“He’s lying.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.” Landon’s voice hardened, and he glared at me. “Men like him don’t give things away. They collect.”
I crossed my arms. “I want you to think about how this helps you, Landon.”
“I’m talking about what this does to you.” He took a breath, then another, steadying himself. “This isn’t jealousy or pride, or whatever. It’s not about us, and I don’t care what it costs me.”
“You think you don’t care.”
“No, I know.” His certainty anchored in his gaze as it poured into mine. “I’ve worked my entire life for this. You think I don’t know what I’m risking?”
“Then why won’t you let me fix it?”
“Because it’s not worth losing you.” His voice cracked on the last word, then recovered. “You’re not a bargaining chip, Nicole. And you don’t go back to someone who treats you like one.”
I stepped closer. “You’d really turn it down?”
“Yes.”
“Even if it means—?”
“Yes.”
I swallowed. “What if this ruins your whole career? You’re so young. You have a lifetime of—”
His hands suddenly came up to grip my shoulders firmly, with a little shake that forced me to look at him and nothing else. The room went quiet in a way that pressed against my ears. Landon stared at me, something raw crossing his face before he could stop it.
“I’d rather never touch the ice again than watch you walk back into his life.” His voice shook now, not with anger but with something deeper, heavier. “I won’t do it. I won’t be the reason you make yourself smaller just so I can skate.”
My throat burned. “Landon—”
“I mean it. More than I’ve ever meant anything in my life. You have to see that.” He reached for my hands, holding them between us. “He’s dangerous. I don’t care how charming he sounded at lunch. I don’t care what promises he made. He hurts people. I won’t let him hurt you again.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“I know.” His thumbs pressed into my palms. “But I get to tell you that I couldn’t live with it. Not for hockey. Not for anything.”
The weight of his words settled over me, slow and inescapable. He wasn’t posturing. He wasn’t trying to win. This was him, stripped down to the truth he didn’t usually say out loud.
I thought about what hockey meant to him, and fear squeezed at the edges of my heart. It was his life…
And still, he stood here telling me he’d walk away from it.
I nodded once. “Okay.”
His shoulders sagged, relief washing through him so clearly it hurt to see. He pulled me into his arms, holding me close, careful and certain.
I rested my cheek against his chest, listening to his heartbeat steady beneath my ear. The answer I hadn’t been looking for clicked into place anyway.
This wasn’t a crush. It hadn’t been for a long time. And the way he chose me, without hesitation, without calculation, told me more than any declaration ever could.
24
Landon
Mason handed me a bundle of tent poles wrapped in canvas and said, “I hope you don’t mind that I snore.”
