“Yeah?”
“Do you…” Her voice went hoarse, cutting off the rest of what she’d been about to say. She took a deep breath and tried again. “Do you think Jack has a shot at an NHL career?”
Berkley and Kenzie’s frowns deepened, but realization flashed through Brent’s eyes, his expression relaxing a bit.
“I haven’t seen him play much,” Brent said. “Mostly just at the GLI. But he’s good. Really good. Quick for his size, has a great read on the puck, and his reflexes are ridiculous. And I’ve played against his brother a few times. Josh works hard, keeps his headdown from what I’ve seen, and is a hell of a defenseman. So…if Jack is anything like that? I’d say yes. He’s got a bright future ahead of him.”
The words settled like a stone in Jessica’s stomach. She didn’t know enough about hockey to judge Jack’s talent, but hearing that he was good enough to make it at the highest level from someone who currently lived that exact dream didn’t surprise her. She knew how seriously he took his game, and the Spartans were having a phenomenal season thanks in large part to his stellar play.
With a sudden clarity, Jessica realized that, up to this point, she’d been holding onto the hope that this would all work out. That, when she left for Russia, she wouldn’t be ripping her heart out of her chest and leaving it here in Jack’s hands. But with Brent’s words, that hope shriveled up and died in her chest.
Maybe if things were different, if Jack wasn’t as talented as he was, or if Jessica hadn’t worked so hard for everything that was now firmly in her grasp, there would be some way to compromise here. But they weren’t, and Jessica could see no way where they both got everything they wanted, where she got to chase her dreams and hold onto her dream man. She’d agreed to long distance, yes, but she couldn’t stop from asking herself…what was the point?
A good night’s sleep and a quick flight to Minneapolis had done nothing to soothe the jagged edges of Jessica’s anxiety. When the idea of leaving Jack to move halfway across the world had been the seed of an idea, Jessica had been okay. It was one ofthose out of sight, out of mind things. But now that it was an inevitability? It had her second guessing everything.
And she still had to tell Jack.
But not this weekend. She refused to ruin this trip.
Kenzie, for her part, understood Jessica was internally struggling and was doing everything in her power to take her mind off of it. It paid, Jessica supposed, to have a friend with severe anxiety, because Kenzie was a master at distracting herself from the negative thoughts that constantly swirled in her brain. And, of course, Jessica had a new appreciation for her now. She was drowning here because of this one—albeit not inconsequential—thing, whereas Kenzie dealt with these kinds of intrusive thoughts, often with no rhyme or reason, daily.
When they touched down and left the airport, their first stop was the hotel to drop their stuff off. Then they went in search of food, because Jessica’s stomach had been growling for hours. That morning, she’d been too stressed to eat anything, but her appetite returned with a vengeance.
They wandered around downtown, surprised by the number of people in hockey jerseys or gear representing their college of choice, a lot of them repping Michigan State.
When it was finally time to head to the arena, Kenzie looped her arm through Jessica’s and pulled her through the mass of people bottlenecking through the doors.
The game passed in a blur of skates slicing the ice, cheers and jeers from the crowd, the rocking of boards when two opponents clashed, and, of course, goals.
Though none for Harvard. Even to her barely knowledgeable hockey mind, Jessica could tell Jack had played the game of his life, and the Spartans were on to the championship game on Saturday.
That night, once the boys had gone through post-game press conferences and dined as a team, Jack and Aiden invited Jessica and Kenzie to hang out at the pool with them. All Jessica needed was to hear the words “hot tub” and she was in. She could think of nothing better right now than a few hours spent soaking in warm water, and she hoped it alleviated at least a little bit of her stress.
The boys were on cloud nine and spent most of their time acting like little kids, having chicken fights, playing Marco Polo, and generally causing a ruckus. Jessica would’ve liked to spend some more time alone with Jack, but she couldn’t deny him this time with his teammates.
Eventually, though, he heaved himself out of the pool, and Jessica had to wipe her face to make sure she wasn’t drooling as all six-foot three-inches of him sauntered her way. His swim trunks hung indecently low on his hips, and water pearled and dripped across the toned, taut skin of his pecs and abs, clinging to the peaks and valleys of his muscles.
Jessica experienced a keen sense of dejá vu in that moment, and it only got worse when Jack held out his hand and said, “Come play volleyball with us.”
Those were the first words he’d ever spoken to her, and the wide grin on his face told her he remembered, too.
That draw she’d felt to him even in that first moment was still there, pulling her out of the hot tub and into the frigid water of the pool. Only now, Jack was sweet and thoughtful, setting her up for perfect shots, high-fiving her and cheering her on, using every spare opportunity he could find to put his hands on her body below the water. To nip at her exposed shoulder, or press a kiss to her chlorine-drenched hair.
Jessica held tight to that, to the reminder of how far they’d come, and if they could survive three and a half years apart andstill come back together, better and stronger, then surely a little thing like long distance couldn’t tear them apart. Right?
As if their time in the pool had been foreplay, the moment Jack and Jessica stepped foot into their room—which was actually Jack and Aiden’s; she and Aiden switched so they could spend the night with their significant others—Jack wasted no time in getting Jessica naked. With four quick tugs on the strings of her bikini top and bottoms, Jessica was completely bare, and Jack was lifting her into his arms to carry her to the bed.
When he dropped her onto the mattress, she immediately rose to her knees and dug her fingers into the waistband of his shorts, pulling them down his legs. Then he stepped out of them and joined her on the bed.
He crawled up her body and placed his hands on either side of her head, hovering over her, peppering her forehead, chin, cheeks, eyelids, and nose with kisses.
“Promise me something, Jess,” he said, his lips a breath away from hers.
“Anything.”
“Promise me you won’t say goodbye.”
Jessica blinked rapidly, that ball of anxiety once again rooting and spreading across her chest, like kudzu in the South. Somehow, he’d found out her news, and he was as scared as she was.
