Page 91 of Coach
That somehow only made it harder not to confess everything. But, dammit, I had a lot of hush money in my trunk. The kind of money that would ensure that I would never again sob my eyes out in the parking lot of an all-night convenience store, having no idea when I would have money for a motel room, let alone an apartment or home.
If or when I had to run again, I would have enough money to make it a hell of a lot more comfortable.
I tried to tell myself that was a good enough reason to lie.
But if I needed another one, I wasn’t entirely sure that Stas Novikoff wouldn’t kill me if I went back on my word.
We made our way out of the clubhouse and I felt my damn heart melt in my chest when Saul reached for my hand,threading his fingers between mine, and holding on for the whole walk back to town.
We picked up my car from work.
And while Saul was playing fetch with Trix, I quickly brought my money inside, tucking it away safely before gathering a change of clothes for myself and some of Trix’s food.
Then it was back to the clubhouse for the night.
Where the guys, hungry and with nowhere close by to order food from, dug into the deep freezer and made a dinner of frozen pizza, fries, mozzarella sticks, and potato skins.
It was the most unhealthy, fun, weird dinner I’d ever had with the best company I’d been around in a long time.
“Really?” Saint asked, lounging back in his seat with a glass of whiskey sitting on his thigh. “Where’d you go?” he asked after I let it slip that I’d been in college for city planning.
“West Virginia,” I told him.
“Party school,” he said as Saul’s fingers started drifting up and down my spine. I was sitting with my legs draped over his, my head occasionally resting on his shoulder.
“It was. My roommate was a big fan of the parties.”
“Not you?”
“It had its moments. I had to be careful not to get too crazy, though. I was on scholarship for soccer. I had to be on my best behavior and on point for practice.”
“Soccer, huh?” Saul asked, fingers drifting down my legs. “Explains these,” he said in my ear just for me to hear.
“Not really. It’s been a long time.”
“Did you decide not to go into city planning?” Colter asked.
“No, I dropped out of college,” I admitted, feeling my stomach tense, not wanting to go into those details.
“Eh, it’s not for everyone,” Saint said.
I couldn’t tell if Saint picked up on my tension and wanted to ease it, or if he was just being casual. Either way, I was glad whenthe conversation turned toward talk about the town, about the rumors the guys had heard about what was going to be getting built.
Eventually, everyone made their way to bed early for a change.
Saul and I walked Trix, then did the same, falling into bed and each other.
It was a blissful night.
When I woke up, though, I had a face full of fur instead of Saul.
Shifting onto my back, I scanned the room, finding the first golden tendrils of sunlight streaming through the windows. They all shone on the shirtless body of Saul as he leaned forward into downward dog.
I inched upward, not wanting him to notice me and stop, but desperately wanting a better view.
His body was fluid, shifting effortlessly from one position to the next, his muscles tensing and relaxing, then flexing again.
At the end, he moved from downward dog to child’s pose before settling into a cross-legged position.
