She didn’t just leave me, she sucked the personality out of my home, the excitement and comfort I’d always found near her. Leaving turned our home into a shell of stucco and red tile shingles and my heart equally emptied.

“What would your teammates say?”

“They’re my brothers. They’ll go along with whatever they need to.”

Her fingers thrummed on the counter. “Okay. And what about your parents?”

Nine

Emmersyn

Chuck and Tracy Andrews were two of the best people I’ve ever had the privilege of meeting. I spent more time in their house and with them since I’d seen my parents when I was a teenager. The last few years before college, I’d moved in with my grandparents once both my parents took off. The last thing I ever wanted to do was lie to the Andrews. when They’d treated me like a daughter from the moment Heather introduced me to them.

“We’ll tell them what they need to know. Whatever you feel comfortable telling them is what they’ll learn.”

The very idea of telling of Tracy and Chuck what happened between Lincoln and me made my stomach roll. Chuck could lose his mind if he knew that Lincoln laid a hand on me in any way, shape, or form. And since the Andrews were from the New England area, I could only imagine how much all of their friends have been looking forward to the invite to my wedding. It was supposed to be held in the ballroom of the Regal’s flagship hotel in downtown Boston. The place where celebrities stayed, and presidents and foreign dignitaries. One night there cost over a thousand dollars alone with beds covered in the silkiest sheets imaginable.

My own parents, on the other hand, they didn’t even know I was engaged.

“What about you and your family?”

Odd how easily he read my mind. I sipped my wine and set down the empty glass. “I haven’t had anything to do with either of my parents since before I went to college.”

Kane tilted his head and chewed his bottom lip. Probably shouldn’t have made flutters erupt in my stomach. I grabbed the bottle of wine and refilled my glass.

“Do I need to know why?”

I smirked at him. “I mean, I guess if we’re going to be married, you should probably know about my family, right?”

His answer was a chuckle and sip of his beer. For a moment I was distracted by the bob of his throat as he swallowed, the corded muscles along the side as he worked his jaw. It should be a criminal activity to be so goddamn attractive all the time.

“Cute.” He tilted his chin. I took it as a gesture for me to spill all my dirty little secrets.

I dragged my finger down the stem of my wineglass. “My parents got divorced when I was twelve. Dad moved in with the woman he cheated on my mom with, and six months later, they had a baby, and he had a new family to start over with.” A son, too. I used to wonder if that was why he had an affair. My mom didn’t want more kids and he’d always wanted a boy. “I got a few birthday cards after he left, but they were always in a woman’s handwriting. When I was sixteen, I ripped it up and mailed it back to her. Haven’t heard from him since.”