I wanted to be there for him, to support him. But I wasn’t sure he was going to let me. And that frustrated the hell out of me.
Strangely, the knowledge that Lily had—probably—been the one to kill my mother didn’t affect me as much as I would have expected. It mostly made me sad. And pissed that Vincent seemed intent on sweeping her actions under the rug. Ignoring what had happened wouldn’t help any of us.
“Hey, you okay?”
I glanced across the front seat of the Range Rover to find Tristin watching me out of his peripheral vision. Since Leo had a team meeting this morning, we were driving Tobias to the airport in the most comfortable of our vehicles. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been sitting here, staring out the window, but I had a feeling it had been a while.
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
I turned to look at Tobias in the back seat. “Have you heard from the Harbor U coach yet?” Though things had been strained between us ever since the kiss, I’d been doing my best to treat him like the friend he’d been to me for so long. I couldn’t exactly blame him for his bad timing when I’d been the queen of relationship bad timing for months now.
“Yeah.” He gave me a pleased smile. “I got the scholarship.”
My stomach dipped. It killed me that he wanted to give up his spot on a Division I team for me. But I didn’t know how to talk him out of it. “Does that mean you’re transferring?”
“Yes,” he answered with clear determination.
“I wish you wouldn’t.”
His smile fell. “Do you really hate the idea of seeing me regularly so much?”
I wanted to bash my head against the seat, but the memory of my recent head injury kept me from following through. “Of course not. I just don’t want you to throw away your baseball career for no reason.”
“I’m not throwing anything away. The coaching staff here has as many contacts as the Wichita State coaches. A number of Harbor U athletes have gone pro, and I know for a fact that Leo is being watched for possible NFL recruitment.”
Seriously? Leo had never mentioned that he was considering playing football after college. Honestly, I hadn’t realized it was even a possibility since he’d stayed in Moss Harbor instead of going to a big state school.
I’d have to remember to ask him about it later.
“Still. You wouldn’t get anywhere near the recognition here that you would staying in Wichita.”
He shrugged. “Maybe I’m ready to get out of Kansas too.”
I narrowed my eyes on him. He’d never been like me. He hadn’t wanted to get as far away from small-town Kansas as possible. He liked his home and his friends.
“You’re making a mistake.” Sometimes, blunt honesty was the only way to go.
Tobias peered back at me, a stubborn slant to his chin that I knew meant I was wasting my breath. “That’s funny, because I happen to think you’re making a mistake too.”
With a sigh, I turned back to the front and closed my eyes. If he didn’t want to listen to me, fine. He was a big boy who could make his own stupid decisions. At least he knew where we stood now—with everything.
My heart was tied up with the Sharpe brothers, and I didn’t see that changing anytime soon. Maybe never.
When Tristin and I finally made it back to the townhouse a couple of hours later, a familiar Porsche SUV was sitting in the driveway. My chest tightened, not really answering the question about how I felt about Hayle right now, except that I was anxious to see him. And not necessarily in the good way.
“No matter what Hayle says, you have a right to ensure Lily pays for what she’s done. Don’t let him push you around.”
I peered into Tristin’s aquamarine eyes, searching for some sign of the guy who had pushed me away over and over. But all I found was something that reminded me a lot of devotion.
He quirked a dark blond brow. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like you’ve never seen me before.”
I huffed out a half-laugh. “Maybe I haven’t.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’m not used to this protective side of you. I’m not sure what to do with it.”
He reached out a hand, and I inhaled sharply when he brushed a thumb over my cheek. “I have a few ideas of what you can do with me, if that