Page 68 of Keeping Kyle

“I’ll let him know.” He clapped me on the shoulder.

Our locker room was jubilant, and several people took a moment to congratulate me on my solid game against my former home.

I had texts from Bobby and Mom—many texts. Despite the fact they watched together in her living room, they had a group chat between them and me. I’d have to read them later because their play-by-play looked hilarious.

You need to know that Bobby is sitting here coaching because you keep letting Crenshaw get by on your left. The man always dekes and goes left… keep up with him!

Someone needs to coach him. He played with Crenshaw for four years. He should know better.

They’d never done anything like that before—and I loved it. Maybe it’d become a thing. They wrapped up saying they had fun, congratulated me on the win, and wished me safe travels. I shot them a reply with hearts of all colors.

I got showered quick and into my suit. As I headed over to where Austin was, I stopped to let Lenny, our equipment manager, know where I’d gone. Despite the loss, the guys on the Detroit side offered up fist bumps and back slaps.

The Detroit waiting room had a couple of people in it, and I immediately recognized the back of Austin’s head and the awkward way he stood watching the TV that played postgame coverage. He stood about as far away as he could get from the people talking with Kennedy.

My heart betrayed me as I drank in his slightly rumpled look—Detroit jersey over what had to be a layer or two of other clothes. My instinct was to bolt even as I felt pulled to him.

As the screen went black before a commercial, my reflection popped up. He turned and his face brightened as I came toward him. That only intensified the feels, sending goose bumps across me as he offered the smallest hint of a smile. This wasn’t comfortable for him either.

“Austin. It’s good to see you.” At least my voice stayed even.

“I know it’s not great to ambush you here, but…” He kept his voice low. “I miss you. I hate that I didn’t pursue you after you snuck out but—” He sounded so earnest and a little bit broken. My defenses lowered even more. I held back from reaching out to him though. If we touched at all, I might shatter.

While he’d trailed off talking, he still held my gaze. Maybe he couldn’t look away. I certainly had no choice but to stare into the gorgeous eyes that I’d missed.

“Please stop.” Every emotion I had bubbled just under the surface and threatened to spill over. “I hate myself for doing that, and I’m sorry. I’m trying so hard to be a proper adult, and I keep fucking up.”

“I think we’ve both fucked up a fair bit over the past few weeks. Let’s reset. I’m”—he took in a huge breath, so big I saw his chest expand even with all the layers he wore—“moving to Phoenix. I want us to really give this a shot. I like how I feel when I’m around you. I like how we are together. If you’re willing, let’s prove we can be amazing together.”

Damn.

Moving to Phoenix though? I never saw that coming.

All I could do was stare.

Many nights in the past week, I’d dreamed different aspects of our life together—from making pancakes again to the vacation we’d talked about to just waking up for a lazy morning together.

That’s how much he was in me.

I had to say something. But what? My heart thumped loudly as it declared victory, leaving my brain scrambling to find words.

THIRTY-FOUR

AUSTIN

HE LOOKED SO GOOD. That suit… The slightly damp hair…

Had it really only been a couple weeks since we’d been together? It seemed like it could’ve been months or years since we’d spent that amazing day together.

Memories of the night at his place rushed back and made it hard to concentrate on what I was here to do.

I’d managed to get the first words out, but the longer it took him to reply, the more this looked like a horrible mistake.

“Moving to Phoenix? That’s… That’s huge. And you got a place already?” His mouth hung open. Had he lost his train of thought too? Maybe he’d gotten stuck like I did in the moment. “And… well… yes. I want to try. I’ve missed you. I’ve missed not being able to talk to you about stuff, talk to you about Mom, talk to you about being stuck in Phoenix.”

He came closer and took my hand without hesitation.

“I should’ve just called… gotten over myself. But how are you relocating?” His brow furrowed again, deep lines running across his forehead and right above his nose. Damn cute creases too. I wanted to trace them, smooth them out. “Wait, did something happen? Something happened because I didn’t show up. Oh, shit.”