Cammie shrugs. “Flip sets a pretty high bar, as far as being a nice guy who is also superhot goes.”
“I had a huge crush on him in high school,” I admit. It was probably fifty percent of the reason I did the internship with the Terror in grade twelve. The other half being my mom’s encouragement and the opportunity to spend time with my dad. “He’s always been so nice to me. Kind, thoughtful.” And last night he proved he’s a stand-up guy once again. He always shows up for the people he cares about, which is a hell of a lot more than I can say for my dad.
“He watched over you last night,” Cammie says.
“Because I’m the coach’s daughter.”
“He would have brought you to the apartment if that was the case,” Fee reasons.
I rub my temples. I don’t want to read into things. “I know what his reputation was, but I see a different side of him.” He’s grown so much since I did my internship with the Terror four years ago.
I’ve grown a lot too. I’m almost through university. I’m not a high school girl with a crush anymore. I’m an adult woman who sees the potential in him and wishes he could see the potential in me, too. Even back then, I crushed on the guy I knew off the ice.
“Maybe things could change with Flip,” Fee says. “Maybe you’re opening his eyes, too.”
CHAPTER 8
FLIP
“What the hell happened to your eye?” Dallas asks as we’re suiting up for practice.
“I missed a step coming down from my loft,” I lie.
He nods, like this totally makes sense. “Oh man, that’s a real design flaw.”
“Yeah,” I agree. The number of times I’ve almost fallen down that retractable ladder is unreal. I should consider replacing it with a spiral staircase.
Tristan glances at me, but he keeps his mouth shut and continues lacing his skates.
Not even for one second did I consider driving Tally back to her apartment last night. And that’s a huge fucking problem.
So was letting her sit in my lap. The fact that she felt right there is problem number three. Problem four is how fucking territorial I got over her when Quinn offered to drive her home. He’s a great guy. And Tally is right, he should have a girlfriend. But no way was I handing her over to him on a silver platter made of my rejection and her emotional turmoil.
Problem five is the churning worry thatwon’t allow my gut to settle. Tally is under a lot of stress; final exams, her parents getting a divorce, and her guilt over hurting my feelings. I’m a big boy, and it’s clear she didn’t mean it the way I took it, so the least I can do is make things less awkward when we’re with the group. She needs her Terror crew now more than ever.
Once we’re on the ice warming up our glutes and quads, Tristan digs in. “Want to tell me what really happened?”
“Not particularly.” Because then I have to take a closer look at my actions. Tally’s roommate, Fee, is responsible enough to have handled the situation. But Tally was a mess, emotionally and physically. I didn’t trust anyone else to make sure she was safe.And I wanted to be the one to take care of her.
Tristan raises a brow.
I ignore it and switch to an inner thigh stretch.
“You going to fill me in on the Tally situation?” he presses.
“I drove her home. End of story.” That lie is sharp and stupid.
“Dude.” He gives me his unimpressed Kermit face. “Your sister is mywife, and her best friend is the older sister of Tally’s best friend, and Fee is our coach’s sister. It’s six fucking degrees of separation everywhere you turn, so I already know you drove her homethis morning.”
“Nothing happened,” I snap.
“Of course nothing happened. You wouldnever. Maybe old Flip if she’d been sober, but that is not you now.”
I meet his gaze and guilt cuts through me, swift and painful. We’ve known each other forever, but I almost imploded our friendship when he first came to Toronto. He’s right. Every partner has been sober and willing, or so I believed. But I put Tristan in a position that left little room for his own feelings a couple of times, and I will forever regret that.
I don’t want to overshare. “I didn’t think she’d make it back to her apartment without hurling.”
“So you set her up in the spare room.”
