Page 138 of Falling Offsides

My throat tightens. I smile. I clap. I even tear up a little with everyone else.

But deep down, a quiet ache grows. Because I never had this. Not with my parents. Not with Mom and Martin.

It hits me then, as Auguste wraps himself around me. As he holds me close.

It hits me so hard I can’t even breathe.

He wants this.

Everything his parents have. The closeness. The family. The forever.

He’s the kind of man who believes in it—who looks at his mom and dad and sees a roadmap.

Me? I’m leaving.

I can’t give him all of this. There’s no place for me in this picture. And I’ve never felt so disappointed. So bereft.

The rest of the night is a blur, and before I know it, Eddie and Sabrina are hugging me goodbye and saying they’ll see me soon. Because they don’t know that I’m only here for the summer.

Auguste doesn’t know.

“Let’s go home,” he murmurs into my hair as we head out to the car.

Home.

I know we live in the same building but the tone is loaded with a meaning that has my heart in my throat.

The ride home is silent.

Auguste holds my hand, the same way he held it on the drive to the Chateau, but I don’t grip back. I have no right to cling to him. To give him false hope.

“Court.” His voice is soft. “What’s wrong?”

I swallow hard, looking out the window. “I’m leaving L.A. in a few weeks.”

“What?” His hand tightens around mine, fingers curling into my palms. “Why?”

“Because that’s the plan,” I whisper back.

“The plan?”

“I came here for experience… to connect with my dad before starting my position with The Crescents.”

“The Crescents. New Orleans.”

I nod and he doesn’t say anything more. The tension bleeds into the space between us like ink in water.

When we pull up to the complex, Auguste parks in his space. Turns off the engine and looks at me.

“Be mine until you go,” he says, voice low and rough. “All mine.”

I nod again.

“I need your words right now, Court. I need you to tell me that you want to be mine. Every last piece of you. Every dream… fantasy you have… Let me claim them. Let me give them to you.”

My breath stutters. “I want that… you.”

Before I can say any more, he’s rounding the car and opening my door. With one sharp tug, he hoists me up and over his shoulder.