Page 25 of The Fall
“I’ll be back soon,” I promise Lily.
She’s still unhappy, but she climbs off my lap.
Hayes drapes her towel over her shoulders. “What do you say, boo?”
“Thank you for playing with me, Torey.” She pads off, wrapped in her towel like a tiny mummy. Her hair is clinging to her cheeks and her eyelids are fluttering closed. Still, she wavesone more time at the back door before she disappears inside, leaving a Lily-shaped emptiness behind.
“Think my own kid likes you better than me,” Hayes says, kicking at my ankle. There’s no heat to it.
I nudge him back. “What can I say? She’s got good taste. All the ladies do.”
Hayes tips his head back and laughs. Even Blair laughs, which… I elbow him. “You’re supposed to be on my side here.”
“Babe.” Blair can barely keep a straight face. It’s strange, seeing this fierce, ferocious man melt into giggles. In my memories, Blair Callahan was a hardened hockey warrior, all go, all fight, all grit, no quit. But here? Now? He’s a completely different man. He’s gentle. Tender. Loving. He is the sun.
I elbow him again. “Traitor.”
Hayes is wiping tears from his eyes, a little too dramatically. “For real, though.” Hayes looks at me, softening. “She thinks the world of you. Like, really. She talks about youallthe time.”
I don’t know what to say to that, so I say nothing. Hayes looks like he wants to say more, but Blair interrupts. “Remember that you’re spoken for.”
My eyebrows pop. “Oh, jealous?”
Hayes shakes his head. “It’s true love, I’m afraid, Calle. Looks like you’ll have to find another one.”
Blair’s hand finds mine. “Mmm-hmm,” he hums. His eyes are bottled-lightning blue, and he holds my gaze.
I stare back, breathe in. Bite the corner of my bottom lip. His hand squeezes?—
Hayes clears his throat, overly loud, overly long. Blair rolls his eyes and kicks at Hayes’s ankle, at the same time tugging me closer. We end curled up on the same chaise, Blair wrapped around me, arms and legs everywhere. He hooks his chin over my shoulder.
The conversation shifts, and I’m content to let it pass me by. Hayes leans back, his eyes on the stars and the sky. They’re talking about the team, about the last game, about the upcoming game. About the penalty kill, and about a lingering hamstring issue with Axel, the goalie.
How many times have we done this, the three of us? Talked late about the game, Hayes laughing with Blair’s heartbeat strong against my back? Blair catches me staring at him, and, God, he looks at me like I’m the only thing he needs.
This is it. This is exactly where I’m supposed to be.
Hayes is quiet, sipping his iced tea. Blair shifts, and a shadow falls behind the brightness of his eyes.
“So, how’s Erin?” Blair asks, casual, but there’s an underlying current in his voice.
Hayes turns that question over slowly.
“Really well,” he says finally. “We really did catch it early.”
I have no idea what they’re talking about. Erin seemed fine, but was she sick? How serious was it?
Cancer. The word forms in my mind. Erin had cancer, and Jesus fucking Christ, how do I not remember this? What kind of a friend forgets something like that?
Hayes looks up, wearing the fierce, protective love of a husband and of a father, and I can’t breathe.
“It’s been a hell of a few years, huh?” Hayes breathes.
Blair snorts, but I’m pressed against him, and I feel the flinch he tries to cover up. Hayes claps him on the shoulder.
Then he looks at me, really looks at me. “I don’t think I ever really thanked you, Torey.”
Everything stops. I shake my head. I haven’t done anything to deserve his gratitude. I have no idea what he’s talking about, but Hayes keeps going.
