Chapter Eleven
Colton
I walked into The Sushi Garden and immediately saw Dylan raise his hand and wave. They were seated toward the back of the restaurant, so I made my way to the back to find Knox, Lucas, Clay, and Levi all sitting around the table as well.
“Hey, guys,” I said, slipping into the booth, noticing we weren’t at our usual table. “Why the change in booths?” I questioned.
“Well, we weren’t sure if you were bringing Emma,” Dylan added. “You two have been inseparable since she returned.”
I’d expected Emma to be awake when I got up this morning, just as she’d been every morning since she’d arrived, only this morning her bedroom door was closed, and when I pressed my ear to it, I heard nothing.
I didn’t wake her; instead, I felt a sense of relief that she would not be at my side today.
“Nah, she was still asleep when I left this morning. So, I figured I’d leave her to it.”
“Tire her out, did you, big guy?” Levi said, smacking me on the shoulder.
I couldn’t help but chuckle. The only one of us who was tired out was me.
After we’d shared that kiss last night, I’d barely been able to sleep because I couldn’t stop thinking about how it had felt.
I also couldn’t get the look I’d seen in her eyes out of my head when I’d told her she deserved better.
I could tell she didn’t think she deserved someone better.
“Nah, she’s just been exhausted,” I said, feeling a little on edge as the guys all looked at me.
This was the first time I didn’t allow them to expand on the idea they’d suggested. Normally, I’d just run with it, but not today, not about Emma.
During the entire practice, everyone seemed indifferent toward me. It was almost as if they knew something but weren’t sure how to bring it up.
“So, is everyone ready for the away games?” I asked.
“Game on!” Lucas replied, then the table fell silent again.
I looked at each one of them, noticing they each had the same questioning look on their faces.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Alright, fine, if none of you idiots want to bring it up, I will,” Knox said, clearing his throat.
All the guys shifted in their seats and dropped their eyes to the menu in front of them, except for me and Knox. We just sat there and stared at one another.
“What the hell is up with this Emma chick?”
“What do you mean, what the hell is up with her?” I questioned, trying hard to maintain composure and remember what I’d said in the locker room the first day she was here.
“Yeah, man, we just want to know the truth, because something is off,” Dylan added.
“There isn’t anything off. You all should know what it feels like to rekindle with someone.”
“We do, that’s the problem…” Levi added.
“What is?” I questioned.
“Well, we watched the two of you and the night of the opening dinner, things were fine, but then last night, while you two put on a good show, something wasn’t right,” Clay added.
“Yeah, it’s almost like you’ve put her up to this or something,” Dylan added. “I heard Aurora talking to Lorelai in the back of the truck last night on the way home and something she’d said to me didn’t sit well.”
“What did she say?” I questioned, praying that she’d done as I asked.
“She mentioned to Lorelai that she doesn’t think you two are legitimate.”
“What?”
I could feel my heart racing. While Larson hadn’t told me to keep it from my teammates, I’d decided to because I figured the less they knew, the better it would be.
“Yeah, so we had Lucas do some digging,” Dylan added.
I glanced across the table at Lucas, who kept his head down. That was right; he was guilty as fuck if he couldn’t bring himself to look at me.
“You did what?”
“I told them, Colton, but they made me do it. I said that maybe things were awkward because you felt awkward not mentioning Emma when you arrived.”
“Stop kissing ass and tell him what you found out,” Knox added, elbowing Lucas.
“Fuck, I’m so dead if Larson finds out. I sleep with his fucking daughter, you know,” Lucas added. “He could come into the house at any time and chop my fucking dick off.”
Normally, we’d all laugh at a comment like that, but the table was deathly silent because you could actually see the fear in his eyes.
“What did you find out?” I questioned.
The look I got from my teammates told me all I needed to know. I took a deep breath and looked at the table in front of me.
“Well, since you all know the truth, there isn’t much that needs to be said. Larson hired her. Well, my agent did. After everything that went down at the end of the season, you all know I was put on a fucking leash. This is part of that leash.”
“Seriously?” Dylan asked.
“Seriously. Only she isn’t a stranger to me.”
Knox looked at me as the rest of them did, unsure what to make of what I’d just said.
“How do you know her?” Lucas asked.
“We go back to high school.”
“Wow, I’m shocked,” Levi muttered. “Here I thought you were just keeping quiet about things and working through them.”
Knox shook his head and looked over at me. “Were you two an item?”
I nodded. “For a good four years, until my senior year at high school when my parents split. We tried our hand at a long-distance relationship.”
“What happened?” Levi questioned.
“It was my dad. He was a bastard. The only good thing he ever did for me was pay for my hockey, until he wouldn’t even do that.
Anyway, he cut my phone shortly after I got on with the Junior A team in Boston.
When I’d told Emma, we decided to write letters the old-fashioned way, but my dad, man, he never gave me a single one of her letters.
I found them all after he died, shoved in a shoebox in his closet.
Her last letter was dated exactly two years after I’d moved, saying her goodbyes.
Until she walked through that office door last week, I hadn’t thought of her in years. ”
“Kind of like Scarlett and I,” Levi added.
“I guess.” I shrugged.
“Any chance you might think of getting with her for real?” Levi added.
“We saw how you looked at her. It’s not like the entire thing is fake,” Dylan said, meeting my eyes.
He was right. The entire thing wasn’t fake, and I’d meant what I’d said to her last night if she were mine, if I could only have another chance at her, she’d be treated like gold and I’d never let her go.
“Nah, she’s not ready for anything. She’s just gotten out of a relationship. She made the message quite clear to me last night.”
“That means nothing. The least you could do is try,” Dylan added.
“Yeah, man, give it a shot.”
“I don’t know.’
“Did she come right out and say no?”
“Well, no, but—”
“But what?” Clay questioned. “Are you going to sit back and watch her get away a second time?”
“Yeah, tell us now, do you want her or not?” Dylan added.
“God, I haven’t a clue,” I replied. “Did you immediately know you wanted Aurora?”
“Oh, here we go,” Knox muttered.
“Did I know if I wanted her? Considering I lost my appetite for every other woman on the planet after we’d shared that one night together, you’re damn right.
There was never a question in my mind, and when I got her back, I was damn well relentless.
She was going to be mine, and I would not stop until I had her. ”
I thought about what he said, then to when I’d seen Emma again for the first time again, and then back to last night. I still couldn’t forget that kiss and how sweet she’d tasted.
“Yeah, man, even though Lorelai and I started out rocky, god I can’t even imagine where I’d be had I let her walk,” Knox added.
I nodded, thinking about every one of her letters.
I’d read them all after I’d found them in my father’s closet.
I thought about her words, telling me about the tears she’d cried when I never responded, and then her words telling me that she’d decided it was time to move on.
I’d read those letters often, frequently pulling them out when I was feeling sad or lonely, especially after my mother had passed.
Her letters, her words, had gotten me through that difficult time, because next to my mother, Emma had been the closest woman to me.
“Okay, well, I have no clue on how to go about winning her back.” I sighed.
“Well, we could always get Lorelai, Aurora, and Peyton…” Knox began.
“No, no way, no women. This stays between us.”
“No worries, we are at your side, man. We will help you!”
“Yeah, we will open up a new chat and you can dump all your issues into it. The advice will be stellar.”
“Yeah, I’m sure. I’ve seen all the advice you guys share,” I said, chuckling.
“Let’s eat. I’m starved,” Lucas said, focusing on his menu.
“Yeah, food first, plan next,” Knox said. “I can’t think on an empty stomach.”
“Well, we also need to go over the game plan for the next week, so fuel up.” Clay chuckled.
“Which game plan? The game’s game plan or Colton’s game plan?” Levi questioned.
“Both!” Dylan said, raising his glass and clinking it against mine.
As everyone looked at their menus, I took a quick moment to look around the table.
I’d never really thought about it before, but these guys all brought me into the group without a second thought.
They’d treated me like family from the start, when no one else had.
I’d truly found my home here with them. Now I just needed to focus on getting the other part of home I wanted.
For whatever reason after lunch with the guys Sunday morning, I spent the entire night in my room after telling Emma I hadn’t been feeling well. She’d looked at me with a worried expression, mentioning something to me about looking over design plans for the house.
I had no idea what she was talking about, so I ignored her, said good night, and made my way down to my room.
The next morning, neither of said anything on the flight. She did some work and then read the rest of the flight, while I watched a movie.