Grace dropped her arm and observed her curiously. “For the past eight months, Tyler has worked solely from home. The best Troy could get out of him was a dinner every few weeks. He sometimes wondered what the point of Tyler relocating was in the first place.”
Emma's world tilted on its axis. She shook her head and took a step back.Tyler hadn’t worked here?Hadn’t stepped foot on the property until she’d started working? She glanced at the table where he’d set his laptop. The empty space made her throat constrict.
“Thank you for the WiFi help.” Grace smiled, then got back to work.
Emma spun and walked back to the kitchen.
“I think I’m going to have to get a new battery,” Lindsey was saying as Emma rushed in and snatched her purse from the counter.
“I’ll be back. Taking my lunch break.” Emma dashed out of the kitchen, her heart pounding wildly in her chest.
“It’s only nine-thirty?” Vaughn's voice floated after her as she sprinted to her car. Every second felt like an eternity as Emma pulled away from the curb and sped north.
"Come on, come on," she muttered under her breath as she hit red light after red light. She had to talk to Tyler. He would be home wouldn’t he? Unless he was at the hospital. She had no idea which hospital Troy was at, and even if she did, she wouldn’t show up there unless someone invited her.Please be home,she silently pleaded.
She finally pulled up to Tyler's townhouse and took the spot directly in front of the walkway. Her hands trembled on the steering wheel as she parked, her body awash with adrenaline. Drawing a deep breath, she climbed out of the car and ran up the steps on legs that seemed to have transformed into jelly on the way over.
Emma knocked. When she didn’t hear anything, she knocked again. Then, a third time even though she knew it was pointless. Tyler wasn’t there.
She pulled out her phone and typed out a text, then deleted it and rewrote it. Then deleted it and shoved her phone back in her pocket. She didn’t want to send him a message,she wanted to see his face and talk to him in person.
Emma cursed under breath and turned back to the steps. She couldn’t wait here all day. They had to finish this shoot, and she wasn’t about to leave Lindsey and Vaughn to finish it themselves.
Tonight. It was Monday. Tyler would have practice at the arena at seven. Emma jogged back to the car and got in. She could go finish the shoot and get to the arena early.
Olives and nuts.She’d have plenty of time to talk to Tyler before practice.
ChapterTwenty-Three
Dark clouds rolledin from the mountains as Tyler drove from the hospital to the Ice Arena. It was definitely going to snow tonight. Kind of perfect since he didn’t have to go anywhere the next morning. No more driving to the property for work.
His stomach flipped inside out as he sped through a yellow light. He’d probably get a photo radar ticket for that, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.Not betraying her. Taking her for granted.
Tyler clenched his hands over the steering wheel. He didn’t take Emma for granted, that was the problem. Walking away from her had made it disturbingly clear how much he wanted her. Needed her. Like he’d been living his whole life not knowing he had a hole punched through his chest until her smiles, her sarcastic comments, her soft skin,her sunny laughshad filled it.
The sight of her curled up with tear stains on her cheeks corroded him like acid, and he had no way to neutralize it. Any possible solutions terrified the shit out of him.
He parked the truck and yanked his bag from the back, then pulled his hood over his head against the bitter wind. At least it seemed like Troy would still have a little time. Based on what the nurse said, he’d be able to go home the next afternoon as long as his pain was still manageable. They upped his dose of meds and gave him shakes to up his nutrition.
Tyler’s throat tightened as he stepped into the airlock, the wind whistling through the doors. He needed to pull it together, and that’s why he was here. The guys had given him their blessing to miss practice—had even stopped by the house yesterday and dropped off burgers and enough fries to feed him for weeks from Peters. He hated being anyone’s project, but coming from the team, it felt genuine.
This was hockey. A physical outlet. Comfort. Comic relief. Brotherhood. He was barely finishing his first season with the Snowballs, and they already felt like family. Fights and all.
He pounded his chest twice before descending the stairs. He was going to fly tonight. Skate the shit out of that ice. Burn himself out so all he could do was shower and collapse when he got home.
Sean, André, Country, and Fly were already in the locker room. He was early, but since they had first slot tonight, the high school kids weren’t dinking around on the ice. They had the week off for spring break, which was fortuitous for them. More ice time before the semis.
Just as he set his bag on the bench next to Fly, a hand landed on his back. Tyler turned to see Country standing next to him shirtless.
“Man, I’m sorry I couldn’t stop by yesterday. Calving season.” He pulled Tyler into a tight hug.
“All good, Country. Appreciate it.” Tyler clapped his broad, bare shoulders.
Sean nodded to him as Country sauntered back to his gear. “Brett coming?”
“Yep. I was at the hospital this afternoon, so we drove separately.”
André put a foot up on the bench as he slapped baby powder into his compression shorts. “Poor Brett, no strong man to get him to prac—”
