“You can’t tell Matt or Gemma or any of your little hockey friends.”
Little hockey friends? She can’t be serious. Her brother is a giant in a game of giants.
“I won’t say anything, Finley. You can trust me.”
She scoffs. “I don’t even know you.”
“You know me a little.”
Finley rolls her eyes, dismissing the night I can’t forget as if it were nothing. “I’d feel better if we come to an agreement to make sure.”
Those words shouldn’t sting, but they do. I’m drawn to her. I’d trust her with a secret without hesitation. She watched over me while I slept and recovered from my concussion. I thought it meant she connected with me too. Apparently, she did it out of obligation.
“What do you want?” Finley asks.
“Want?” I repeat.
Evidently around Finley, I word vomit multiple sentences or croak out short phrases.
She clarifies. “From me. There’s gotta be a way I can repay you for lying to my brother. I know I’m putting you in a bad position.”
I shake my head. “I don’t—”
“Zach. What. Do. You. Want?”
As she pouts at me and cocks a hip to the side, all I can think about is kissing her. I want to spend time with her, get to know her. I want her to give me a chance. I shove those desires downbecause it doesn’t matter what I want. Finley is off-limits and she isn’t interested in me.
When I hesitate again, she says, “We’re not going inside until you tell me.”
“Keep bringing me here?” I blurt.
“That’s all you want?”
“You remember I told you about my sister? She’s worried about me after that hit and how I’ll handle being away from hockey. She already thinks I’m lonely so far away from my family, but I’m usually with the team during the season. Now though…”
Her arms drop from her chest and her voice falls an octave. “Are you?”
“Sometimes,” I admit, swallowing hard.
She doesn’t say anything, only stares.
I bite the inside of my lip to stop myself from word vomiting anything else. Not that I can make myself look any less stupid in her eyes.
“I get that,” she says finally. “I promise you’ll get bored here, watching me do the same routines over and over.”
As if I could ever tire of watching you.
“Yousurethat’s all you want?” she repeats the question.
It’s not, of course, but it’s all I can ask for. It’ll have to be enough. “It’s better than sitting at home alone,” I say instead.
She holds her hand out. “Fine, but if you change your mind because you’re bored, you still have to keep my secret, okay? We have a deal?”
I take her hand, flashing back to last night when I held it embarrassingly tight after she found me on the kitchen floor. Her hand in mine brought me safety, and I needed it. She needs to know she can trust me too.
“Deal.”
The quiet, empty gym reminds me of the rink when Volk and I practice early.
