"Yes, I do." I close the distance between us until we're inches apart. "Piper, you're the first person in years who's made me want something besides hockey. You're smart and funny and you give moose attitude when they deserve it. You deleted your footage of my game the other night because you didn't want to post me as content. Do you know how rare that is? How much that meant?"
"It felt wrong. To post it."
"Exactly. Because you see me. Not the hockey captain everyone needs me to be, not the firefighter everyone expects, just—me. The guy who's terrible at expressing feelings and runs away when things get complicated." My hand finds her jaw, fingers settling against the warmth of her skin. "I know we had rules. Clear boundaries. Mutually beneficial arrangement. But nothing about how I feel about you is professional."
She leans into my touch, eyes fluttering closed for a second. When she opens them, there's something fierce there. "I'm falling in love with you. And I hate it, because loving you means I could lose you. To the NHL, to your career, to the whole world that wants a piece of Ryder Lockwood. And I've already been publicly heartbroken once. I don't know if I can survive it again."
The admission guts me. She's falling in love with me. Right now. As we stand here.
And she's right to be scared, because I'm falling too. Have been since she showed up next door and turned everything upside down.
"Two more games," I say, my voice rougher than I intend. "Let's keep the arrangement professional for two more games. No kissing, no sleepovers, no crossing lines. We show up together, we smile for the cameras, we give everyone the performance they expect."
"And after?" Her voice is barely above a whisper.
"After, we figure it out. Really figure it out. No more running, no more avoiding the conversation. We sit down and decide what we want this to be." I meet her eyes. "Because I'm falling for you too, Piper. Have been for a while now. And that terrifies me more than any scout ever could."
"You think we can fake it that convincingly? When we're standing here admitting we're falling for each other?"
My thumb drags across her lower lip. Her breath stutters. "I think if we don't try, I'm going to kiss you right now. And if I kiss you, I'm not stopping until we're back in bed, and then I'll be useless for the next game. So yeah, we're going to fake it. For two more games. And then?—"
"Then we'll deal with reality." She pulls back, just enough to break contact. The cold rushes in where she was. "Okay. Two more games. Professional arrangement."
"Just like we agreed in the beginning."
"Clear boundaries."
"Mutually beneficial."
We're both terrible liars.
She starts to step away, but my hand catches hers. "For the record, I'm already there. Where you're falling. I'm already there."
Her eyes go wide. "Ryder?—"
My phone buzzes in my pocket. Then again. And again. The kind of persistent buzzing that means either someone died or someone's about to if I don't answer.
I pull it out, glance at the screen. "It's my sister."
"Your sister?"
"Sage. She's—hold on." I answer. "Hey, what's?—"
"SURPRISE!" Sage's voice practically bursts through the speaker. "Guess who's coming to Alaska?"
No. No no no. Not now.
"Sage—"
"I land tomorrow at noon! I know, I know, you're shocked and thrilled and probably crying tears of joy?—"
"Sage, this really isn't a good?—"
"Don't even try to talk me out of it. I already booked the ticket, cleared it with your coach, and made sure the guys at the firehouse can pick me up if you're at practice. Also, Jax seems nice. Is he single? Never mind, I'll find out when I get there. See you tomorrow, big brother!"
She hangs up before I can form a coherent objection.
I stand there, phone in hand, watching my carefully constructed plan to keep things professional with Piper fall apart.
