Page 57 of False Start

“I found it quite odd,” I admitted. “It just seems like the Kyle they knew is…”

“Different from the one you did?”

We locked eyes for a moment, and then I went back to unpacking.

“I was going through a lot,” Kyle said. “I just didn’t think making friends was important. I focused on football and on growing a social media following. I knew having a big audience could help sell me to a team. It also helped with getting paid, even in college. I made my own money with all the Name, Image, and Likeness deals that I could get.”

“Your parents weren’t helping you?” I asked, genuinely shocked.

Kyle’s jaw hardened. “I didn’t want their help.”

My mouth was dry as I thought of how to respond but came up blank.

Kyle’s father was one of the most complicated creatures I’d ever known in my life. He was respected where we grew up, always serving as a leader — at our schools, at our church, at a whole slew of community initiatives.

But I knew what happened behind closed doors.

I knew that when he drank too much, he turned into someone unrecognizable. And I knew that when that happened, Kyle seemed to always be in the way.

My stomach cramped as a flash of memories hit me — bruises on Kyle’s skin, cuts on his eyebrows and mouth.

I was there for him back then.

But now, I could relate.

I understood him in a way I wished I never had to.

When I tucked my suitcase away in the closet, I covered another yawn, stretching my mouth wide. “I’m excited to see you with your friends,” I said. “It’s nice to get a glimpse of who you were after…”

I swallowed, not sure how to finish that.

After you left?

After you leftme?

“What about you?” Kyle asked. “I don’t think I’m the only one who’s changed since high school.”

I smiled on a sigh as I sat on the edge of the bed. “My life has been pretty boring compared to yours.”

“Doesn’t seem boring to me, especially not with Sebastian.”

Kyle smiled on that remark, but it twisted my gut.

“He’s everything to me,” I whispered, looking at my fingers in my lap.

I’d peeled half my nail polish off on the plane ride here, and I cursed internally, knowing I’d look like a kid next to all those beautiful women I just met in the lobby. No doubt, they’d have perfect manicures.

“How did you and Marshall meet?”

I chuckled, looking up at him. “You really want to know that?”

His jaw ticced. “Yes.”

“You’re still a shit liar,” I said on a laugh. I shook my head, shrugging. “It’s nothing romantic. I was out at a bar that I had to use a fake ID to get into. He was there with some friends. He saw me trying to drink away my problems, and came over pretending to be an undercover cop, and then he was making me laugh, and then…”

I swallowed, not wanting to finish that sentence, and realizing I didn’t need to.

Kyle was smart enough to fill in the blanks.