Page 157 of The Heart Breaker

I hadn’t cried in years.

Couldn’t stop that night.

She was safe. She wasn’t going back to my dad. He couldn’t hurt her again. Couldn’t hurt either of us.

Coach clears his throat, and I glance over.

“We do have one issue, though.”

My brows pull together. “What?”

He sighs. “She has a boyfriend.”

My brows shoot up in shock for a second, but then I let out a laugh, which makes him frown.

“I’m serious.”

“I know.” I shake my head, still grinning a little. “I just thought you were about to tell me something bad.”

His brows lift. “I’ve got to say,” he says, “I figured you’d tell me to shut that shit down immediately.”

“No.” I look back at Sophie. “She deserves to be happy. As long as this guy isn’t some asshole who hurts her, she can date whoever she wants.”

His mouth twitches, and he turns back toward Sophie.

“Thank you,” I say.

He glances back at me. “You don’t have to thank me every time you see her.”

“Yeah.” I swallow hard. “I do.”

Because he got her out of that house when I couldn’t. He took her in when he didn’t have to. He gave her something safe and steady and normal when her whole life had been anything but. I’m never going to stop being grateful for that. Never.

Coach’s jaw shifts, and when he looks back at Sophie, his expression goes softer than usual. “She’s a good kid.”

“Yeah,” I say, watching her laugh again. “She is.”

Aurora glances back at me then, like she can feel me looking at her, and when our eyes meet, she says something to Sophie before heading my way.

I push off from where I’m standing and meet her halfway, my hands settling on her hips the second she reaches me because I can’t seem to help myself when it comes to her.

“You having fun?” I ask.

Her face lights up immediately. “Yeah. It’s amazing.” She lets out this little breathless laugh and glances back toward the painting. “So many people love it. It’s kind of crazy.”

“Not crazy at all,” I tell her. “You’re talented as hell, Prescott.” My mouth lifts as I look down at her. “I should know. I was the first one lucky enough to walk around with an Aurora original on his body.”

That gets me one of her soft smiles that wrecks me in the best way. God, she’s so beautiful and I’m so in love with her, and she’s all fucking mine.

She wraps her arms around my neck and leans into me. “So,” she says, searching my face, “I got a text today. From Professor Williams.”

She doesn’t bring him up much, and when she does, she never calls him her dad.

Every muscle in me tightens. “What’d he say?”

Her brows lift. “That he was an idiot for letting me walk out of his office that day.”

I nod. “True.”