His jaw tightened. “Don’t.”
“Snark is a reflex.”
“Last night meant something.” His voice was quieter now. “At least to me.”
A guilty twinge pulled at my chest.
“We’re leaving again tomorrow,” he continued. “Jersey, then Philly. Are we good?”
“I wouldn’t leave Aspen hanging.” I picked at a loose thread on my glove. “I have a friend coming to town tonight. She’s here til Sunday.”
“I’ll be back Friday.” He paused and I could feel him doing the math. Three days. Maybe Sabrina could talk some sense into me in the three days while he was gone. Or at least help me figure out what the fuck I was doing. “She can stay at my place with you or you can take Aspen to yours if Avery cleared it with your landlord?”
“I forgot to have him check.” I finally looked at Derek again. He was watching me with that patient expression, the one that made me feel seen in ways I didn’t want to be. “It’s fine. She’s flexible.”
“Okay.” He didn’t move. “Théo—”
“You’re going to be late for weight training.”
He exhaled slowly. “Right.” He took a step back, then stopped. “I meant what I said. In those messages. All of it.”
“I know you did.” That was the problem. “Go lift heavy things, Sully. We’ll talk when you get back.”
He wrinkled his nose at the nickname his teammates used all the time. Then he nodded once and turned toward the exit.
I watched him go, my heart doing that fluttery thing behind my ribs. Probably permanent damage to my heart from all that Adderall.
Sabrina would be here in eight hours. I had three days to figure out whether I was going to keep running or finally let someone catch me.
The ice was waiting. I pushed off and threw myself into a triple axel, and for a few seconds, I didn’t have to think about anything at all.
???
Sabrina was easy to spot.
She was wearing denim cutoffs and a neon pink tank top that clashed spectacularly with her fiery red hair, pulling a giant silver suitcase behind her like she was heading to a photo shoot instead of arriving from a two hour flight that had been delayed an hour. The moment she saw me, her face split into a grin and she flung herself into my arms.
I caught her with a huff of air, staggering back a step. She was small but deceptively solid, all compact muscle from years of skating. “Oof, watch my ribs,” I muttered into her hair.
“Shut up, you love it.”
I did. Not that I’d ever admit it out loud.
I took the suitcase and walked her to the car double parked on the curb. She let out a low whistle when she saw it.
“So this is Avery’s babemobile?”
“Ugh, I would hope women have better taste than that.”
“It’s as horrible as you described.” She circled it slowly, taking in the teal rims and the ridiculous custom plate. “He doesn’t need a cool car though. The tattoos and muscles probably get him laid plenty.”
“Gross, Sabrina. Don’t thirst after my brother.”
“Never.” She clutched her chest in mock horror. “That’s downright incestuous.”
I loaded her suitcase into the back and we climbed in. The Jeep roared to life with the subtlety of a freight train and I merged into the chaos of O’Hare traffic.
“How was your flight?”
