Free

Chapter 14

FOURTEEN

Nick

“Let’s go, Nell!” My cousin Micah leaps to his feet, fists pumping the air as his daughter races down the soccer field to catch a wobbly pass from a teammate. The bleachers rumble with excitement as our family erupts into cheers.

“Go, Stingrays!” Charlie’s voice rises above the rest, her enthusiasm bright and unapologetic. She’s been living with her brother Garrett for the past few weeks, and her energy has seamlessly folded into the chaos of the Hutton clan.

I thought having her here would change everything. That I’d see her more, and that it would either hurt more or help more. Somehow, it’s both. She’s here, and every part of me is constantly aware of her. It’s like a low-level hum, a frequency only I can hear. And yet, we’ve barely spoken.

Maybe we’ve silently agreed to keep things simple. Life is complicated enough without digging up the tangle of questions and feelings from the past year.

But God, do I miss her.

Nell sinks the first goal of the game, and the Stingrays swarm her in celebration, their bright jerseys a blur of color as her blonde ponytail bounces in excitement. I clap and cheer along with everyone else, but my attention drifts back to Charlie. She’s smiling, caught up in the moment, her dark curls framing her face. Then she looks my way, and for a split second, the sun breaks through the heavy clouds of my mind.

“Did you see that?!” Micah hollers, clapping his hands on either side of his head.

“Of course she scored,” Ivy replies with mock seriousness. “She’s a Hutton.”

I laugh, shaking my head, and shift my attention back to the game just as the other team recovers possession. The Stingrays scramble to defend, but it’s clear their coach is more interested in giving everyone field time than stacking the deck for a win.

Out of the corner of my eye, a commotion catches my attention. Angela is on her phone, her worried eyes locked on Garrett, who’s already out of his chair.

“Okay,” she says, nodding to whoever’s on the other end. “We’ll be home in ten minutes. Can you manage that long?”

“What’s wrong?” Charlie asks, her brow creasing with concern.

“The babysitter tripped over one of the cats and twisted her ankle,” Angela says, already gathering her things. “Her parents are on the way, and she needs us to come home so they can take her to the hospital.”

“I knew we should have brought Elise with us,” Garrett mutters, already moving toward the parking lot.

“Right? Ivy brought Jeremiah and everything’s fine.” Angela points at the chubby legged toddler on Ivy’s hip. “Lesson learned! Next time, no babysitter!” she says, waving at us apologetically as they hurry off.

Charlie watches them go, a small frown pulling at her lips. “I hope they get home before it gets worse.”

“It’ll be fine,” Ivy reassures her. “New parent energy turns everything into a catastrophe. Elise will be fine, and the babysitter will survive.”

Nell’s team trots off the field, heads down, frowns in place. After Nell’s first goal, the other team recovered quickly and nothing The Stingrays did could break back through again. I’d have made some different calls than their coach, but I played in high school and college and these are little girls. I suspect the goals are different.

“We’re gonna take Nell for an ice cream at Scoops right there by North Beach,” says Micah, bouncing Jeremiah on his hip while Ivy consoles their daughter. “You guys are welcome to join us. The more the merrier.”

“I’m game,” I say, leaning close to boop his little guy on the nose. Jeremiah laughs heartily and I do it again.

“Nathan and I are in for sure,” says Mina. “Nell would be crushed if her ice cream partner in crime went home early.”

“I’d love to come,” Charlie begins, then a realization drops her jaw. “But my car isn’t here. I came with Angela and Garrett, and they went home to deal with Elise. I guess I’m kinda stuck here.”

“You can ride with me,” I say, before I can think better of it. “I’ll take you home after.”

Micah and Ivy exchange a look that I pointedly ignore.

“Are you sure?” Charlie asks, her voice careful, her expression somewhere between hopeful and wary.

I shove my hands in my pockets, trying to inject some lightness. “Glad you asked. In the ten seconds since I made the offer, I’ve reconsidered and decided it’s a huge imposition.”

Her lips twitch into a smile. “You don’t have to be a jerk about it.”

“It was a joke. Remember how they’re good for the soul?” She said the same thing to me in my truck, the day of her wedding. Recognition dances in her eyes and she flares her hands in concession.

We walk to the parking lot in companionable silence, Nell chattering to her parents about the game. I open the passenger door for Charlie, catching the faint scent of lavender and lemon as she climbs into my truck.

The drive starts quietly. Charlie stares out the window, her thumb and pointer finger absently rubbing together. I glance at her out of the corner of my eye, half-tempted to break the silence but unsure how.

“You send some really mixed signals, you know,” she says suddenly, her gaze still trained on the passing scenery.

I raise an eyebrow. “I do what now?”

She turns to face me, her back against the door. Her voice is steady, but her eyes are swimming with unspoken questions. “I don’t know where I stand with you, Nick. I thought there was something between us, but after your accident… you… well, you did what you did and said what you said, and I didn’t see you for a year. Then you were so kind at the wedding, but you disappeared again. Now, here we are, and I don’t know what to do with any of it.”

I grip the steering wheel tighter, her words landing like blows to my chest.

“I thought I did something wrong,” she continues, her voice cracking slightly. “I’ve been here for three weeks and this is the first time you’ve said anything to me and here you are coming to my rescue and joking around like everything’s fine and I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do with all that. What are we, Nick? Are we friends? Are you mad at me?”

“Mad at you?” My voice comes out sharper than I intended. “Why would I be mad at you?”

“I don’t know! But you’re hot and cold all the time, and I’m just… tired of trying to figure it out.”

My jaw tightens as I search for the right words, pulling into the parking lot of Scoops with a frown. This conversation is too big to have in a parked truck, with my family waiting to celebrate Nell’s game. It’s too big for today, or any day, really.

“I’m not mad at you,” I say finally.

“Then what’s with the distance?”

The air between us feels heavy, suffocating. I don’t know how to explain the mess in my head without making everything worse.

“I miss you,” Charlie says, her voice soft now, almost a whisper. “I just want to know how to act around you. Can we at least be friends?”

The word friends punches through me like shrapnel. It’s too small to hold what I feel for her.

But it’s all I have to offer.

“Friends it is,” I say, my voice rough.

I force a smile and hold out a hand to shake on it. She stares at it for a moment, her expression unreadable, before reaching out to take it.

BANG!

The sound is deafening.

Adrenaline slams through me, my muscles coiled and ready to act. Someone screams. Charlie’s hand jerks out of mine as her eyes widen in panic.

My heart races. My vision tunnels. I scan the parking lot, my body moving on instinct.

What the fuck was that?

The only thought that cuts through the noise in my head is her.

I need to get Charlie to safety. NOW.