Page 40 of What If I See You

Watching her with a mix of amusement and worry, I cock my head and ask, “What’s going on?”

She finally stills and wipes the stray tears that have slipped down her cheeks. “I’ve never lied to that man before,” she says. “Phew. It was both easier than I expected and scary as fuck.”

I laugh but turn to face her, rubbing my hands up and down her arms. “Welcome to my life. But we can do this, Layken. Everything is going to be fine. I promise. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“How long do you think we have to keep this up?”

I shrug my shoulder trying to come up with a timeline in my head. “I don’t know. The end of the season, at least. If we go to the playoffs that’s at least May to June. Then, I don’t know, you can say I cheated on you or something.”

“What?” She gasps. “No way. I would never do that to you. A report like that could damage your career.”

“Well, I’m not going to let you look bad. No fucking way,” I tell her. “If it’s the price I have to pay for messing this up, then I’ll?—”

“No,” she says defiantly. She wipes at the rest of her tears and stands tall. “Sorry. I don’t know where these stupid tears come from. I’m not always a crier. We’ll come up with some amicable excuse. Maybe I’ll find a new job in another town and I’ll have to move.”

The thought of her moving away makes my chest feel tight.

“I’m going to have to start looking for work now anyway.”

“Hey.” I lift my hands to her face, smoothing back her hair. “Let’s talk about this at home where we can be comfortable, okay? Too many prying eyes and ears around here. I just need to stop in and grab my bag and keys.”

She nods and then I take her hand in mine, not wanting to leave her alone to feel scared for even a second and push open the locker room doors. “Put your dicks away gentlemen, there’s a lady in the room.”

“Good because there’s a lady already in here!” Corrigan comes around the corner and wraps her arms around her best friend, effectively separating our hands. “You okay?”

“Yeah. We’re good.” She nods but the look on her face has yet to convince me that she actually feels good. Not that I can blame her, I suppose.

“Layken!”

“Hey Layken!”

“What’s up Layken!”

The guys welcome her into the locker room one by one and she smiles and says hello to all of them.

“How are the newlyweds?” August asks as Layken waits for me to grab my stuff.

“We’re fine,” I tell them so Layken doesn’t have to lie.

“And Coach?”

“Oh, don’t worry about him.” Corrigan waves her hand. “He won’t be a problem. I’ll make sure of it.”

“Thank you, Corrigan,” I hear Layken say. When I peek over my shoulder, Corrigan has her arm around her and for some reason I feel the weight of our worlds on my shoulders. Like this is all my fault.

But this isn’t just my fault.

We did this.

Together.

“I’m not going to let anyone hurt Layken. Not on my watch,” I tell the guys. “And that goes for Coach as well. I’ll figure this out.”

Layken gives me a soft smile though it doesn’t quite reach her eyes.

Ledger tsks. “So I guess that means we’re not consummating this marriage, huh?”

“How do you know we haven’t already?”

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