Minutes later, I’m suited up and heading out. The cold air hits, noise surrounding me.
And then, her presence catches my attention.
She’s a tiny whirlwind in my jersey, skates cutting the ice as she runs drills. The cold fog curls the ends of her hair. It’scomical and perfect, and the flush in her cheeks from working hard makes her look ridiculously adorable.
Coach Avery appears beside me, clipboard in hand.
“She’s lasted longer than I thought.”
I look at the sheet of bets.
The motherfuckers.
These guys are millionaires, and they bet literal dollars.
Cheap bastards.
I push off the boards and glide over to Erin. The guys part for me, grinning like the traitors they are. She reaches the last cone, does a little shimmy, and turns. When she spots me, her whole face lights up. My skates nearly slip out from under me.
She’s beautiful.
I circle her, my eyes never straying as all my frustration fades away.
She giggles. “Looking solid, Eighty-Seven. I was worried for a second that I’d need a new favorite to watch.”
I scoop her up and glide across the ice to the boards, setting her gently on the ledge, hands braced on either side of her.
“I’m sorry I’ve been smothering you,” I say quietly, “but jumping out of the window was a little extreme.”
“I know it was dumb.”
“Then why’d you do it, baby?”
“You’ve been taking care of me since before my mother showed up. After everything happened, you’ve been watching me twenty-four seven. I don’t even think you sleep.”
I try to stop my lips from curving up.
It’s hopeless.
“I like watching you.”
Her lips twitch.
“You could have just told me it was too much. I’d listen. I’ll always listen to what you have to say, sweetheart, and I’ll always hear you.”
“I didn’t know how to say it without sounding ungrateful,” she whispers. “I thought I could show you. Last night when I tried to cook you dinner, you threw me over your shoulder and sat me on the sofa caveman style. Any other time—hot. But it made me feel pathetic.”
“Baby, nothing about you is pathetic,” I murmur
“We can’t put our lives on hold because of a bullet.”
I kiss her forehead because she’s right.
“These last few weeks of waking up with you, eating dinner together, and falling asleep next to you… It’s felt amazing.Right. I didn’t want it to end.”
“It’s not going to end, Chase. I’m right here.”
A jolt of electricity lights up my body.
