15. Bliss
Bliss
I woke up disoriented the next morning. Turning over in bed, I couldn’t hold back the whimper as muscles that hadn’t been used in seven years protested. Somewhere nearby, my phone was ringing, and I wanted the stupid thing to shut up so I could go back to sleep.
Blindly, I reached out, only to pout when I didn’t feel Noah. Once I lifted my lashes, I discovered that I was alone in my bedroom. Sitting up slowly, I found a travel mug on my nightstand with a note in Noah’s handwriting scrawled on a Post-it.
I wish I could have stayed, but Harlem called. Gotta go to the arena. Be back as soon as I can.
—Love N—
Grabbing the travel mug, I took a deep sip of the almond milk latte that he’d left for me and then snatched up my phone that was still going off.
Seeing who the caller was, I felt my heart jump into my throat, only to sink just as quickly.
After swallowing hard, I swiped my thumb across the screen to answer.
“Hi, Daddy!”
“Bliss,” he greeted, his tone way too calm when I suspected the entire world was abuzz after the previous evening. “I hated that you missed family dinner last night. Have lunch with your mom and me today to make it up to us.”
Nothing could force me to tell this man no, even if I was dreading whatever conversation he was going to spring on me. After Aunt Emmie left with Ted Hawkins, I was sure my parents knew every last detail of what had happened at the gala. Including the part where Noah had called me his girlfriend.
“Okay.” I gave in without hesitation. “Send me the details, and I’ll meet you there.”
“Perfect. See you then, sweetheart. Love you.”
“Love you, Daddy,” I chimed and waited until he disconnected before dropping the phone on the bed.
I stayed in bed long enough to finish my latte and then dragged myself into the bathroom for a long, hot shower. By the time I got out, I had a text from my dad with the name of the restaurant and when he expected me to be there. Which didn’t leave me much time since I’d slept in later than normal.
On my way out the door, I sent a text to Noah to ask how his day was going.
Hopefully things at work hadn’t been too rough after what had happened the night before.
I didn’t even chance opening any of the social media apps, too afraid of what I would see and read.
For a brief moment, I wondered if ol’ Ted was still breathing after his “conversation” with Aunt Emmie, but then I decided I didn’t care enough.
I had missed texts from all of my siblings, as well as a few from Violet, who had been at the gala with Luca. I wanted to wait until after lunch before I looked at any of them, not wanting to risk my appetite and causing my parents to worry if I didn’t eat enough by their standards.
At five after one, I walked into the restaurant.
Considering how late Arella always was, even to events with our parents, I wasn’t worried they would be cranky about my tardiness.
As soon as the hostess greeted me, however, I realized this wasn’t going to be a simple meal shared with my loving parents.
Other than the woman behind the podium and a few servers, there was no one else in the restaurant except my parents.
Swallowing a groan, I squeezed the bridge of my nose. Blowing out a heavy sigh, I forced a smile for the younger woman waiting to seat me. “Lead the way. Might as well get this shitshow over with.”
She gave me an empathetic grimace and showed me to a table in the middle of the dining room.
Seeing me approaching, Mom hopped up and embraced me as soon as I was close enough. “Oh, my sweet girl,” she murmured, and a lump instantly filled my throat. “We have so much to talk about, baby.”
Teeth sinking into my bottom lip to keep it from trembling, I glanced at my dad, who had also gotten to his feet. He stood there waiting, his brows pulled low. Opening his arms, he waited for me to move first.
With a choked sob, I threw myself into his arms, not even sure why I was crying. I just needed his arms around me and for him to promise everything would be okay. As long as he said that, I would believe him, no matter what else happened.
He pressed a kiss to the side of my head, his hands rubbing my back the way they always had when he needed to reassure me and make everything better. It was several minutes before I lifted my head, tears and snot running down my face. “I guess you heard about last night.”
One brow rose over his blue-gray eyes. “I think we have a lot more to discuss than your date last night, B. Sit down. We’re going to have a long overdue conversation.”
Mom handed me a tissue, and I mopped up my face before blowing my nose as we took our seats. Dad held out the chair for Mom, then took the one beside her. Once I was across from them, they both reached for my hand not holding the tissue.
“Where do you want me to start?” I asked, feeling emotionally exhausted already, and we hadn’t even gotten started yet.
My parents shared a look before Dad sighed. “How about you explain how you met Noah Kavanaugh?”
“It was during my last year of college,” I admitted.
“One of the basketball players was failing English. Noah was an assistant coach, and he asked me for a little help. I read a few of the guy’s papers, made some notes, and then proofread the final drafts.
One player needing help turned into two, then five.
And before long, I was seeing Noah almost every day. ”
“So it was a platonic relationship?” Mom asked skeptically.
“No, not even in the beginning. There was chemistry between us from the first glance. And I wasn’t shy about how interested I was.
” I shrugged, not the least bit embarrassed about confessing that I’d fallen hard and fast. “Noah was more reluctant to start anything between us, but he was my one, and there’s no running from that.
However, there was a strict no-fraternization rule between students and any faculty.
I wanted to be with him enough that I agreed when he insisted on keeping our relationship a secret. ”
“I’m not sure how I feel about that,” Mom mused. “He made you hide stuff from everyone, including us. The school…okay, fine. I can understand that. But from your family?”
“He was worried about his career, something he’d been working toward his entire life. And I loved him enough not to want to put something he was passionate about at risk.”
“Did the relationship end because he took the North Carolina job?” Dad asked.
“I know you kids are weird about being too far away from me for extended periods, but if that’s why you broke up, then we should have had a conversation.
I could have handled it, Bliss. I mean, I dealt with the four years that Nevaeh was in Virginia for school.
I would have survived you being in North Carolina for a while. ”
“No, Daddy. That’s…” I swallowed roughly. “That isn’t why we broke up. I didn’t even know about the new job until after.”
They stared at me without speaking, waiting for me to explain.
“He got scared,” I said with a shrug, telling them the same story that Noah had confessed to me.
“We’d almost gotten caught by his boss one night.
Apparently, Noah had already applied for the North Carolina job and hadn’t told me about it.
When he got it, he didn’t know how to tell me.
And then he was freaking out about the head coach questioning him about whether he had something going on with me. ”
I didn’t tell them what Noah had said when he’d broken up with me, that he’d accused me of trying to baby-trap him. They didn’t need to know that part. It was between Noah and me, and I’d decided that if we were going to have a new beginning, I wouldn’t hold the past against him.
“And it wasn’t like he could take me with him when he moved. People would realize who I was, connect me to his previous position. Our relationship would have become a stigma for him that would have overshadowed any achievements he made with the team.”
“I guess I can understand that,” Dad agreed after considering everything. “I still hate that you went through an entire breakup and we didn’t know you were hurting.”
“Noah said he took the head coach position with the Titans because of me. There were a lot of offers that came his way, some of them with more lucrative contracts, but Los Angeles meant the chance to reconnect with me.”
“Last night was your first date since his return?” Mom asked.
“Yes, and it was going great until Odette Washington sat down at our table.” I made a face while saying her name. “She was apparently dating Ted Hawkins. We were all seated and had started eating when she joined him. That’s when things got crazy because she started spouting off.”
“Emmie told us what happened, and we’ve seen the incident from multiple angles, given how many people recorded it.
” Mom’s nose wrinkled up in distaste. “Obviously, Odette didn’t learn her lesson the last time she ran her mouth like that.
If Arella had been there, Odette probably would have thought twice about what she said. ”
“Doubtful. She was feeling brave because Ted was her boyfriend and she didn’t think anyone would shut her down.” I remembered how Noah had jumped up the second I’d given the safe word, the way his voice had gone all growly and dangerous when he’d threatened his boss.
In that moment, he’d passed the test, and I’d known this time we’d make it. No matter what, I wasn’t losing the man I loved again.
“After Odette was escorted away, Aunt Emmie sequestered Ted for a private conversation, and Noah took me home. I wasn’t in the mood to put on a fake smile and pretend like everything was fine.”
Dad adjusted his hold on my hand, his fingers playing with mine in that way I recognized he did when he was unsure whether to tell one of us kids about something. Mom nudged him, and he turned so his other arm was draped around the back of her chair.
“What’s going on?” I asked, anxiety twisting in my stomach.
“It’s nothing bad,” he rushed to assure me when he saw how upset I was becoming. “I’m just not sure how you’re going to react to what I’m going to tell you.”
“Just say it.”
“Okay, okay.” He gave my fingers a firm squeeze.
“Emmie had a long chat with Hawkins. Everyone knows that Ted is irresponsible with money. He has an entire board that runs the majority of his businesses so he doesn’t squander the family fortune.
But the Titans are his pet project. The board figured if he was distracted with the team, he wouldn’t cause a nuisance with anything else. ”
“Understandable,” I agreed.
“Yeah, well, he’d made some really poor choices when he started the team.
It was why he brought in Kavanaugh. Your guy has been cleaning house.
New GM, replacing almost every assistant coach on staff, and a long list of other changes that are going to make this upcoming season better for everyone.
Evan even said that he was impressed by the coach’s approach to cutting out the toxic rot. ”
Pride warmed my chest. “He’s always been a better coach than a player, and he was a hell of a player.”
“I agree with you, sweetheart. But Hawkins was too far in over his head by then. Not even the new changes would have saved the team. The Titans would have been bankrupt by the end of the season, regardless.”
“Oh.” My stomach sank. If the team went bankrupt, then Noah would be out of a job. I would willingly follow him anywhere, but it would be hard being away from my family.
“Emmie had been paying attention to what was going on behind the scenes within the organization since Evan is on the team. She was already moving chess pieces and was considering acquiring the Titans.”
That didn’t surprise me. Emmie Armstrong was a self-made billionaire. She had the Midas touch. Anything she invested in always became a success.
“Then Hawkins pissed her off last night,” Dad continued.
“Originally, she was just going to buy the team herself. But after seeing you with Kavanaugh, she thought I might want to step in as well. I mean, the guy is going to be my son-in-law eventually. I figured becoming partial owner of the team he coached would win me points with you. And if he ever breaks your heart, I can just fire him and blackball him from ever getting another coaching job.”
It took a few moments before what he said fully registered. Partial owner. My dad was going to own the Titans. He didn’t even like basketball that much. He was more into football and baseball. The only reason he watched basketball was because of Evan, his nephew.
“You bought a basketball team.” I needed clarification.
“Well, only forty percent of it. Emmie is too much of a control freak to go fifty-fifty.” He grinned mischievously. “And when you and Kavanaugh eventually do get married, your mom and I thought it would be a nice wedding present to gift you a percentage of it.”
I held up my hands in a time-out signal. “Wait, wait, wait. Just stop right there for a minute. I’m still stuck on you spontaneously buying a freaking NBA team.”
“What?” he said defensively. “It’s a good investment.”
“You just said Ted Hawkins would have bankrupted the team by the end of this season,” I reminded him, exasperated.
“Because he has no business sense. Or common sense, in general,” he explained.
“Emmie will make sure nothing like that happens, and she’s also renegotiating a few contracts.
Harlem Smith and Noah are each going to be offered two-point-five percent of the organization as incentives to help the team succeed. ”
“Okay, let’s forget about the team and percentages for a minute. You keep saying when Noah and I get married. As if that’s a foregone conclusion. We’ve been on exactly one date!”
Mom waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, please. Heavenleigh got engaged to Jake after a weekend of knowing him. If we can accept that craziness, we’re not going to blink at you marrying a guy you’ve been in love with for years.”