Page 43 of Quarterback Keeper

“Detective Lancaster.” Mom’s voice held a smile that was impossible to ignore.

I whipped my head around and narrowed my eyes.What the heck?I looked from her to the detective and noted something between them that I wasn’t sure how to feel about. Mom was gorgeous, even while knocked down by illness. I shouldn’t be surprised that the detective had noticed, but witnessing her positive response to the attention was oddly uncomfortable.

“How can I help you, Detective?” I’d already talked with him and his partner after surgery. The entire story of finding Dayton on the boat, the gun, our fight, and Aurora saying she pushed him into the lake had been relayed. I couldn’t imagine what else he required.

“I wanted to stop by and give you an update.”

“How nice of you to do that,” Mom said.

So strange.My gaze darted between the two again. Mom was blushing.

“Yes, thanks. Did you find him?”

“No, not entirely. We haven’t recovered the body yet. But we did locate a torn piece of his clothing twisted around a boat’s propeller that Aurora identified as the shirt he was wearing. And the DNA from the finger we found matches Dayton’s. We hope to recover the rest of him soon, since no one around the accident site saw a man emerge from the water. If he did survive, we’ll find him. Aurora Mason, who also uses the alias Gia Mason, gave a statement about Dayton, including his last name and address.”

“Okay.” I wanted him to hurry up. Besides, I’d already spilled about Aurora’s name.

The doc would be making rounds soon, and I needed to get a plan in place about when physical therapy would begin and how soon they thought I could return to the field for practice. It was important if I wanted to beat the tentative date for best-case circumstances they’d given me—by a lot. That was what I had to focus on. Recovery. Returning to the field better than ever. And helping Mom. Not a girl who never cared for me. Who only pretended to in order to use me.

The ring bit into my palm. The harder I worked, the less I would think about Aurora.

“We have every reason to believe that Dayton Vanderbilt is dead. If he did manage to survive, from what Aurora has told us, we don’t think you would be in any further danger from him.”

“But?” I knew I wouldn’t like his answer because I still felt compelled to protect Aurora—that hadn’t died, even if she didn’t have feelings for me.

“Aurora could be if we don’t locate him or his body. But we’re doing everything we can to find him.”

“And put him behind bars?” Mom snapped, echoing my thoughts.

Gone were the flirty looks. She’d returned to that ferocious mama-bear persona I’d experienced my whole life. It was only her sickness that had quelled it, which was why I’d worked so hard to protect her from Dad.

“Yes, if he’s alive, that’s the plan.” Detective Lancaster nodded. “I’ll let you get your rest, but please call me if you think of anything else or have questions.”

Mom waited until the detective left, then she pounced. “I don’t believe everything was fake between you and Aurora. Nor do I believe that she doesn’t care about you and wants to break things off.”

“Mom, I can’t?—”

“Maybe not right now, Kylian, but you must face how you feel about her. And if you love her, fight for her. No matter the lies she told to protect herself, she’s a good person.” She brushed some hair back from my forehead. “And so are you.”

“I love you, Mom. And I know Aurora’s a good person.” But what we had wasn’t real, even if Mom seemed to think it was.

“Back to your relationship being pretend. I’m not buying it. You care for each other. It could be that Aurora broke things off because of guilt, or that she’s afraid her presence will bring you more harm.”

My mind argued that I was a fool, that Aurora’s part was an act and I had the proof in the form of a diamond in the palm of my hand. Everything had been built on a lie, which had only snowballed from there.

“You need to look at her actions.”

“Mom—”

“Please try to keep an open mind. I hope you both work things out because I know how you feel about her. I witnessed it, and you can’t lie to me. I just don’t want you to throw this away.”

“I’m furious.” About her returning the ring, but I couldn’t vocalize that. It was too painful. Instead, I used the obvious to hide my pain. “She didn’t tell me the truth. About who she was, about her crazy ex-boyfriend. I would have been more aware. And while I was busy falling for her, she still didn’t care enough to tell me. And that’s fucking killing me.” And that was before I realized I was just a meal ticket that could no longer pay off.

“Did you tell her how you felt?”

I scowled in response.

Mom laughed. “Despite what men think, we’re not mind readers. Cut her some slack.” She rested her hand on my arm. “Maybe you should ask yourself why you’re so angry with her, and if that doesn’t work, you should ask her why she didn’t tell you everything. She has a valid reason, and you won’t know until you talk to her.”

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