He threw his hands up. “My dad offered to groom me to take over Sharpe Shipping—the one thing I’ve been working almost my entire life for—and I turned him down. For you. So, no, I didn’t make that deal to feel better about myself.”
All of my anger whooshed out of me in a single breath.
Hayle had given up his chance at the family business? If it was anyone else, that might not have been a big deal. But this was Hayle. Sharpe Shipping was everything to him. Or so I’d thought.
Before I could ask him anything else, the door opened, and Leo stepped out. “There you are.” He quickly made it to my side and pulled me into a side hug at the same time he dipped his head to kiss me softly on the lips.
“Sorry. Were you looking for me long?”
“Not too long.”
He turned to Hayle. “Wasn’t expecting to see you here.”
“I’m surprised you noticed me at all.”
I felt Leo stiffen. “Why do you always have to be so antagonistic? Not everything is a competition.”
“No?” Hayle laughed darkly. “That’s funny, because winning is the only way I ever get seen.”
“According to you. I happen to think that if you want attention, sometimes you have to demand it.”
“Spoken like a true superstar.” He backed up a few steps. “You know what? I’m out of here.” Looking at me, he added, “Think about what I said.” And then he disappeared around the side of the house.
What the hell?
Leo moved in front of me and rubbed his hands up and down my arms while nuzzling my nose with his. “You’re freezing.”
“I know. We should go inside.”
“Do you want to tell me what just happened first?”
I shook my head. I didn’t even really want to think about it, much less discuss it. “Honestly, it’s too much to unpack right now. Can we talk about it later?”
“Sure.”
He started to back away, but I reached out for his shirt and tugged him back toward me. “I’m sorry about tonight. But you were amazing. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of you on the field, and not just because of those pants.”
Leo chuckled and brushed his lips over mine. “Are you saying you like my ass, babe?”
“I more than like it.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” He sighed into my mouth, and the scent of mint toothpaste enveloped me. “Tonight sucked, but it wasn’t a surprise. This wasn’t our year.”
“You going to be okay?”
“Yep, because this is definitely my year.”
“Oh?” I asked around his soft pecks on my mouth.
“Yep. Because of you, if you didn’t figure that out.”
I grinned. “I guessed, but I still like hearing you say it.”
“Do you like hearing that I love you?”
“No.” I bit down on his lower lip. “I love it. And I love you.”
“You better.”
Then he kissed me like he hadn’t just experienced a major loss. And like there might be other things he wanted, but I was all he needed.
Chapter Eighteen
Thea
“Are you sure you don’t mind waiting?” I asked Tristin as we made our way inside The Grind. “I don’t know how long this is going to take, and I bet Violet can give me a ride home.”
It was Sunday night, and after skipping sessions with my Civ study group for the last couple of months, I was finally meeting up with them again. We’d worked on the individual portions of our group project separately, but now we needed to put them together and decide on the title, formatting, and so on.
When Violet had called to let me know there weren’t any rooms available at the library this close to finals, I’d offered up the townhouse. But she’d suggested the coffee shop instead.
Tristin held the door open for me. “What’s wrong? Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?”
“Not likely. I just hate being a burden.” Although I’d only had a couple of weeks with the Audi before breaking my leg, I missed the independence being able to drive myself had given me. The guys insisted that they didn’t mind chauffeuring me around, but I knew it had to be getting old.
“You’re never a burden. Besides, staying gives me an excuse to have a peanut butter cookie.”
“Still no coffee?”
He wrinkled his nose. “That’s one habit I have no interest in developing.”
“You should try a chai latte, then. They don’t have a ton of caffeine but are still really tasty.”
“Okay, I’ll try it.” He led me to a table with four chairs around it and carefully placed my bag