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“I know you can.” He held on tighter. “I just like holding you.”
“And how can I not touch you in that dress? It’s almost as good as seeing you in my jersey.”
“Firstly, no. Theo did not know until he showed up late to the hockey game, and I pulled him aside afterward.” I saw him glance at me from my peripheral vision. “He thought I had pulled him into his coach’s office to yell at him, but you know what? The second he heard me say that I was your father, he went into total defensive mode. And I’ll admit, I wouldn’t stand to be talked to like that by any of my players—or anyone in the industry, for that matter—but the fact that he was potentially throwing his career away to stand up for you was okay by me.”
“He went off—respectfully. He was poised as he dished out all that you had told him about your nonexistent father and the financial hardships you have gone through with your mother. He was quick to put everything on the line for you.” Tom’s sigh was an exact replica of mine, and I sucked up my tears as he continued to talk. “That’s when I realized that the story you’ve been told isn’t true, Claire.”
“Poor.” His face fell, and I began to back away from him. “I have to go to my meeting,” I explained. “And then I need to go home to talk to my mother.”
“Theo is refusing to come to the team tryouts unless I fix what I broke between you two.” His eyes flew to mine in panic. “I’m not telling you this so he will join my team. That doesn’t matter to me as much as it probably means to him. I’m telling you this because it's obvious that he loves you, and love is hard to come by in a world like this.”
He scoffed, his hand shaking against my face. “You don’t know me at all if you think I’m going to play for someone who hurt you.” I shook my head. “Stop.”
“No, I’m not gonna stop,” he urged. “You don’t have to be mine, but I’m yours, and you’re just gonna have to deal with it. My dreams and goals mean absolutely nothing if you leave this room thinking I wouldn’t give up every last one to show you your worth.”
“Please don’t cry. You don’t understand what it does to me.”
“Am I included in your future?”
“Haven’t I proven that? I’d do anything for you, and I’d do anything to get you to stop crying, even if that means letting you walk out that door and into someone else’s arms. If you’re happier with him, go.” “No.” “What?” “I was sitting at The Bex with Chad to tell him that whatever he thought he felt for me wasn’t love. It wasn’t love when I stayed with him to secure my mother’s job, and it wasn’t love when he threatened me into allowing him to go off with other girls until the end of the school year because of the money my mom owed his family. But I’m so thankful he did, because now I know
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“Tell me you’re mine, Bryant. Tell me you trust me, and tell me that you can feel how much I love you just from the way I look at you.” “I’m yours, Theo. I always was.”
“And by the way”—he
we were always meant to last, Bryant.”
“Your father was right. One of the first things he said to me after twenty-two years of being apart was, ‘Theo Brooks loves our daughter.’” Her hand fell on top of mine, and she gave it a squeeze. “Don’t make the same mistake we did. Keep that boy’s hand tucked in yours, no matter what.”
