“I know.” I rested my forehead against hers. “I know.”
We made it to the couch because I forced myself to move there. The bedroom could wait.
At least, that was the lie I told myself. Catherine curled into the corner with one leg tucked under her, and I sat beside her, close enough that our knees touched. Her hand found mine almost immediately. That small touch did more to me than it should have.
“How’s Isla?” she asked.
“Good. Happy to be home.”
Catherine smiled. Silence settled.
I looked down at our joined hands. “I feel guilty.”
Her fingers stilled. “About what?”
“Cole and Holland.”
Her face changed.
“Yeah,” she said quietly. “Me too.”
“They trust me,” I said. “I keep telling myself we’re adults. That we’re not doing anything wrong.”
“But sneaking around makes it feel wrong,” she noted. It was a relief to hear she felt the same way.
I turned toward her. “Maybe we should tell them.”
Her head snapped up. “No.”
The answer came too fast.
I frowned. “Catherine.”
“No. Hunter, no.”
“I’m not saying we walk into their kitchen tonight and announce everything. I’m saying if we want to date, maybe we should be honest before we get deeper.”
“If we tell them, we won’t have time to figure out what we are,” she countered.
“I don’t want that,” I admitted.
“My dad may go nuclear. He always told me that he didn’t want me with a hockey player,” she said.
That hurt, but I understood where Cole was coming from. We spent a lot of time on the road, and the job could be dangerous.
She pulled her hand from mine and rubbed her palms over her thighs. “My parents sacrificed so much for me. My dad was gone all the time because of hockey, and my mom worked insane shifts, and they still showed up for everything. They gave me every opportunity. They trusted me. They believed I’d do something big with my life.”
“You are doing something big,” I said.
“I’m sneaking around with my dad’s player.”
I winced. Not because she was wrong. Because she sounded like she hated herself for it.
“You’re not a disappointment,” I said.
Her eyes flashed. “You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do,” I replied.