I mirrored his stance and arched a brow. “I create scenarios that wouldn’t happen.”
“You daydream?” He laughed.
That chuckle caused my gut to tighten with embarrassment. I looked at the ground and focused on the crack in the tile. Daydreaming made me sound childish, stupid even. Like when I told my family I wanted to publish stories for a living.It’s a fun daydream, Elle, but you need a solid career.
My throat got tight, and I shrugged. “You know, maybe we could do this dinner another night.”
“Whoa, hey, what’s wrong?”
His voice was closer. His scent was stronger. His body radiated heat onto mine, and I put more distance between us and sat at the kitchen table. He sounded concerned, that was for sure. But it didn’t forgive the way his comments hurt people.
Okay pot, meet kettle.
“Never mind. So, you have a cousin.” I changed the subject, determined to get through this and then go back to only seeing him at the bar.
He followed my lead and sat across from me, his large fingers resting on top of the table. Those were firewood-cutting hands, big and capable andnot again.My mind needed to chill with Cal thoughts.
“Yeah.” He exhaled, and I studied the tension in his posture.
It’d be weird to find out if my uncle had a kid somewhere, to gain a cousin. The oven dinged, and I placed the pizza in there. “Are you excited?”
“Why would I be?”
Theangerin his tone had me turning around in shock at his answer. “Are you kidding? Charlie’s your uncle, right? You have acousin.”
His brow furrowed deeper. “She’s four and lives in Indiana. I’ll be going to the NHL soon on the West Coast. I’d see her maybe three times ever. No point to get enthusiastic.” He scratched the table with his nail, his posture so straight it looked painful.
“What the actual fuck, Cal? She’s family? I thought the rumors were exaggerated, but are you that heartless?”
He pushed back in the chair, the legs making an awful sound grinding on the floor before he faced me. “I should go. You’re right. Another night.”
Without looking at me, he walked out of my apartment, making me regret ever inviting him in. Cal and I might be co-workers for a few weeks, but that was it. Who was so unfeeling that they weren’t excited about having a cousin?
No friend of mine. That was for damn sure.
CHAPTER
FOUR
Cal
Ty had grown stronger. That was the only reason he almost beat me during drills. He must’ve doubled his workouts or protein intake because my competitive side flared when he shot me a grin.
“Slowing down, Cap.”
“Fuck off.” I shoved his shoulder, earning a loud laugh from him. Sweat fell down my temples, and my lungs burned. On the ice was where I felt most alive. Like my sole purpose on earth was the skate and to hit the puck in the opposite net. My heart raced from adrenaline after doing our push-up start sprints. They were something I saw in my deep dive YouTube nights, and I asked some of the guys still in town if they wanted to do them once a week in the summer. It started with Jenkins and Ty, and now eight of us met to do them.
Feelingproudwas a new thing to experience, but it was the only thing that made sense when I watched my teammates push themselves. We started on the ice in a push-up, then launchedup and exploded down the ice. We repeated it eight times, and by then we were all gassed.
“Push up, andgo!”I shouted. This was round six. Jenkins, Ty, Eddy, Paxton, Eric, Erik, and Brandon all jumped up and burst off the line. I still led everyone, but Ty kept inching closer. That was unacceptable. I panted and took my time skating back to the starting line. I’d allow us thirty seconds to catch our breath before doing another one.
“What happens if I beat you?” Eddy asked. The soon-to-be-sophomore had really large teeth and bright red hair. He’d transferred and clearly didn’t know the team dynamics.
“You won’t.”
“But what if I do?” he asked again, smirking.
“Then we get Holty here to do something dumb.” Jenkins skated up to us, breathing heavy and smiling. He was always fucking smiling.
