The distance I can handle. Hell, I’m built for it. Road trips, hotels, time zones, weeks that run together. It’s the hidingthat’s killing me. The way it’s turned the best thing that’s ever happened to me into a dirty secret.
Vanessa’s brows pinch together, but I don’t explain further. Instead, I tell her, “It all worked out for the best. We’re both where we’re supposed to be.”
Well, I will be, as soon as I find Summer.
I pull out my phone, but still nothing. “Hey, you haven’t seen Summer, have you? Or Cash Walker? They sang the anthems.”
“Oh, yeah, such a cute couple.”
I press my tongue against the back of my teeth.
“They’re in Harold’s office—oh, there they are.” Her gaze darts over my shoulder.
I turn. Summer’s twenty feet away. Cash is beside her, a hand on her elbow, talking low. She laughs at whatever he said, head tipping back.
The sound carries down the hall and fills a space in my chest that’s been empty since she left.
Fuck. I missed that. Missedher.
She stops, and our eyes meet.
Then her gaze flicks to Vanessa. To the little girl in David’s arms.
When her eyes return to me, her smile is so bright, it hurts.
I close the distance between us in three strides.
FORTY-FOUR
Miles comestoward me fast enough that my body responds before my brain does. I want to leap into his arms, wrap my legs around his waist. Cling to him like a spider monkey.
His face is still flushed from the game. Hair damp at the edges. Eyes bright in that way they are when he wears contacts.
For one stupid second, I think he’s going to do it. Sweep me up. Spin me. Make a scene so big even the cameras can’t edit it into something “friendly.”
I step into it, already rising onto my toes.
Miles opens his arms.
And then he… stops.
Just freezes.
Like he hit an invisible wall.
His gaze flicks past my shoulder, and I feel it, too. The hallway isn’t empty. The crew from our interview is lingering, packing up gear.
His arms stay out for a beat too long, hanging there as his jaw works. He swallows, eyes dropping back to mine.
“Well, c’mon, get over here!” Cash comes up from behind me and pulls Miles into an exaggerated hug. “Congrats on the win, Hockey Boy.”
Cash eases back, arches a brow at me, and tips his head like,go on. I could kiss him. But I definitely won’t.
I practically fling myself at Miles. One of his arms bands tight around my waist, and the other cups the back of my head.
“Okay, this looks anything but friendly,” Cash huffs under his breath.
Miles slides his hand from my head to my upper back, but I keep both arms locked around his middle.
