“Right.” He sighed. “Just when this town was starting to grow on me.” His smile was weak. “Can I walk you home? Or do you want to stay with your friends over there?” He jutted his chin toward Charlotte’s table.
I turned and my new friends whipped their heads back around. “If we leave together there will be rumors.”
“There are going to be rumors anyway,” he said.
I understood where Nick was coming from, but I wondered why it mattered so much.
As though feeling my confusion, he laced his fingers together on the table in front of him and stared at his fingers. “I shouldn’t say anything, but the owner of the team warned me about getting involved with anyone in town before the Christmas Classic.”
“This town. All they care about is that damn game.” I finished my beer and then put on my jacket. “Can they do that?”
“Do what?” He was playing dumb.
“Tell you who and when you can…?” My voice trailed off.
Nick rubbed his chin. He started every day with a clean-shaven face and by the time the evening rolled around, he had a five o’clock shadow. “He’s the owner, it’s a big game, and I’m new in town. It’s obviously important to him and everyone here. Chaser also told me that there has been drama with other players sleeping with the daughters of their billet families.”
“I heard those rumors. I wonder if they’re true.”
“Evie.” He reached across the table. I thought he was going to grab my hand, but then he retreated. “I don’t want you to be the subject of any rumors.I knowthat nothing is going on between us.You knowthat, too, but I would hate to hear stuff about you going around town. You’re one of the good ones, you don’t deserve that.”
“God forbid they find out we’re sharing a room.” I forced a laugh.
“We can keep that between the two of us. As long as GJ and Eddie don’t say anything we should be good.”
“All right then.” I reached my hand across the table in a business handshake position. “Thank you for the drink. Have a nice evening, Nick.”
He shook my hand. “Thank you for helping me keep my pants on.”
I laughed. “See, if anyone overheard that, we could quash any rumors.”
His lips smiled, but his eyes looked sad. “Good night, Evie.”
“Good night, Nick.”
It was the smart thing to do. That’s what I kept telling myself. Did I want to snuggle into Nick on the walk home? Yes. Did I wonder what his lips would feel like on mine? Absolutely. Was I terrified that those things would feel so good I wouldn’t want him to leave? One hundred percent.
We both stood and there was an awkward moment when we had to pass by each other, we bobbed and weaved the same way. He grabbed my arms and his eyes met mine. The bar noise disappeared again and the only thing I could see was him.
“Nick.” I think I whispered his name.
He leaned, his breath hot on my cheek. “See you at home, Evie,” he whispered. Then the chaos of the bar returned, louder than ever.
“Wait, what?” It took me a minute to process his words. Was that an invitation? Was it goodbye?
The door to the tavern opened and Nick’s puffy blue jacket disappeared into the night. Even though I was confused by everything, I wasn’t going to cry in the Last Chance. Faces whirled around me as I stumbled through the crowd into the bathroom. The door slammed behind meand I rushed into a stall, resting against the door as I fought back tears. They weren’t the sad kind, they were frustrated tears.
I leaned my head back to stare at the stained ceiling. It was probably for the best. I wasn’t ready to fall for someone. The scars from Brad hadn’t even scabbed over yet, but it didn’t matter. Even if I wanted something to happen with Nick, his coach and this town had already made sure that it wasn’t going to happen.
“What are you waiting for?” A woman’s voice startled me back to reality.
“Excuse me?” I swiped at the hot tears on my cheeks and opened the metal door.
Charlotte was leaning against the sink. “Hi.”
“Hi…What do you mean, what am I waiting for?”
“Listen, Evie.” Charlotte draped her arm over my shoulder. The base of her wine glass hung above my chest, condensation threatening to drip onto my black jacket. “I recognize chemistry when I see it. When you’ve got a connection like that, you can’t let it slip through your fingers. I let Logan get away when I was eighteen and we lost so many years together.”
