Chapter 12 #3
“Soccer isn’t a sport,” Austin stated sternly. “Did she score the goal?”
“Yep. And kept playing with a bloody face.”
He smiled broadly. “Badass…why is that old lady yelling at you?”
Lilly refocused on the video. Nonna Rossi was running toward her, waving her hands wildly, while Toni laughed loudly behind the camera.
“Oh, she thought Del was too young to jump off the three-meter diving board.”
“You thought differently?”
“Oh, no. She was definitely too young, but how was I supposed to drag her back down before she… Yep, and she jumped.”
Nonna Rossi crossed herself as Del resurfaced. The old woman laughed and raised her finger and voice to say something to Lilly.
Past and present, Lilly laughed loudly.
“What did she say?”
Grinning, she turned to him. “That Del’s father must be the devil because she certainly didn’t get that fearless attitude from me.”
Austin chuckled softly and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m an angel. We’ve established that.”
She snorted. “Whatever. Anyway, I agreed with Nonna. She must have gotten that from you.” Austin frowned at her. Only now did she realize that she’d been moving closer and closer to him for the past half hour. Her elbow would brush against his bare chest if she stretched.
Which she didn’t. Instead, she swallowed and froze when Austin murmured, “I don’t know. I thought it was pretty fearless of you to call Moreau a serial killer and chase your dream in a foreign country.”
Reluctantly, she smiled. “People don’t scare me as much as, say, a three-meter diving board. By the way, I never understood why you didn’t tell me back then that you dreamed of a professional hockey career. I specifically asked you about it!”
She saw his chest rise and fall heavily, not that she’d been paying attention.
“By that time, it wasn’t a dream anymore, it was reality, and…
I enjoyed not talking about hockey, for a change.
” He stared at the screen, but it didn’t seem like anything was registering.
“I didn’t want to have to deal with my shitshow of a life.
I didn’t want you asking. I didn’t want you to act differently when you found out what I did for a living.
I wanted to be myself. Austin, not Fox. So I kept it a secret. ”
She nodded slowly.
“So, Lilly,” he whispered. “You decide who’s fearless: the hockey player who didn’t dare to be honest — or the woman who chased her dream while raising a child on her own?”
Warmth spread through her chest, permeating every pore. It tingled where her knee touched his thigh.
“I actually wanted to give up and fly straight back when I found out I was pregnant,” she admitted softly.
“I’ve never been so scared in my life. But I knew I wanted to keep the baby, and it was my dream, and…
well, the Rossi family, who ran the glassblowing program, kind of became my family.
They said I was too talented to fly home and that they would help me.
And they did. I think, to Nonna Rossi, I’m simply her child, and Del is her granddaughter.
They’re heartbroken that we moved back. Del misses them terribly.
She still swears in Italian and justifies it by saying she’s homesick. ”
Austin lowered his gaze. “I would have moved to Italy if I’d known,” he murmured. “I would have done the right thing. I probably would have married you. I would have…”
“You were married, Austin,” she reminded him sharply.
“And today, I know you would have done all that. But back then…I felt like I fell asleep with you and woke up with a stranger. Although, I didn't even wake up with you…” She smiled cynically. “You were gone when I woke up.” She closed her eyes. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I’ve never searched for Mr. Right.
I wanted Mr. Real. I still want that. So I wouldn’t have made you move to Italy and throw away your own dream, nor would I have had you play my husband. ”
She saw Austin’s jaw flexing, and when he looked at her this time, she felt his gaze deep in her stomach. Of all the questions he could have asked, he chose: “Why do you feel uncomfortable around me?”
Her heart fluttered and she felt a tingling sensation through her body, all because of his intense stare.
That was why.
“You feel just as uncomfortable, Austin,” she said, amused.
“Yes, but I’m less obvious about it.”
That made her laugh. “Whoever said that is lying!”
“Well, at least I don’t constantly shift in my seat and quickly look away when I notice you looking at me.”
“Your stares are just…” She trailed off.
“My stares are what?”
Too intense. Too hot. Too much. “It doesn’t matter,” she replied irritably. “I know what my problem is.” Nervously, she adjusted the collar of her shirt, which had slipped back over her bare shoulder. “So, what’s your problem? Is it simply anger?”
He tilted his head and glanced at her neck — and suddenly, Lilly was afraid that her pulse there was beating fast enough for him to see. “That’s interesting, Lilly. Tell me more. What exactly is your problem?”
Oh, crap. “No way! I asked first. What’s your problem?”