Taming His Tutor(46)

She’d thought he must. It had been such a big part of his life. “You still see your teammates?”

He shook his head. “They’re busy. Need to focus.”

She frowned. “You’re not in touch with them at all?” But suddenly she knew the answer before he said it.

“After that injury…the team was better off getting on without me,” he said, bouncing the ball a few times as if testing it. “I’m not bitter, though.” He gently lobbed it back to her. “The accident was unfortunate, but I’d been so lucky ’til then. I got a real good platform to build on.”

“That wasn’t luck,” she said softly. She stole out from behind the machine and picked up another of the balls, sucked up the guts to ask the question. “So you don’t see your sister much either?”

There was a moment of silence. To fill it, Abbi threw that ball at him. He caught it, then bounced both a few times.

She held her breath but didn’t ask more; if he wanted to say anything else he would. She hoped he would—she seemed to have developed a stalkerish interest in everything about him. But she knew he was probably more likely to turn the tone back to sex.

Which would also be fine. They’d been heading back there pretty quick anyway. And frankly, she just wanted to see him smiling again.

“Brooke and I didn’t get to spend much time together as kids.” He balanced the balls in his hands on auto. “We were separated not long after our mom left. A family wanted her, but not me. Usually the social workers don’t like to break up siblings but in this case… They thought it would be better for Brooke to go.”

Abbi just didn’t know what to say to that. A million questions went through her head but she so wasn’t going to ask them. That must have been hideous. To have been separated? To be the one who hadn’t been wanted? But one question slipped out anyway. “How old were you?”

“Five.”

She gaped. “How could they not want you, too?”

“Oh I dunno.” He forced out a laugh. “I guess I was too much boy. I was always stupidly tall. I looked older. Didn’t act older though. I acted my age. So I didn’t live up to expectations people had.”

“Unfair expectations,” Abbi pointed out.

He shrugged. “Don’t look so horrified.” He tossed one of the balls to her. “It turned out I was the luckier one. But she never told me.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Never once told me.”

“Told you what?”

He sighed and then threw the other ball right across the room, where it hit the wall with a loud smack and then bounced on the floor. He turned back to look at her, his eyes hot, angry. “That family looked so fucking perfect. All apple pie and health insurance. And Brooke was the prettiest girl. I thought she was living the fairy tale, you know? Abandoned girl gets picked by the best and lives happily ever after. But they weren’t the best. And she’d never once admitted how bad it was for her. Not for years and years. Not to me.” He choked the words out. “But I saw the bruises on her arm when we had a scheduled visit one time.” He grimaced.

Oh, dear Lord. Poor Brooke. Poor Joe.

“And what happened?”

“I confronted her. Stormed around there acting the big little brother and decked the father. Brooke was livid. Screamed at me. She didn’t want me interfering in her life. It was her business and she could handle it. So…” He shut his mouth, his jaw more chiseled than ever.

“Oh, Joe.”

“Forget it. It’s old history.”

Was it, really? Not when she’d seen the way he’d looked at her. The only family he had and they didn’t even wave across a bar?

“You should talk to her.”

He shook his head. “She’s fine now. She’s better off without me. I’m okay. It’s all good.”

But Abbi wasn’t letting this drop just yet. She hugged the ball close to her stomach. “Why couldn’t she have come to stay with you and the Burnses? Wouldn’t they have welcomed her?”

He bent his head, his chest rising and falling fast like he was speeding up and down the gym. But he wasn’t. He was still. “Trouble with that was things with the Burnses weren’t so good for me, either. Not by then.” He jerked his head up, caught the appalled expression that crossed her face. “Oh, they never lashed out. At least, Ted and Brigit didn’t. But Zach…”

Abbi remembered Zach. Total jock. Ruler of the school sporting scene. Until Joe had arrived. Joe, who’d had more raw talent in his little finger than any of the others put together.