He wanted this.
Traitor.
“I’m not hungry anymore,” I whispered to Roxie. Her hand went to my thigh, giving it a squeeze and not letting go.
“Do you want to leave now?”
“No,” I said. Fuck that. I refused to leave somewhere or change what I was doing because of this man.
As dinner wore on, the tension rose. Every bite that I took was forced and I never let my eyes go to him. Not once for the rest of the meal.
But I could feel his stare. I never agreed or disagreed to talk to him after.
The dining room slowly started to empty out, the other hockey players making plans to do some sort of fire outside or hang out in the lounge.
Finally, my gaze flickered up to meet his because he was absolutely staring at me.
Greer had an array of plates in front of him. Every single course we’d been given tonight sat untouched.
“You’re going to be starving later.” I don’t know why I said it, but they were the words that tumbled from my lips.
“Good.”
That was all he said, as if punishing himself was the only answer here.
Why did that make me so sick?
“Are you going to talk to him?” Roxie whispered, leaning so close that her warm breath fanned against my ear.
I shivered, but I breathed in her scent, letting it calm me.
“Yes, but will you come?”
“Of course.” She paused and turned to Greer. “Just for the record since you don’t know me very well yet this is obviously not going to be part of any articles. It’s personal.”
He nodded, the movement strained.
“I have to walk my dog. Do you want to come with me? They have a really nice walking path around the grounds.”
“You have a dog?” I questioned. I’d begged him to let us adopt one for months but he always had a reason why it wasn’t a good idea.
“Yeah. I adopted him a few weeks ago from a shelter down in North Crossing.”
He stood up and then walked over and waited by the door for us to catch up. Roxie stopped me halfway there, her hand on my elbow, firm enough to make me look at her.
Her hand was warm against my cheek as she rested it there, her eyes full of concern.
“You don’t have to do this.” She looked torn and now that I know they’re mates, I owe it to her to try.
“I think I need to do this, Rox.”
“Alright,” she said. “I just wanted to make sure.”
“Wait,” I said, stopping us again before we reached him. “Why didn’t you tell me you scent-matched him?”
“Because I was having an inner mental breakdown earlier today,” she admitted, letting out a hollow laugh. “It happened right after Coach Hayes. When I was over in the chair, his dog jumped on top of me. He was super conflicted and trying not to show it. Then we were late, which was why I said I wanted to talk later.”
“It’s been insane, hasn’t it?” I admitted. This wasn’t easy on her and today had been pure chaos. And it wasn’t over yet.
