Page 73 of Second First Kiss

“You’d still be the town’s golden boy.” She took a big, weighted breath. “I didn’t tell Eli this because I knew he’d use it against me, but it’s only fair, now that we’re friends, that I come clean.”

Nolan went still. Was she involved in the string of missing things at the lodge? His gut said no, but her face said she was about to drop a bomb.

“I didn’t come home from MIT on good terms. I was accused of cheating and I’m pretty sure if I’d stayed, I would have been expelled. And in case you’re wondering, I didn’t cheat, my boyfriend did.”

“Did he get expelled?”

“No, his parents were alumni who hated me from the second Ryan brought me home to meet them.” She laughed, but there was no humor to it. “Imagine me, a blue-haired biker who wore steel toes like sorority girls wear Prada, walking into a house that was the size of Hearst Castle. Ryan assured me they’d love me, but they took one look at me and their minds were made up. I was more than just trouble, I wasn’t legacy material.”

“Wait, he was your boyfriend and he didn’t stand up for you and tell the truth?” Rage bellowed in his stomach.

“His dad told him not to throw away his future on a relationship that wouldn’t last.” She shrugged as if she’d expected it. As if that were just how her life had gone. “I was headed home to help Tessa, my dad was hurt, my grandpa had passed, and I didn’t have any bandwidth left to fight it. And seriously, who would they believe, the kid whose last name was on the athletic arena or a scholarship kid?”

Her resistance to relationships became more and more clear and his heart went out to her. His fist wanted to punch her ex in the nuts, but his heart wanted to wrap itself around her like Bubble Wrap against the world and prove to her that there were nice guys out there.

Kat looked around and changed the subject. “You’ve been here over a year and it looks like you just moved in.”

“Tease all you want,” Nolan said, “I’m barely keeping my head above water. Between my job that I love, this case, and helping with my family’s lodge, I’m spread thin. Had you not brought this take-out I probably would have had a frozen pizza. Now that there’s really no one to fix it up for, what’s the rush.”

She was thoughtfully quiet for a moment, then shrugged. “Good point.”

He chortled. Leave it to Kat to be honest.

“Who would have thought we have something in common,” she said.

“I feel like I’ve been on the hamster wheel my whole life,” he said, surprised at the words coming out of his mouth.

“You mean you were this uptight as a kid?”

“I had to be. Between the twins moving in with us and Brynn’s heart issues, my family was crazy all the time.”

“And you were stuck in the middle.”

“That’s what a middle child is for.”

“That can’t have been easy.”

“Don’t get me wrong,” he said, taking a bite of fry. “My family is amazing, but my parents were stretched thin.”

“My grandpa was pretty amazing too, but he wasn’t always able to be around when my parents were dropping the ball.”

“You were so young to take on mom, dad, sister, enforcer.”

“That’s what family does. You know that.”

Yeah, he did. More than most. “Doesn’t make it any easier.”

“Is that why you don’t date? Too much responsibility?”

“You’ve been keeping tabs on me, Kitten?”

“You know how gossip is in this town. Nothing is sacred.”

“No, I actually love the responsibility of a partner. When my ex left and I lost Tommy, it was like losing my own kid. I was devastated. It took me months to even start to bounce back. I don’t think I could go through that again.”

“So single moms are out?” She couldn’t even meet his eyes, instead taking a big bite of burger.

“I’m starting to reconsider that. What about you? Do you want kids, Kitten?”

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