Page 119 of Hometown Halftime

His face falls, but he doesn’t argue as I walk away.

When I reach the bus, Kinsey is standing near the open door with her arms crossed, her stormy eyes focused on me like she sees everything I’m trying to hide. She doesn’t ask what happened. Instead, she steps closer and gently bumps her shoulder against mine.

“You okay, Weston?”

I let out a slow breath. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You know,” she says casually, “if you need me to fight your dad in the parking lot, I think I could take him.”

I smile, letting some of the tension ease out of me.

“I’ll let you know if I need your services.”

Kinsey grins and tips her head to the bus. “Come on, let’s go home.”

Her hand slips around my wrist squeezing it once before she releases it and she steps onto the bus.

Chapter forty-eight

Riley

The girls took their first loss Saturday morning against Harrison Grove, a team that made the playoffs last year, and the bus ride home afterward felt brutal. Some of the younger players cried. Tara threatened to quit rugby entirely for almost twenty minutes before Kinsey talked her down.

But when they showed up to Monday’s practice, something shifted.

Instead of sulking, the team came back angry in the best possible way. They were focused, wanting to fix mistakes instead of hiding from them.

And watching Kinsey coach through all of it somehow made me fall even harder. Which I didn’t think was possible considering I’m already feeling things that are deep enough to drown in.

The duplex feels a little too quiet whenever Kinsey works. I try not to read into that too much, but the second Darren suggests hitting the gym and grabbing dinner afterward, I'm already suggesting we go to Gordy's before he finishes the question.

The cool night air still clings to my skin when we step inside, the familiar noise of the bar wrapping around us. Country music spills from the speakers overhead while people crowd the booths and high-top tables.

And there she is.

Kinsey moves behind the bar, making drinks and poking fun at regulars. Her hair’s pulled up tonight, exposing the graceful line of her neck, and the second her eyes flick toward the front door and land on me, her expression changes.

Fuck. This feeling in my chest is becoming a real issue.

Our usual table is taken, so we find some open seats at the bar. Kinsey grabs three menus and heads our direction.

“Hey, guys,” Kinsey greets us as she quickly wipes down the bar top in front of us and flops down some coasters.

“How’s it going, Kinsey?” Darren asks.

She huffs out a breath, hiking a thumb over her shoulder toward the end of the bar. “Just babysitting Eli Cox over there.”

Lee cringes. “He’s not drinking, is he? He has trouble keeping his clothes on when he’s sober. Can’t imagine what would happen if he had a couple beers in him.”

Kinsey shakes her head. “Nope, Gordy told him he’s not allowed to have alcohol anymore after the Fourth of July incident a couple of years back.”

“Thank goodness,” Darren says. “We’ll have three beers, please.”

Kinsey taps the bar as she looks at me with a smile and a wink.

“You got it.”

After she turns to pour our beers, Darren turns to me and Lee side-eyes me.