She sniffed. “In the parking garage of Thad’s apartment building.”
Right. As I’d expected. The jerk had fucked up.
“Are you driving?”
“N-no. I’m still parked.”
“Good. Don’t move. I’m coming to get you.”
“Are you sure?” Her voice was small. Hesitant. “I don’t want to be a nuisance.”
My teeth ground together. I hated the sound of her uncertainty. I’d always been there for her in the past and always would be in the future. She should know that—no questions asked. It was his fault she had doubts.
“Yeah,” I replied. “Stay right where you are. I’ll be there soon.”
“Okay,” she whispered. “Thank you.”
“No problem.” I ended the call and exhaled roughly, forcing my fingers to uncurl from around the phone before I crushed it.
“Everything okay?”
I glanced up, surprised to find Seth Dexter, one of my teammates on the Colorado Dragons NHL team, standing in front of me, his brow scrunched with concern.
I sighed. “Something has upset Tally. Do you think you could have some pad thai from Siam Palace delivered to her apartment? I need to go and pick her up before she decides to drive herself home when she’s clearly not in a good headspace to be behind the wheel.”
“Sure.” He withdrew his phone from his pocket, already opening a food delivery app. “Anything for you?”
“Whatever’s easiest. I’m not fussy.” I slapped his shoulder. “Thanks, man.”
“No problem. Go get your girl.”
I grimaced as I hefted my bag back over my shoulder and rushed toward the exit. My teammates were always calling Tally that. “My girl.” Never mind the fact we’d only ever been friends. She was the most important person in my life besides my parents and sister, so to them, that made her mine.
I didn’t hate it, but I always felt uncomfortable when they used that phrase around her. I didn’t want her to think I was lying about our relationship status.
The parking lot of our stadium, The Lair, was nearly empty. My Jeep was right near the door, so I clicked the fob to unlock it, dumped my gear in the back, and jumped into the front within a matter of seconds.
I drove as quickly as I dared to Thad’s apartment building. I couldn’t risk getting pulled over for speeding but I didn’t want to risk Tally getting tired of waiting for me and deciding to just drive home herself either.
Once I’d entered the complex, I circled the lot until I spotted her small, silver hatchback and pulled into a parking spot opposite. By the time I got out of my car, she’d already climbed out of hers. She threw herself into my arms and buried her face in my chest.
I caught a quick glimpse of red-rimmed eyes and tear-stained cheeks before my arms wrapped around her and I held her close.
“Shh, it’s okay.” I rocked her back and forth. “You’re all right.”
The teams we played against would laugh themselves stupid if they ever saw what a softy I was with my best friend. To the rest of the world, I was an NHL legacy with a no-nonsense game face. But I didn’t have to be that guy when I was with Tally.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, repeating my earlier question.
She pulled back and shook her head, her lips pressed tightly together as she tried to gather herself.
“Okay. How about I get you home and then we can talk?” What I’d really like was to march upstairs and hand Thad’s ass to him for whatever he’d done to her, but that wasn’t what she needed just then.
She nodded.
“Do you want anything from your car?”
“Just my bag,” she rasped, her voice rough with emotion.
