“Good.” I forced myself to smile. “That’s another one checked off the list.”
The list. The whole reason she’d even looked at me as more than her brother’s best friend in the first place.
Because she knew I was safe. I was the guy who’d never get attached.
And for damn good reason.
I needed to remember that.
Of all people, I couldn’t break Ava’s heart. I’d never survive doing that to her.
We got dressed in silence, and not quite the comfortable kind like it had always been between us. I turned off all the candles and grabbed the evidence of our time here before walking with her to the barn door. She paused before opening it, turning back to look at me, and this time I didn’t look away.
I’d been right. Her eyes saw too much. It was clear as day that she knew something was off. Her gaze was filled with a mix of curiosity and guardedness.
“Liam?”
“Yeah?”
For a second, I thought she was going to ask about what I’d said.You’re only mine, Aves.I braced myself for thequestion, for having to explain something I didn’t understand myself.
But she just shook her head. “Nothing. I’ll see you later?”
“Yeah.” The relief that flooded through me was sharp and bitter. “Later.”
She headed toward the house while I walked to my truck, my mind a goddamn mess and my senses fucked-up from the lingering scent of her vanilla and cinnamon perfume and sex.
I’d wanted control. That was why I’d suggested tonight. To feel like I was the one driving this thing, the one calling the shots, and the one who could walk away whenever I wanted without leaving pieces of myself behind.
But standing here alone, I didn’t feel in control at all.
I felt like I was falling. And the ground was nowhere in sight.
TWENTY-SEVEN
I was mid-demonstration—showing Elias how to keep his top hand loose on a wrist shot—when another kid said, “Holy crap, it’s Drew Dumontier!”
All our heads swiveled toward where he was pointing, watching Drew step onto the ice in his skates followed by Foster and Gordy.
Chaos ensued. Every kid abandoned their positions around me and swarmed the guys.
Drew grinned, clearly loving every second of it. “Heard Coach Liam needed some backup.”
“Interrupting my lesson wasn’t exactly what I had in mind when I said you could stop by any time,” I said, skating over to them and fighting a smile. “What are you guys doing here?” I asked Foster and Gordy because while Drew knew I was doing this camp this summer, I hadn’t told the other two.
“Gordy’s in town for a few days,” Drew said. “And Foster was free today, so I thought it’d be fun if we swung by, helped out a little, and showed these kids some of the best skating in Montana.”
The way every kid was staring up at them like they were literal celebrities told me these kids didn’t mind the interruption one bit. I’d known they were CFU hockey fans, but clearly I’d underestimated their love of our team.
“I called you,” Gordy said. “You just didn’t answer your phone.”
I hadn’t answered my phone for a lot of people lately.
“I thought you’d be at your grandpa’s ranch most of the summer.”
While Gordy’s family was from the East Coast, his grandpa lived on a small ranch in Big Sky, and Gordy preferred his time there over spending time with his parents.
“I was, but when Drew mentioned coming to see you coach, I couldn’t pass it up.”
