“You sure your coach won’t mind if we skate?”
“He’ll love getting to meet you.” I already texted Coach Simpson and asked permission. It made zero sense to me that this honest, hard-core guy was such a horrible father. While I wished Naomi had taken a chance on us, I understood why she didn’t. “I still can’t believe you’re here.”
“Well, the guys are stoked that you’re coaching. I’m not the only one who’d play for you, Michael.” Jonah’s intense eye contact might’ve put some people off, but I knew what it meant—that he was serious. He adjusted the strings on his hoodie as my sister stood at the open door, not moving or saying anything.
“Ry, what are you doing?” The cold air blew in, and while we were supposed to head to the rink, we weren’t in a hurry. I had nothing to do on weekends besides hockey, and we’d already played last night.
“Uh, someone’s here to see you.”
“Cal?” I said, taking a few steps toward the door and glancing over my sister’s shoulder. I frowned. Cal wouldn’t be here. He had plans with Dan. Then who could it…shit.
Naomi was outside my place wearing a large sweatshirt and beanie, looking terrified. Her cheeks were pink, her eyes wide, and she clasped her hands in front of her stomach. Her knuckles were white, and my instinct was to take her fingers and give them warmth. Her beautiful face had dark circles under her eyes, and there was evidence she’d recently cried.
God, I wanted to hug her, but that moment passed. It wasn’t my job to comfort her, not after she broke my heart. A few beats of silence passed between us, the sound of cars the only thing audible besides the rush of my pulse in my ears.Say something.
“Why are you here?” I asked, my voice gruff and deep like I hadn’t slept great. Which, I hadn’t.
“You’re busy.” She blinked a lot and took a step away. “I can… come back?”
Ry put a hand on my arm and squeezed. “We can keep ourselves entertained for a while if you need space, Michael.”
“No. Naomi’s running away again anyway,” I said, my eye twitching at her slumped shoulders. For one second, I thought… maybe she was here because she missed me. Or realized we were amazing together. But if that were true, she wouldn’t be trying to leave the first chance she had.
“I’m notrunningaway. You have a visitor,” she fired back, the redness in her cheeks growing toward her neck. I loved her blush, and I made a fist at my side.
I opened my mouth to say something when she interrupted. “You miss your sister like crazy, and she’s here, obviously far from home. You deserve to spend time with her. We can talk later.”
Whoa.Ilikedthat fire brewing behind her eyes. The girl afraid of confrontation had grown some courage.
Ryann narrowed her eyes at Naomi and pursed her lips. “Jonah and I are going to grab food. We need real sustenance after that road trip. Maybe you’ll be here when we get back, maybe not. If you are… well, I hope we can get to know each other.”
My damn sister walked past Naomi, stopping a few feet away and looking back up as Jonah followed. The guy didn’t even glance my way before putting his arm around Ryann and walking on the sidewalk.
That left Naomi and I here, and I was nervous.
“Can I come in?” she asked, her voice small and lacking her usual zest. I missed thatN-energyand her jokes and her anecdotes about data and murder shows.
“Right, yeah.” I moved out of the way as she headed inside my place. I was confused that she was still here and not running. Maybe it was the fire I saw in her eyes. Either way, I was glad she was here even if it was for a short time. Her familiar scent filled me with an aggressive longing for home. I ran my hand through my hair as she paced the living room. Everything about her was fucking cute. Her orange Chucks, her little steps, the way she held her hands behind her back. I guess being in love made me a little insane. “Stop pacing, Naomi. Why are you here?”
“Confrontation is really tough for me.”
“I know,” I said, my voice softening just a bit. It hardened though when I asked, “Are you planning on yelling at me?”
“No. No, Michael.” She stilled and looked at me withlovein her big brown eyes, I got that weightless feeling of hope again.
I wanted to grip that feeling, but I held off. Naomi had hurt me. I cleared my throat and waited her out. Yes, I’d stopped us from being friends because it was too painful. Wait—was that why she was here? To push for friendship again? Fuck. I wasn’t sure I could do that. My pulse raced, and my stomach felt like it was filled with rocks as I raised a hand. “Look, if you’re here about ending our friendship—”
“I love you, you wonderful, gentle man. I fucking love you, and I messed up, and I had this entire speech planned out, and my brain went to shit,” she said, blurring the words together so it came out in one breath. Her face went fire engine red, and she tossed her hands up in the air. I was stunned, unable to move, speak, or breathe.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I was too scared. I’m sorry I let my issues with my dad interfere with us. Am I too late? Do you hate me now? If you do, I get it. Maybe we can be friends again? I don’t know, I just… I want to hold you and see how you’re doing. I want to watch hockey just so I can talk to you about it. I never want you to feel alone again because you’re not. I’ll be your person, and you can be mine.” She sniffed, and tears rolled down her cheeks.
My brain went in overtime to digest all her words. She said a lot, but the biggest thing that stuck out was that she loved me. She fucking loved me. “You love me?” I asked, needing to hear it again to be sure.
She nodded and bit her bottom lip. “It snuck up on me in the best way. But I do. I love you, Michael Reiner.”
She walked up to me, nervously, and cupped my face with her small hands. My limbs went into shock because I couldn’t move. I wanted to tell her I felt the same way and kiss her, but nothing happened. I remained still, like a cardboard cutout.
She traced her soft padded fingers over my cheeks, lips, and rested her hands on my shoulders. “Before you say anything, I went to my dad. I confronted him abouteverything.It scared the shit out of me. I yelled. I cussed. The old me never would’ve done that. Ever. I would’ve lived my life secretly hating him and wondering why I wasn’t enough.”
