Page 31 of Heart of Thorns

“Like marrying…?”

“Someone of the same class.” I wince. “Their words, not mine.”

“Gee, Thorne, I’m surprised you’re even allowed to play football.”

I meet her gaze. Her brown eyes are warm, receptive to my story. She’s not judging me. Maybe my parents, but not me. Not yet.

“They don’t want me to go pro. They think college ball looks good on a résumé, but even that is bullshit. If I wasn’t the quarterback, they wouldn’t let me dedicate nearly as much time to it as I do. I’m going to graduate and work for my father. Give my blood, sweat, and tears to the company that’s been inour family for six generations, work my way up the ladder, and take over when he’s ready to retire. But the Board of Directors will only accept me if I do everything right, and to them? That includes marrying a girl who comes from a family like mine. It means she’s going to pop out two-point-five babies who are guaranteed to be blonde brats. A nanny is going to raise them. And it’s all about the money.”

“And that has to do with the here and now…?”

“They want me to get started on the wife and babies thing.” I shrug. My gaze skates away from hers again. “Every week I go on a date with someone who matches their criteria.”

She snorts. “Poor you, going on dates with rich girls. Do they all have Daddy issues?”

“I don’t want them. I want to focus on playing football. And, well, I met one of the girl’s father tonight, and he insinuated some shit about becoming my father-in-law. So I told him there had been a mistake and I was already in a committed relationship.”

With you.

Silence.

I can’t make myself look at her. I don’t often get rejected, and I don’t want to be staring at her when she decides to tell me to fuck off. It feels weirdly vulnerable, having admitted all that to her. We’re total strangers, save our names. And now, I suppose, pieces of our trauma.

“Let me think about it,” she eventually says.

She brushes past me, not quitefleeing, but walking faster than I’d seen her. Even with the slight hitch in her step. She disappears out the door.

It bangs shut behind her, and I kick at the blue jersey.

While not outright, her rejection stings all the same.

CHAPTER 11

BRIAR

I crinklethe piece of paper into a ball and drop it by my feet. My hockey stick feels foreign in my hands. It’s been so long since I’ve touched skate to ice.

This doesn’t even come close to playing hockey, but it still feels good. I swing my stick and send the wad of notebook paper flying into the trash can.

Lydia claps. “Nice.”

I smile.

“What’s got you so… cheery? You’ve got energy tonight. Was it the football game? Gave you some school spirit?”

I laugh, but it’s sarcastic.

I rest my stick against the wall and slump onto the couch. My notebook is under lock and key in my tight grip. Lydia already thinks I’m half nuts. If she knew I was writing a pro and cons list regarding a fake relationship with Shadow Valley’s quarterback, she’ll think I’ve lost my fucking mind.

Maybe I have.

My last relationship ended shortly after the fire, and the breakup was brutal. I swore I’d never date another footballer for the rest of my life, and yet…

Thorne’s face appears in my mind.

The angles of his high cheekbones and the golden flakes in his eyes. They’re warm and sort of… comforting?

After I came to in the locker room and saw his face, my panic was swept away instantly.

---