Page 38

All the adults take a step back, trying to give the siblings a moment, especially when Emmie's shoulders start shaking and Liam's follow soon after.

Bryce and Carter make a small huddle with Penny, quietly answering her questions.

I avert my eyes, but before I do, I can't help the swell of hope in my chest.

Maybe this one will work out.

Once Emmie and Liam head out to spend the day with Penny to determine what'll happen next and what the best course of action for her is, I head upstairs to the office.

Bryce and Carter are sequestered in theirs, both of them offering to take over my practices for the day, but Mia is lounging on the couch in the common area.

When she sees me walk through the door, she closes her laptop, and sets it on the table. I collapse on the other end of the couch, casually pulling her legs into my lap and running my fingers along her calf.

"How did it go?"

When I turn toward her, she has her elbow on the back of the couch, watching me closely. "Pretty good, actually. Liam seems like a good guy. He also seems committed to keeping Emmie here despite what it'll mean for him."

"So you think this is going to work out?"

"I can't say for sure, but I do think he's the best thing for her right now.

He clearly cares about her and has tried to fight for her before.

I'm not worried he won't show up for her, but there are circumstances outside of our control.

Even his control. I like to think I know the kids I coach, but I've seen kids who come from similar situations react in ways I never could have anticipated. "

"Well, I know I don't have experience with this, but I think you made the right calls and did everything you could," she says.

"And I think Emmie is grateful for you showing up.

I think all these kids are pretty damn lucky to have you as their coach, Ronan.

At least they know someone's looking out for them. "

Despite everything I've spent the last few years doing, I've never had someone tell me I'm doing the right thing. Or even that what I did was good. Tears sting the corners of my eyes a little bit, causing me to look straight ahead, and will them away.

It's not that I'm scared to cry in front of Mia—it's quite the opposite actually. I'm scared that once I start, I won't be able to stop. Between the exhaustion and being with someone I trust wholeheartedly, a few tears might lead to a full breakdown. I am too tired to deal with that today.

Mia's foot nudges against my stomach, pulling my attention back to her. She's looking at me with a goofy grin, which must mean I missed something.

"I'm sorry, I zoned out there for a second," I admit, resuming the gentle movement of my fingers against her bare leg.

"Yeah, you did." I must hit a ticklish spot because the way she squirms brings a smile to my face. "I was trying to ask you a question. A very serious question."

Brows furrowed, I sit up a little straighter, my hand stilling on her leg. "Sure, what's up?"

"I was thinking about last night…"

My brain short circuits for a second, trying to come up with what she could possibly be talking about. Last night? When I had to take one of my swimmers out of a neglectful home? Weren't we already talking— Oh.

"You mean our date?" Despite my exhaustion and evident brain fog—because how the hell was that only last night?—a smile manages to tug at the corner of my lips. "Please, tell me more. "

A faint blush coats her cheeks, so I give her calf a squeeze, hoping I help ease her embarrassment. "I know I told you this already, but I had a lot of fun and it was great to spend so much time together."

"I had fun, too. It felt like old times, didn't it?"

"No." She laughs. "You would have never taken a cooking class with me back then, no matter how much you liked me and liked spending time with me."

"It is not my fault I didn't learn to use a stove properly until I was thirty," I argue. "Blame my parents. I would have started a fire back then."

Her laugh seems to dance around the room, her eyes bright with a joy I want to bask in forever. God, do I want to keep being the person who makes her smile like that.

But right now, I'm anxious to see where this conversation is going. "Don't get distracted, Sheridan. You were thinking about last night and how much fun we had…what comes next?"

She pushes back strands of hair that have fallen out of her ponytail, giving me a shy look. "Despite your inability to use a stove all those years ago, I always thought we were building something. A real foundation after that night in Omaha, you know?"

I nod along. "Yeah, I agree. I think we both recognized we couldn't commit to anything in the moment, with our lives taking us all over the place, but I thought we were doing the same. And we were doing it with the intention of being ready when we got the chance."

She frowns. "And then I went and blew it all up."

I reach out and take her hand in mine, our fingers tangling together. "Hey, no. Don't think like that. I'm not mad at you for what happened. You were protecting yourself and Josie—there's no shame in that."

"I was protecting us from someone who would never hurt us. I was too insecure to believe that. "

"I forgave you, Mia. Even when you were still mad at me, I knew whatever happened, I'd already forgiven you. I've missed having you in my life and I'm not about to chance that now."

"What if I ask you to?"

"What are you talking about?"

She fiddles with the hem of her shirt, but keeps her gaze locked on me. "What if I told you I wanted to take a chance, together? On the two of us?"

"For real?" I ask, dumbfounded. I can't seem to find any better words in the moment. "You mean as a real, serious couple?"

"Yeah." She drops the hem of her shirt and shifts on the couch until she's facing me, her legs tucked underneath her. I turn to give her my full attention.

"I know you probably don't want to have this conversation at work—"

"I don't care where we have it. I'm still having a hard time believing we're having it. Mia, are you sure?"

"I'm tired of wasting time, Ronan," she admits. "I'm tired of denying myself the person I want because I'm scared of getting hurt again. I think we owe it to ourselves to see where this could take us."

The people we were before—the ones fumbling around in that hotel bed in Omaha—never could have fathomed what we'd go through.

They were on top of the world, and reality had no way of touching them.

The two people sitting here now have had nothing but reality thrown at them.

A car accident, a shitty ex who destroyed a career, and a chance we never thought we'd have again.

I'm taking that chance. I've been wanting to take that chance from the moment my eyes landed on her again and I can't believe how lucky I am for her to want to take such a chance with me.

"I wish you would say something," she anxiously replies.

Oh, shit, right. That part. That's how conversations work.

From that moment on, it's like I couldn't even contain my grin if I wanted to. Leaning closer, I pull her into a soft, sweet kiss. Something chaste and mild; something that definitely won't make Bryce feel like he has to start a real HR department.

She's a bit breathless when we pull away, and I try not to feel smug about being able to do that during a romantic moment happening in a not-so-romantic setting. "I'll take that as a yes?"

"I was planning on asking you the same thing in a couple of days," I finally say. "I wanted everything to die down a bit. I didn't want you to think I got caught up in the moment or something like that. I'm happy you were the one who brought it up."

In fact, it might mean even more to me that she was the one to ask.

I always pride myself on being the kind of guy who lets his girlfriend take the lead when she wants or needs to, but there's never been an instance where I haven't been the one to initiate this kind of conversation.

Not that there are a lot of them to make it count, but still.

She's beaming. The smile lighting up every aspect of her face, like the sun is shining down directly on her. "You realize this means we'll have to tell our friends, right?"

"You get to tell Bryce," I rush to say. "He already threatened me about creating a workplace nightmare—called himself HR and everything."

She snorts out a laugh. "Bryce would be horrible at HR."

"Right?" I exclaim.

"Do you even have any experience with a real HR department?"

"Um, yeah," I scoff, but she doesn't look convinced. "Operation Fly has one, but I've never dealt with them hands-on because I'm the founder and president who mostly stays out of that side of the organization."

"So that's a no, then," she teases .

"Not everyone's professional path looks the same, Mia."

One of the office doors open. "Hey!"

"Hey, man." I wave awkwardly.

"No kissing at work," Bryce warns. "Don't make me write you up."

"Do we even have a process for that?"

"I can make one," he cautions. "And, Mia, you're supposed to call Josie and tell her what she hopes is good news and that you’re not going off the deep end."

"Bryce!" she screeches. "You told my best friend before I could?"

"I was on the phone with her and the two of you were about to have sex, what was I supposed to do?"

"We were not about to have sex; we had one sweet kiss." Mia groans, hiding her embarrassed expression behind her hands.

"When you're on the clock, any amount of kissing will be viewed ten times worse."

"Technically, we never clock into this jo—"

"O'Brien, I will kick your ass." Bryce doesn't give me any chance to reply before he steps back into his office, closing the door tightly behind him.

"We really are going to cause a workplace incident." I turn to her with a grin, but snort out a laugh instead. "Carter just gave me a thumbs up through his window."

"Well, at least someone approves." She laughs.

"Nah, Bryce approves. He's just being an ass."

As if to prove my point, I lean forward to kiss her again. Bryce yelling our names through his barely open door is the only thing that makes us spring apart, but then we're laughing.