‘Let’s start with something easy,’ Hannah began, and again there was something about her that made him feel as if they were the only two people in the world and he could tell her anything. He swallowed hard.

Focus, man. Focus. ‘Shoot.’

‘Were you always athletic? When you were in high school, were you team captain, stuff like that?’

He took a deep breath and shook his head. ‘When I was in high school, I was about as unathletic as a guy could be. I was skinny and awkward and I got bullied more often than I care to remember. My freshman and sophomore years were nightmares too. Then over the summer before my junior year, something happened. I think that all the hormones that were supposed to kick in earlier finally had their moment, and the next thing I knew, I was starting to fill out. That gave me the confidence to try out for a couple of things. I didn’t make the football team or the baseball team, but I landed on the ice with the hockey guys – and that’s when I fell in love with the game.’

He looked at Hannah and was surprised to see her frowning.

‘What’s wrong?’ he asked, anxiety instantly flaring.

‘It’s just that – well, I didn’t expect to find out that you were bullied. I had you pegged as one of those popular jock types who had a golden time in high school. Homecoming King and all that.’

Ward snorted. ‘Nope, high school was a mess – even when I started doing well in sports. I had zero confidence and always felt like an outsider.’ He found himself trying to figure out just what it was about Hannah that made him open up like this, travel down side paths he normally stayed away from. He’d always managed to stay away from publicly discussing his high school days. Too many unpleasant memories to be found there.

She was dangerous, actually.

Everything he’d built could so easily fall apart if Ward wasn’t careful. He’d spent years studying; watching and learning what kind of person he needed to become to get to where he was and with just a couple of missteps, it could all come crashing down.

That couldn’t happen. He needed to ensure that mask stayed on good and tight.

Because now, people looked up to him. Women wanted to be with him, men wanted to be him – and neither would if they could truly see the real him.

Behind it, he was a fraud – a phoney. All that bravado, all that swagger that he’d perfected over the years … at the end of the day, when the cameras were gone, Ward was home all by himself, wishing he could find someplace off the field he belonged – or a way to look at his reflection in the mirror one day and not hate what he saw.

Chapter 24

HANNAH