Page 53 of Here We Go Again

I pull my t-shirt back on, noticing the moment Becca’s eyes dip down to my chest right before I do. “Are you going to make it through the afternoon?” I ask.

“It’ll be easier now that I’m cooled off,” she says. “What about you?”

“Hopefully. I have three more rounds of scheduled walks. If I get another one as feisty as Brianna, I might not.”

She smiles. “She really put you through it. I was totally impressed but also a little terrified.”

“Yeah, you and me both.”

“Well, if I don’t see you again,” she says, “thank you for the pictures. I’m glad I ran into you today.”

“Yeah, me too.”

She backs up a few steps. “So, I guess I’ll see you later?”

I could be misreading her, but she almost sounds hopeful. Like she wants to see me later.

“I’m sure you will,” I say.

She narrows her gaze, her expression turning flirty. “You’re sure, huh? Are you stalking me, Theo?”

I give her what I hope is a charming smile. “Nah. I just have good instincts.”

She bites her lip as she backs away. “Sure. Good instincts,” she says. “I’ll hold you to it.”

13

THEO

“Did you even know Mom was talking to someone?” I ask Carter as he stops at the curb outside of the domestic terminal at the Atlanta airport.

“Not until I heard it from you,” Carter says. “But is it all that weird? She’s a grown woman—and our mother. How much do you really want to know about her dating life?”

“Fair point,” I say as I reach for my bag. “But this still feels like it came out of the blue.”

“I’m just glad she asked you to tag along,” Carter says. “I feel a lot better about her meeting a man she doesn’t know with you there to keep an eye on her.” He reaches over and puts a hand on my shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “And it’s not like you couldn’t do with a vacation. It’ll be nice to be out of the city for a few days. Enjoy it.”

When my mother called and invited me to Anna Maria Island for a week, she framed it as me doing her a favor. Apparently, she’s been communicating with a man online for the past few months, and they finally decided to meet up in person. She insists she trusts him, but she also listens to a lot of true crime podcasts, so she felt like she needed this guy to also meet one of her sons. Just to make sure he understands who will be coming after him should he do anything to hurt her.

I’m happy she’s taking precautions to protect herself, but her timing couldn’t be worse. Partly because every minute of physical therapy is a minute I need, though Nico insists the time away should be good for me. He’s not happy with the level of nerve pain I’m still experiencing. He’s had me on the ice this past week, and it isn’t going as well as either of us hoped. When I told him about my mom’s invitation, he thought a break was a great idea.

I completely disagree. I want to be on the ice. Mind over matter. I’ll recover because I’ll make myself recover. I don’t need a break; I need to push myself. Figure out a way to play through the pain that’s clearly going to be a part of my new reality.

But even more than that, I don’t want to leave the city when Becca is still in it. I’ve texted her a couple of times since the MS Walk, totally benign messages, and she’s responded both times. My next move was to invite her and Mia to a casual hangout with some of my teammates.

Which can’t happen if I’m in Florida with my mom.

“Are you sure you can’t go instead?” I ask my brother. Mom told me she’d ask Carter if I couldn’t make it work, so I know she wouldn’t care if he showed up instead of me. “We can just swap driver’s licenses right now, and I’ll send you my boarding pass.”

“No can do,” Carter says. “We’ve only got three weeks of freedom before training camp. I’m spending every possible second with my wife. Plus, she has a gallery show in New York on Thursday. There’s no way I’m missing that to play bouncer for Mom.”

I breathe out a sigh. “It’s not fair that you have a wife card. Nothing will ever trump that.”

Beside the car, an airport employee directing traffic blows a whistle, motioning for Carter to clear the area. “Have fun,” he says with a smirk. “Tell Mom I said hi.”

Resigned to my fate, I climb out of his truck and grab my duffle bag out of the back. “Thanks for the ride.”

I give him one last wave, then pull my hat down low and head into the airport. There’s a slight delay in security, so by the time I make it to my gate, most everyone else has already boarded. I smile at the gate agent as I scan my boarding pass, then head onto the plane.