You deserve someone who can carry your burdens for you, who can tell when you’re in your head too much and coaxes you out, and can step in at the café so you can have some time off. Someone who can devote their life to worshiping you the way you should be. And that person can’t be me. Not while I’m still under contract with the Vultures.
I hope there will be a moment where the stars align for us. Know that for the rest of my days, my heart only belongs to you.
Yours forever,
Cole
I stare at the letter clutched like a lifeline in my hands, the words a blur as they race through my mind. This box, the entire stack…are they all love letters?
All this time. All these years of thinking he didn’t see me like that, of throwing myself into relationships to try and get over him. He’d been right there. Watching from the sidelines, wishing to be mine.
I fall backwards onto the floor, waiting for the room to stop spinning.
What the hell am I going to do?
I can’t confront him on it, not without admitting I snooped through his things. Yet it feels impossible to go back to how things were between us when we woke up this morning, let alone like we were before the storm hit.
Know that for the rest of my days, my heart belongs to you,he’d written. How can I come back from that?
I slip the phone from my pocket and pull up the recording of his live last night, pressing play on his confession over and over. I knew he wasn’t that good an actor; growing up, he couldn’t lie to save his life. Maybe it was naive of me to think that changed.
My finger strays to the comments, scrolling through dozens of messages from shocked puck bunnies and bitter sports fans alike. But something tells me to keep scrolling, again and again, until I see them.
The comments from his teammates.
HRHRhys:Man I really hope she didn’t break your heart there. It’s bad enough to hear you whining about being in love with her, can’t imagine this whining would be any better
Jace4Ace98:congratulations to the happy couple! #Jace4BestMan
AidenKMac:FUCKING F I N A L L Y
DudeKai21:So you finally took my advice and decided to go for it with Noelle. HAPPY BONING
My finger stills, staring at those comments for far too long. Were they in on the joke? I don’t think so, as I hadn’t seen him on his phone once that day.
He can’t expect me to believe he talked about me to his teammates as anything more than his friend from back home. I might not be an athlete, but I know locker room talk, and it’s never crushes or full relationships they discuss.
None of this makes any sense. What am I supposed to do with this?
I better figure it out, fast. Cole will be home soon and I can’t let him even suspect that I know. Without a plan, that would not end well.
Everything I’ve ever wanted lies in the palm of my hand, I just have to be brave enough to take it.
I’m not sure that I am.
Chapter sixteen
Cole
Thestormhaspickedup in earnest by the time I get home, thick clumps of snow sticking to my coat.
It’s a good thing I’ve kept up with the exercises doctor Williams gave me, as hauling Noelle’s stuff through the snow is a workout not even coach Swan could dream up. It was worth it, I know it is. But I’m not nearly healed up enough for any of it to have been a good idea.
My knee is absolutely killing me, the pain radiating both down to my foot and up into my hip, which in turn aggravates my bad back. Maybe Coach Mallard was right. Maybe I should cut my losses and retire, for my body’s sake.
Could I handle returning to Sleighbell Springs for good? I would be able to see Noelle whenever I want, which is the dream. I would get to see her whenever I want, maybe restart our movie night tradition. Things would be like they were before I left—with me by her side, always.
But I’d also be here when she starts dating again. I’d have to watch her kiss them, know they’re touching her when the lightsgo low. Know they are the one to see her wake up and kiss her goodnight. I want to cry at the thought.
