“Unbelievable.”
“It worked, didn’t it?”
She crossed her arms and lifted her chin. “You had no right.”
“What was I supposed to do, Em? Sit back and watch you get hurt over and over again?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what you were supposed to do.”
His eyebrows shot up.
“I don’t like the idea of getting hurt any more than you do, but you’re not the keeper of my heart, Finn. You’re my brother, the one man I thought I could trust.”
How many relationships did she miss out on because Finn had scared guys away? And how many had she pushed away because she’d been so easily manipulated by her brother into thinking that a no-athlete rule was a good idea?
Guys like Grant.
She’d enjoyed talking to him from that first day at City Bar and had pushed him away until he finally left for good. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
Finn reached out and rubbed her arm. “I’m sorry.”
Em turned in her seat. “You can’t keep secrets from me anymore.”
“I know.”
“I’m serious, Finn. You are the only family I have, and I need to know that I can trust you. Let me make my own mistakes instead of trying to protect me.”
“I only want what’s best for you.” Finn wrapped his arm around Em and pulled her close. “From now on, I promise. No more secrets.”
“You’ll let me make my own mistakes,” she said. “But you can give me advice on how to handle jerks on my own without beating them up.”
He considered it for a moment. Eventually, he nodded. “Deal.”
Em rested her head on his shoulder. “Thank you.”
They sat in uncomfortable silence for several minutes, both looking down at the empty arena below them.
Finn was the first to speak. “So, does this mean you like Grant?”
Em sat up. Her first reaction was to brush off Finn’s question. They didn’t talk about relationships other than when boys had hurt her. Maybe that was part of the problem. If they had talked about the good things in addition to the bad—if they had had uncomfortable conversations like this—then maybe Finn wouldn’t have decided to scare away guys.
Maybe Em would have never made her stupid rule in the first place.
She took a deep breath. “Yeah. I really like him.” She paused. “Or, liked him, I guess. Things are most definitely over at this point.”
“Are you sure?”
She bit her bottom lip. “Pretty sure.”
“Because of me.”
She snorted. “I’m sure you punching him had something to do with it. But that wasn’t all of it.”
“Have you tried talking to him? I hear you’re getting really good at heart-to-hearts.”
Em laughed. She’d made up with her best friend and her brother in the past week even though it had meant having conversations that put her way out of her comfort zone. But she was still far from being good at heart-to-hearts. Besides, there were too many other variables to consider. Grant was the one to walk away. Not only that, he’d be going back to Kansas City when the season was over.
She shook her head. “I think this one might be beyond repair.
Grant
They’d just finished practice when Finn stormed over to where Grant was gathering his things. “We need to talk.”
Grant sighed loudly. Oh great. What did I do this time?
He hadn’t spoken to Em since last week’s game, and while he knew that he shouldn’t have even done that, she looked so sad and beautiful standing there he couldn’t resist going to her.
Grant was just surprised it took Finn so long to dish out the consequences. He looked to see if anyone else still lingered in the arena, but they’d all left pretty quickly.
How convenient.
He braced himself for the verbal—and possibly physical—attack.
He closed his eyes. “Why don’t you just punch me and get it over with?”
“I’m not here to fight with you.”
With everything that had happened this past week, Grant didn’t have any patience left. He looked at Finn. “Then what? Are you here to tell me to quit playing for the Storm? Do you want me to refuse the offer to play here again next year?”
Finn wouldn’t be happy until Grant was out of the picture completely. It was the reason his Storm contract for next year’s season lay unsigned—right next to an unopened letter from USF.
Grant knew he shouldn’t stay; he needed to go back home to Kansas City and forget all about the life he was building in Waterfront. He couldn’t though. Every time he tried to rip up the contract or throw away the envelope that contained an answer from USF about the master’s program, he stopped himself at the last moment.
He didn’t want to leave the Storm. And he sure as hell didn’t want to leave Em.
Finn’s brows lowered. “Greg already offered you a place next year?”
“Yeah. But I haven’t signed it yet, so don’t worry. You can still bully me into leaving,” he said in a sharp tone.
Finn took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I just wanted to talk for a minute. Can you give me that? Please?”
Grant just about fell over in shock. Did Finn, the same guy who’d given him a black eye just a couple weeks ago, just say please? “Uh, okay.”
“It’s about Emmeline.”
Emmeline?
He couldn’t think of any reason for Finn to talk about his sister...unless something was wrong. His entire body tensed. “Is she okay?”
“She’s fine, but she’s been really upset. Someone told her about my rule.”
Grant kept his lips closed. He still wasn’t sure if he should expect a fist coming at his face, and he didn’t want to push it by saying something stupid.
Finn ran a hand through his hair. “For some reason, Em likes you, and I’ve realized she gets to decide who she wants to date.”
Too bad Finn couldn’t have had this epiphany a few weeks ago—before Grant had called things off with her. “That ship has already sailed.”
“Does that mean you don’t like her?”
“I
