“Funny.” I cut my gaze back to his apartment building, having never considered it before. Most of the guys live close to the arena in new apartments, but those are so expensive. This building is old and perhaps affordable . . . “What do you pay?”
“Only six hundred, but it comes with a pet mouse, and you have to promise not to kill him because he’s actually cool. You also must feed him at least once a day, but he surprisingly doesn’t like cheese. He prefers peanuts or dark chocolate—” He interrupts himself and tacks on, “The dark chocolate is Sophie’s fault.”
I stuff my hands in my coat pockets as the wind picks up, and my brow furrows in concentration. I have been meaning to do something about my living situation. I’m not going to find anything for less than six hundred. It really is a no brainer, and I nod. “Yeah, that sounds great. When are you moving—”
A shrill scream spirals from somewhere in the crowd right as a massive gust of wind rips through the park. I take a step back to keep my balance. A ripple of litter cascades through the park as the wind steals napkins from vendors and even a loosely held stroller from a mother. The mom quickly catches it, but my gaze is pulled to another even bigger issue . . .
The slide!
It’s partially inflated and has lifted off the ground like a massive balloon, only held down by the hose that’s attached to the air compressor.
I forgot about Bill!
Axl sees it too, and we take off together.
Bill has been swallowed up by the slide, flattened on the ground, with only his boots sticking out the side. “Bill, just hold still,” I call out, dropping down to the ground by his feet and lifting the slide. Axl comes in beside me, and together we shimmy it off of him before Bill incurs more than a bruised ego.
When he sits up, he wobbles, and the crowd of people surrounding us cheers. We got lucky, and we don’t need to fight about whose fault it is. I hold my hand out to help him up. “Glad you’re okay.”
The wind howls, rolling through the park, and Axl extends his hand to me. “Give me one of those stakes. We need to get this pinned down fast.”
I hand them out, and we scurry around the slide, but it’s as if the weather is mocking our efforts. As soon as the last stake is in, the sky opens, dumping out the hugest snowflakes. It’s a full-blown blizzard, and people run toward the parking lot back to their cars. Axl takes off back through the crowd to find Sophie, and Bill mumbles his way back to his truck.
I should be moving too, but I can’t.
Someone is blocking me.
Someone wearing all black—from her midnight trench coat to her combat books.
Even though she has a hand over her face, shielding it from the snow, it doesn’t conceal who it is. Paisley.
My heart ticks up a notch seeing her. I so want her to be here for the right reasons, but I’m guarded. “What are you doing here?” I ask. “Don’t tell me you got a photo of Bill under that slide?”
Her lips fold in, and she shakes her head. “I wouldn’t embarrass him like that.”
I don’t have anything to add, but I study the inflection in her eyes. They look honest when she adds, “I got a bunch of greatphotos of you guys. I’m going to write an article on all the charity work you guys do.”
“Hmm.” I shove my hands in my pockets, still trying to understand everything that has happened. My heart is so attuned to her nearness, it hammers against my chest, but I am still so conflicted.
“I quit my dad’s magazine.”
My brows dip down.
“I know I can’t use the magazine as an excuse. I had my own choices to make, but I never want to do anything like that again. I’m going to start my own photography series that highlights sports teams and their community involvement.” She shakes her head, and no words come out for a long beat. Then tear-stained words tumble out of her mouth. “Haven’t you ever made a mistake?”
I do everything I can to ignore that I almost got Bill killed by getting distracted on my way back from getting the stakes—that being only one of the many, many things I’ve done wrong. Like leaving my meds out for Puck to grab more than once. He could have died if he’d swallowed them.
I’ve made so many mistakes.
I scratch the back of my head, pushing all the thoughts away.
She has a point.
Plus, she’s standing in a blizzard, and I can’t help but think she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I don’t want to be bitter. That’s not my nature. One of the reasons I reacted as harshly as I did was because I was having an anxiety attack.
Things are clearer now.
So much clearer.
