The question wasn’t unexpected, but I’d thought I might get a little longer than twelve hours before my relationship with her was dissected. Then again, I wanted to talk about it. Soren would listen even if he didn’t agree with my decision.

My feelings for Nadia had snuck up on me, and while I didn’t doubt them, I could really use the sounding board. An image of her curled around the pillow that probably smelled like me rose unbidden in my mind, and my chest constricted with the urge to end the workout early to crawl back into bed with her. The familiar motion of running helped me focus when those chaotic emotions threatened to swamp me again.

“We’re not hooking up.”

He laughed. “Sure. You spent the night on her couch like a good little boy.”

I grunted. “Not what I meant. Nadia isn’t some ball bunny. She’s important to me.”

“Explain.”

His succinct order opened a floodgate. I talked about the connection I felt with her, the urge to protect her, take care of her, how I missed her every second she wasn’t around. I talked until my breath ran out, and we had to slow to a walk for our final cooldown.

He shook his head as he slung a towel at me. “You’re fucked.”

“Completely.” I wiped my face and chugged some water before turning back to him. “I love her.”

Soren clapped me on the shoulder. “I’m happy you seem happy, man. You know I’m on your side no matter what, which puts me on her side too.” He sent me a dark look. “But you’d better talk to Coach. That’s all I’ll say about it.”

I nodded, feeling the weight of everything I’d been holding in lift off my chest. We finished our cool down, and true to his word, Soren didn’t bring it up again. His cryptic warning stayed with me, but I pushed it aside. My personal life had nothing to do with Coach.

* * *

The following weeks passed in a blur. My normally iron-clad schedule was thrown into the air as I tried to squeeze every last second from it to see Nadia. She ate lunch with us every day, and to my great joy, Eva gave her no choice about becoming friends. Every once in a while, I noticed Coach frowning in our direction, but we were a rowdy table.

Most nights we spent at Nadia’s place since Abbey barely lived there. Noah and Parker appreciated the extra space, especially since Soren had practically moved in since I’d been gone.

Despite spending as much time as possible together, Nadia didn’t come to my games. The community center needed her to work Saturdays, and the three previous weeks had been away games. But we’d be at home this week.

I wanted her there.