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He chuckles. “You’re kidding, right? She helps out with CJ. If it was up to Bron, she would move in today.”

I laugh. “Yeah, I know how that goes. She loves to remind me they’re going to college together. I hope they stay best friends forever.”

“They will. Look at Lauren and Adri.”

I nod. Adri and Lauren are great friends. Fuck, where is Lux?

“You okay there, Coach?”

He’s going to punch me in the face, and this is going to cause a mess. “Yeah. It’s been a long day.”

“Lauren was telling me you have a few jobs going. You work too hard.”

But not as hard as my dick is right now…

Lux’s footsteps click on the hardwood floor. She’s wearing flip-flops, and her face looks a little different.

She’s got makeup and lipstick on.

“Ollie, I’m sorry. I was answering a call from—” Her gaze lands on her brother as if she didn’t know he was there. “Hi, Chase.”

He smiles at her. “You’re so rude. You left Coach alone here, and your door was wide open. Anyone could walk in. You know better than that. Where are your New York instincts?”

“I’m sorry, Ollie. I had to answer that.” She turns back to her brother. “What are you doing here?”

He hands her the flowers and the gift bag. “I brought you these.”

She blinks a few times. “Are these from Lauren?”

“No. They’re from me. I guess this is what I get for being nice.”

She goes up to him and puts her arm around him. “Thank you.”

As they share the tender moment, I see my opportunity to get out of here.

I stand and cross the room. “Well, I really have to go. I need to stop by Winter’s house to pick up a plan I need to file with the city tomorrow before I go get Ayla.”

It’s not a lie. I was planning on picking that up tomorrow, but now there’s enough time to do it.

“Thank you for everything, Ollie.”

“We’ll talk later, Coach,” Chase says.

I make myself walk down the stairs at an even step. There’s no way he didn’t realize something was going on. The way he smiled… I’ve had enough talks with Chase to know the man is really smart.

I make it all the way to my car when a message comes through.

The first one is from

Lux

I’m sorry. I didn’t know he was stopping by. We need to talk later.

I hope she wants to do more than talk. I hope she wants to repeat it. And go much further.

Jesus, so much for staying professional.

I drive away, and three minutes later, my phone pings a second time. I wait until I’m at a light to look at it.