Lola leaned closer so her eyes filled my screen. They held uncertainty, some fear—normal emotions for cancer patients—but they also held determination and love.
“He pushed you away because he cares. I can’t say more because this is something for you two to work out. But I know you will be the best person to care for me. And I will beg you if I must. You will be well compensated. You will have a nice home and lots of good food to fill your belly.” She grimaced. “For as long as I can cook, anyway. But you must come. And soon. I need you, Vivian. Please.”
I felt myself nodding, and for some crazy reason, I drafted my resignation letter as soon as Lola and I disconnected. I submitted it, too.
Two weeks later, I exited the Houston InterContinental terminal and headed to Lola Cruz’s house in a rideshare. It still seemed like pure insanity.
What the hell am I doing?
Chapter 13
Chapter
Lennon
* * *
When I’d joined Cormac on the ice this morning, he’d asked me to stop by his place later this afternoon. When he told me the rest of the guys had already been invited, I made sure to get to the Memorial Park area, where Cormac and a lot of my other teammates had purchased homes, as quickly as possible once practice was done.
The neighborhood was really nice—quiet, large lots, big homes that weren’t disgustingly ostentatious, and near the arena to make the commute reasonable. It was not an easy feat to find a place that ticked all those boxes, especially in the rapidly growing Houston city limits.
I’d thought about looking for a place here too, but there wasn’t any point without Vivian. Hana, my previous connection to her, was married to Naese and living here now, and while it did feel good to have helped them find their way back to each other, I hadn’t been able to ask Hana if Vivi was dating anyone. I wasn’t sure if she’d know. And the not knowing was eating at me—possibly more than it would hurt to swallow my pride.
I should have known something was up when I walked into Cormac’s place and smelled enchiladas. My nose quivered, and my mouth watered.
“Come in, Cruiser. We have some things to discuss,” Cormac said, waving me over. He glanced at Maxim, who gave a faint nod, then to Stol and Naese, who repeated the gesture.
“Adam wanted to be here, too, but Felix has the shits,” Maxim informed me.
More information than I wanted or needed, so I just gave a faint grunt.
“So, yeah…” Cormac began. “We wanted to talk to you about Vivian.”
I stiffened. “What about her?”
“She’s coming to Houston,” Cormac said.
The floor seemed to drop out from under me, and my ass landed somewhere between Cormac’s sofa and Stol’s knee. He groaned and shoved. I shifted enough for him to move his leg. No way was I going to get up.
“She agreed,” Naese said. He beamed, clearly proud of this development.
“Wait—just wait. You invited Vivi here?” My mouth dried out, and my hands began to shake. My chest tightened. Was I…? This felt…
“Christ. He’s having a panic attack,” Stolly exclaimed.
“Catch him before he hits the ground,” Cormac bellowed.
Hands wrapped around my biceps and another laid on my back. “Breathe the air,” Maxim commanded. “In and out.”
Someone pounded my back, hard, causing me to cough.
“Easy, Naese. Don’t whack out his lung,” Cormac said.
“I’m helping,” Naese muttered.
“You good there, Cruiser?” Cormac bent down to peer in my face.
“No,” I growled. I rose and whirled. “How could you do this? She’s safe in San Francisco.” My fists clenched, unclenched, re-clenched again as rage and fear tussled in my veins.
