Page 65 of To Have and to Scold

I nod. “I meant what I said. You’ve got a great team. There’s a lot of promise there for a good season.”

He softens and grasps my shoulder. “Thank you. And thanks for coming. Honestly, knowing you were here, catching glimpses of you watching, hearing you cheer…it was nice.”

“I had a blast, despite the sad outcome.”

“We’ll get ‘em next time.”

“Yes, you will.” I hesitate. “I have to go. I have an online meeting with one of my brides this evening. She lives on the West Coast, so I’m working around her schedule.”

“I like how you call them your brides.”

“It’s probably not very healthy, but I sometimes feel like they’re mine after all we go through. Hey, will you let me know when you find Leo and how he’s doing? Hopefully he’ll work it out somehow and start to feel better. Maybe it was nerves over it being the first game and all?”

“Yeah. And maybe he was thinking of his dad and how he’s not here…” Beck trails off, his gaze going to the sand.

I know Leo’s dad meant a lot to Beck, and my heart tenses at the rawness in his expression. “That definitely could be it.”

He squeezes my shoulder again and gives a little whimpering grunt. Almost like he wished he could hug me. I wish we could, too, and I go on my tiptoes and press my arms around his shoulders. His skin is all warm from the sun and the heat comingup from the sand. How he manages to still smell like nutty pine, I’ll never know. But I sure do love it.

I pull away and hurry to my car, the thoughts, sight, and scent of Beck consuming me.

*****

“I don’t know if you’re finished with your online meeting—” Beck hesitates on the phone two hours later, his voice taut and tired.

“I’m finished with that. I just ate a big bowl of soup from a can. Very busy around here, obviously.” Great. Now he knows how boring and lonely my after-work nights can be.

“It’s just that…well, it’s hard to explain, but can you come over?” He groans and I swear I hear his palm smack his forehead.

Of course I can. Nothing’s stopping me except for my urge to pore over online wedding magazines like I do more nights than I care to admit.

Hey. It’s work-related research!

“I can be there in fifteen minutes,” I tell him.

I don’t know what’s got him in a low-key state of panic. Could be Leo, could be the mansion. Whatever it is, I want to be there for him.

I arrive at his place and ring his doorbell, and he swings the door open within seconds. His face has that same look—lined with worry.

“It’s Leo. He’s going through some stuff.” Beck scratches the back of his neck. “Can you talk to him? We thought maybe the womanly perspective would…” He trails off and I don’t know why, but Beck calling me womanly has me all melty.

I’ll gladly be womanly anytime, Beck.

“Of course.”

Beck leads me to the living room where Leo’s sitting on the couch, his shoulders slumped, his forearms resting on his knees.He’s barefoot and in a tank top and shorts. He looks young and vulnerable.

Leo glances up at me before returning his gaze to the floor. “I don’t need any advice.”

Alrighty then.

“Good because I don’t have any,” I say. “In fact I don’t even know why Beck asked me to come. Just that he really cares about you. That’s all I know.”

A long pause and then Leo sighs. “I no longer have a date to Prom, which really sucks.” Anger curls around his words, “—especially since the people we were going to go with are all upset at me like it’s my fault.”

I have so many questions to ask, but I know I should take it slow. Beck sits on the sofa across from Leo, so I choose the overstuffed chair in the corner.

“Oh man. That’s not good.”

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