Chapter 5
five
Lachlan
“ S o who exactly is this girl?” Everett asks as he flicks the Frisbee to Killian.
“She’s Caspian’s little sister.”
“You said she’s writing an article on you?”
“Yup. Well, she wants to. I don’t want any part of it.”
“Maybe she’ll write about us.” Everett is trying to grow his business and would probably love the press.
“Trust me, you don’t want to have her around.”
“Well, if she met Hazel already, I’m sure her opinion of me is skewed. I need to do what I can to salvage that.”
“Why does she hate you so much?” I ask.
They’ve been best friends since the fourth grade, but their friendship has shifted the last few months.
He shrugs. “Not a clue. This is why I prefer to work with animals. They’re less ridiculous.”
“Yeah, or you’re a dumbass.”
He laughs and then jumps to make a catch. “Keep it lower, Killian!” he yells and then turns to me. “Or that. It’s you I’m worried about, though. You seem to want to avoid her. Why is that?”
After Ainsley left, I went to get another cup of coffee and talk with Hazel, see what information she would offer up. I played along where I could, and Hazel talked about how much she liked Ainsley and couldn’t wait to see how the article shaped up.
Little does she know there won’t be an article.
“Because I know her. There’s an angle here, and I think we need to keep her away from the story as much as we can.”
As soon as the words are out of my mouth, Everett laughs and then straightens up, his eyes shifting over to the side of the field.
“I’m going to say there’s a fat chance of that.”
Without having to look, I already know why he’s saying that. She’s here.
Sure enough, I turn, and there stands Ainsley with Davidson, who is going to find himself unemployed.
Ainsley waves and I sigh, waving back. “I should’ve known better.”
Everett laughs. “So I take it that’s your best friend’s sister?”
“Yup.”
“Dude, from a mile away I can tell she’s fucking hot. I mean, I don’t know how the hell you aren’t?—”
The look on my face says it all. I swear, if he finishes his sentence, my friend here won’t have teeth left.
He raises both hands in the air. “Easy, brother. We all know I have no desire to date anyone.”
“Doesn’t matter. Don’t fucking think it.”
“I see. It’s unrequited then?” he asks.
“It’s not anything.”
He chuckles. “Whatever you need to tell yourself, Lach.”
I’m done with this conversation. I head across the field to where Davidson is standing with Ainsley. “Chief, Ainsley came to meet you for your dinner tonight, but she was confused where to meet. I brought her so she didn’t get lost.”
I force a smile and look to her. “Dinner tonight?”
She blinks a few times and clasps her hands in front of her. “Oh no, was it not today?”
This woman. “Nope. Definitely not.”
Her jaw drops a little and she lets out a long sigh. “ Oh, I must’ve mixed the dates up. I’m so sorry, Lach. I just ... you know, I swear you said to meet tonight. When you weren’t at the firehouse, I thought maybe you wanted me to meet you somewhere else. Thank you so much, Danny. You’re so nice and I’ll be sure to bring Pricilla the steak sauce once I get it from New York.”
“Not a problem, Ainsley.” His eyes meet mine and he grins. “I better get back to work. Have a good practice, Chief.”
“Thanks.”
As soon as he’s gone, Ainsley crosses her arms over her chest, and the grin on her lips makes me want to find ways to wipe it off—very creative ways.
“Pretty proud of yourself?” I ask.
“Why? I already knew that your practice was tonight, which is why I asked the questions.”
Ainsley has always been a step ahead of everyone. She’s brilliant, which is why when she talked about wanting to do journalism, it made perfect sense. She loves a story or a puzzle. The act of dismantling it and putting it back together was like a drug for her. Just like it was for me to watch her do it.
“So you found out about the league, happy now?”
She shrugs. “Maybe.”
If I know her at all, she’s practically doing a jig in her head. The best way to deflate her is to take the joy of the challenge away, which means it’s my best scenario anyway. Ainsley is going to get the article, one way or another. The faster I get it over with, the sooner she’ll leave Ember Falls, allowing me to go back to a world where I don’t think about her.
The last few years, as hard as it’s been, it’s been worlds easier than seeing her. To try to forget the way she felt against my chest as she held me, offering me comfort when I sure as fuck didn’t deserve it.
Ainsley has been that girl. The one that I knew would destroy my entire life and I wouldn’t even care.
However, she has to tackle the world, and I would never fit into her idea of what life would be like. It’s better for everyone involved if we never even enter a scenario where we could be together.
It means I need her to go, and I need her to go quickly.
I extend my hand. “Come on, you’re relentless and I might as well get this over with.”
“Where are we going?”
“To meet the guys.”
Her hand fits like a glove in mine, but I focus on leading her across the field so she can get the distance we both need.
“Lachlan, who is this beautiful girl?” Everett asks, already knowing the answer to that one.
“Well, since you already know considering I was talking to you when she showed up, this is Ainsley MacKinley. She’s a reporter, and everything we say is probably on the record.”
She flashes them the most innocent smile. “It’s not, but it’s probably best to tell me when you don’t want me to be in journalist mode.” Ainsley shakes his hand. “I’m actually here to write about Lachlan and his life here in Ember Falls since his Heisman Trophy win. A sort of ‘Where do athletes go once they’ve walked away from the sport they loved?’”
“All four of us have similar stories.”
“You do?” she asks, glancing at me with a smile.
Great. Now she’s going to rope them into this too.
“Yeah, Killian, Miles, and I were all draft prospects,” Everett explains.
“This is a happy coincidence. I would love to interview you guys too. It would help with not only Lachlan’s side, but a fresh perspective as well.”
He looks to me and then back at her. “I see. I’d be happy to talk to you about my story.”
“I look forward to it.”
Everett calls Killian and Miles over. They all say hello, and Ainsley introduces herself. She immediately tells them her goal, and they agree.
Seems I’m the only one who is reluctant.
“Is this practice or warm up for a game?” she asks .
“Practice. We have a game in two weeks. You should come!” Everett says with a shit-eating grin.
“I’d love to.” Her beautiful brown eyes find mine. “If that’s okay with you?”
“Of course it is.”
“Great. I’ll let you all get back to your practice. I’m just going to watch and take some notes,” she explains.
“I’ll walk you over.”
Her brows knit. “Because crossing the field is dangerous?”
“With Killian throwing, yes,” I joke, but also it’s not really a joke.
She waves and the guys do the same before I place my hand on her lower back and lead her away. When we’re out of earshot, she clears her throat. “Do you have a reason why you don’t want me to write this about you?”
I glance down at her. “Other than the fact that it’s stupid, no?”
“Not because of ... Rose’s mother?”
I shake my head. “Claire and I are fine. She signed over her rights to Rose years ago, and there have been no issues.”
Rose’s mother and I were a drunken mistake that led to the best gift I’ve ever gotten—my daughter. Claire never wanted kids. She’s a dancer and tours all over the world.
However, about six months after Rose was born, she started to question whether that was the right decision, and I’d prepared myself for a custody battle that never came. Claire got a gig with one of the top singers in the world, and we haven’t heard from her since.
“Even though her tour is done now?”
“How do you know that?”
Ainsley’s eyes widen for a second. “I may or may not keep tabs on her.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, I just do.”
We reach the side of the field and I sigh. “You don’t have to do that.”
She shrugs. “Maybe not, but I was there when you thought you were going to lose her.”
It was right after my mother’s diagnosis of cancer. Those were some incredibly dark times in my life.
“Thankfully, that didn’t happen.”
“No, it didn’t.” Ainsley lets out a long breath. “I would walk away from this story if it was that. I could make something up if it meant protecting Rose. You, well, you deserve a little pain and suffering.”
We both chuckle at that last one. So Ainsley.
Even though I’ve hurt her, even though I took advantage of her when I was drunk, she always has my back. It’s why I can never be with her.
“I know you would. Now I need to get back out there and make sure we impress you.”
She bursts out laughing. “Yes, impress away while playing Frisbee. I can’t wait to be dazzled.”
And I can’t wait for the day when she doesn’t dazzle me.
“You’re making me look like a fucking moron,” I say, trying to catch my breath.
I’ve had four passes overthrown thanks to Killian and his horrific aim. “I’m trying. I told you to be the thrower this round,” says Killian.
“It’s because he was a quarterback. Lachlan has the arm strength you don’t,” Everett ribs him.
“Yeah, and you’re any better?” Miles asks, already knowing that Everett is just as damn bad.
“Seriously, you three need to step it up. For all I know she has fucking cameras recording this. We look like a bunch of old guys trying to be cool.”
Everett raises his hand as though we’re in school. “Isn’t that sort of what we’re doing?”
I huff and drop my head. This game isn’t complicated, but we’re making it look that way. Usually we are better than this. So far we’ve managed to be out of breath, we’ve been unable to catch, and we haven’t scored once.
The four of us stand in the huddle, still struggling to breathe. “All right,” I say when sucking in air doesn’t burn. “We have one more play to practice. If we can get it right, maybe we can save some of our dignity.”
“Considering we have none left, it’ll be a nice try,” Miles says.
“No matter what, for the rest of the week, we’re doing cardio. Let’s run the vert. We’ll stack and then I’ll pass it to Killian. We’re the two who need the most redemption.”
Everyone agrees and we line up. I run up and grab the disc. They start to run, only, once again, we don’t actually look like the group I know we are. Instead, Miles trips and takes Everett out with him. I flick the disc to Killian, but the wind takes it, causing it to go way over his head, and we end up looking like idiots again .
The four of us stand on the field for a second, and then Miles bursts out laughing and falls back to the ground.
The other two also laugh, but mostly at him.
“So much for dignity,” I say more to myself than anything.
Killian shakes his head and walks over to grab his bag, and the rest of us follow. We say our goodbyes and they head off while I make my way over to Ainsley.
“That was interesting,” she says as I approach.
“It’s not normally that bad.”
“I wouldn’t know, but I’m glad you said so, because I was worried. This is supposed to be an article about elite athletes, and you all looked like the backup to the JV team.”
She’s not wrong.
“We wanted to set the bar low.”
“Good call,” Ainsley says with a smile. “I’m glad I got to see this. I need to go back to my luxurious accommodations. I’ll stop by tomorrow to see Rose and your place.” She starts to walk away, and my chest tightens at the idea of her leaving.
“Ainsley, you shouldn’t stay in that shack. ”
She stops and looks at me from over her shoulder. “Where would you recommend I stay then?”
“I don’t know, but that place isn’t safe.”
Ainsley smiles softly. “I’m a big girl, Lach. I can take care of myself.”
Yeah, but wouldn’t it be nice if someone else took care of her for once. Someone like me.