me walking away from a pendejo who only seems able to pick fucking fights with me.”
Ryder took three long steps, holding himself back from her by several feet as he looked down at her. “I’m offering advice. It’s what a captain does, Noble. You know that. You should remember that.”
“Yeah?” Her voice went high, anger pumping through her tone. “Well, you should remember a few things, too!”
There was a look in her eyes Ryder hadn’t seen from anyone in a long time. Reese looked hurt, like whatever he’d said to cause this reaction didn’t make her angry. It wounded her. Like he’d forgot something special, something that should have never left his mind.
Reese shifted where she stood, her stance changing, becoming defensive as she crossed her arms, holding herself when Ryder only continued to watch her.
He hadn’t forgotten. He’d never forget what this day was. It was a splinter that had only grown wider, thicker inside his heart since his little sister died. But Reese? He couldn’t believe it still wounded her.
“Rhiannon?” he asked simply, surprised when he spotted the moisture in her eyes growing heavy. It amazed him, her reaction, because he’d convinced himself for so long that Reese hadn’t felt anything about her part in his sister’s death. She’d never called. She’d never visited his parents or gone to see her grave, as far as Ryder knew.
This? This was something that astounded him, and the longer he watched her, and the thicker those tears got, Ryder realized that not all the moisture on her face had been sweat.
“You…remembered?”
Reese took a step, curling her arms tighter across her chest as she looked up at him. “You honestly believe I could ever forget?”
Ryder’s mouth fell open, and his chest grew tighter than it had been in years. Shock and confusion battled for dominance in his head. This wasn’t how he’d ever expected her to be, so broken up, racked with enough guilt that she spent a half-hour on the treadmill doing her level best to exorcise whatever ate her up inside over his sister’s death.
When she closed her eyes and her chin wobbled, the muscles in her face spasming as she fought back her tears, Ryder had to hold himself back from touching her. “But you…you walked away. You didn’t…”
“I…what?”
“You never called or visited my folks or…”
“You didn’t want me to! Ay dios, Ryder, are you serious? You hated me. You blamed me, and you think…” She dropped her arms, walking backward, and Ryder moved after her, steps away before she hurried down the hallway.
“Not once, in ten years. You never…”
“What?” She turned, and Ryder stepped back, eyes rounding as he spotted the tears running over her face. Something heavy, something bitter, curled and rumbled in his gut at the sight of them, and Ryder stood frozen.
“I…” He didn’t know what to say or how to explain himself.
He’d been angry. He believed the hatred he felt for her had been justified, but that had been between them. That had been the betrayal he felt. He may have hated Reese, but he knew she never felt that way about his family. He’d left Durham and never looked back. She’d finished Duke, worked in the Canadian league coaching and training others until news broke about Gia landing the team manager gig with the Steamers. That opened doors that had never existed before. It was the door Gia created that Reese walked through at the general manager’s invitation.
Ryder had always assumed she’d gone on with her life and never looked back either. His folks never mentioned her, and Ryder had stopped speaking with Coach Noble after he left Duke. He didn’t want any connection to Reese. He assumed, because of her own distance, she wanted the same. It had added fuel to the fire that kept his hatred for her burning.
“You never acted like…”
“How in God’s name would you know how I acted?” She shot forward, the tears thicker now, and Ryder didn’t move, not even when Reese shoved him. “You walked away. You hated me and never looked back.” Another shove and Ryder stumbled against the wall. “You left me.”
“That’s not how I remember it,” he said, trying to keep his voice calm.
“Yeah? Well, then you’ve been sacked one too many times, cabrón.” She took a half step back, looked ready to shove him again, and Ryder reacted, grabbing hold of her wrists, turning her so that her back was to the wall. She closed her eyes, wetting more of her face