he left the table. She didn’t do much at all but take deep inhalations through her nose as he came to his knees in front of her.
“And when you love someone,” he started, leaning so close to her that Ryder caught the faint hint of bourbon on her breath. It reminded him of post-game celebrations at Duke, of inky black nights lying in the bed of his truck kissing Reese between sips of Jim Beam. “When you love someone…you…”
Reese tensed, throwing the pillow in her hands to the floor as she stood. “Okay, I get it. I’m lovable. My team loves me. Thank you,” she said, bypassing Ryder as she scrambled away from him and toward the kitchen island. “You should go. It’s late and…”
“It’s ten at night,” he reminded her, getting to his feet.
“And you probably have someone’s—she’s…waiting for you…”
“Reese,” he said, coming closer. Her response was immediate: she bypassed his reach, slipping behind the island. “You don’t understand…”
“Should have told you sooner. I mean, I knew. Greer told me, and I should have congratulated you and all, but we had the tournament and then Pukui and…”
“Reesie, hang on a sec.” She only stopped babbling when Ryder came around the island, touching her elbow to slow the animated motion of her hands as she spoke. “We aren’t together. Not anymore.”
Her expression changed then, and Ryder wasn’t sure if it was disappointment or surprise she felt between the shifting wrinkles that set in her forehead as she watched him. “Since…when?”
She held her breath when he stood in front of her, moving his hands to either side of her waist, palms flat against the marble top. “Since she lied to you about me getting her pregnant.”
“Lied?” she asked, releasing a small noise that sounded like a realization.
Ryder nodded, gaze moving across her features. “No, I’m lying…”
“So you didn’t break up with her?”
“I did.” He slipped a hand up, brushing his fingers against the bare skin at her back. “I lied about the when.” Reese shuddered when Ryder rubbed his thumb against her back. He liked how the smallest touch he gave her had an immediate impact. “It was over between us the second you walked onto the field at tryouts.”