Page 105 of Hometown Halftime

“A little.”

I shake my head, but the relief is real. “So what happens if this does turn into something?”

“Then you handle it like adults. You stay professional at practice, you keep the team out of it, and you don’t make me explain relationship drama to a bus full of teenage rugby players. If it gets serious enough that Ramsey needs an official disclosure, we’ll handle it then.”

“I can do that,” I say.

“I know you can.” Knox looks back toward the house, and his expression softens in a way that catches me off guard. “You’ve always had a good head on your shoulders, Riley. Coming home didn’t change that. If anything, it proved it.”

I swallow, staring down at the grass between my shoes. “Thanks, Coach.”

“Don’t get emotional on me. Brynn will sense vulnerability from inside the house.”

A laugh breaks out of me, rough around the edges but real. “Wouldn’t want that.”

“No, you would not.”

For a moment, we stand there in the quiet backyard while the house glows behind us. Knox has been a lot of things to me over the years. A coach and a mentor, the guy who saw something in me when I was a skinny freshman with more nerves than confidence. And tonight, he feels a little like family too.

He bumps his shoulder lightly against mine. “For what it’s worth, I think she’d be good for you.”

I look toward the house again, and this time my eyes find Kinsey through the kitchen window. She’s standing beside Brynn with a dish towel in her hands. Her dark hair is falling loose around her face, and her smile is bright enough to make the rest of the room blur a little around her.

“Yeah,” I say, my voice quieter now. “I think so, too.”

Knox follows my gaze, then makes a disgusted sound. “God, you’re in worse shape than I thought.”

I tear my eyes away from the window. “I was having a moment.”

I laugh as he turns back toward the porch, and the tension finally breaks between us. By the time we step inside, the noise of the house folds around us again, warm and familiar.

Kinsey looks up the second I walk into the kitchen.

Her eyes narrow, bouncing between me and Knox. “Should I be concerned?”

Knox lifts both hands. “I behaved.”

Brynn snorts from beside the sink. “Highly doubtful.”

Kinsey looks at me, suspicion still written all over her face. “What did you two talk about?”

I lean against the counter, meeting her gaze across the kitchen while something warm and reckless moves through my chest.

“Just football.”

Her mouth twitches.

Knox walks behind me, making his way to the living room. “Good talk, Weston.”

I grin, and Kinsey’s smile finally breaks free.

And yeah, I’m in worse shape than Knox thought.

Chapter forty-two

Kinsey

I was worried that things would feel awkward between Riley and I after the arrangement we made, but they don’t. Riley just keeps existing around me in the most comfortable way possible.