Page 89 of Heartless As Puck

That was something I had to take charge of myself.

I spotted movement out of the corner of my eye. Austin had emerged and was striding toward us, his piercing blue eyes laser focused on me. A shiver rippled down my spine. Being the subject of all that intensity was heady. I took a couple of steps toward him, then picked up the pace and launched myself into his arms.

“You won!” I exclaimed.

He wrapped his arms around me and drew me close. “We did.”

“You got a goal and an assist!”

“I did.” He buried his face in my hair and breathed me in. “Did you cheer for me?”

“Of course.”

He drew back, a wry smile on his lips. “I wasn’t sure, what with your brother here and all.”

“She cheered for both of you,” Mom assured him.

“Traitor,” Alec muttered as he hurried away to catch up with his team.

“Hey, lovebirds,” Jesse called from down the corridor. “Are you coming to Rinkside?”

I froze, the warmth inside vanishing like I’d been tossed into a freezer. Yes, I’d gotten through the interview better than I could have dreamed, and I’d enjoyed myself at the game, but I was exhausted. I didn’t have the energy to go to the bar.

Austin kissed my cheek and paused to speak right next to my ear, so no one else could listen in. “I’ll go. I’m the captain, so I kind of have to, especially considering we’ve been in hot water with team management. But you should head home and spend the evening with your parents. You’ve already been brave enough tonight.”

I hesitated, torn. On the one hand, that sounded like a really great idea, but on the other, I didn’t want to let him down, and we still hadn’t discussed how he’d discarded his notes and gone off course during the interview.

“I want to be there for you,” I murmured.

A series of expressions flicked across his face so quickly I couldn’t interpret any of them.

“Screw the team,” he whispered fiercely. “I’ll come home with you. You need me more.”

“No.” I put my hand on his chest. Butterflies were dancing in my stomach. I loved that he wanted to be with me, but that wasn’t the right thing to do, no matter how much I wanted to be with him privately. “You’re the captain. You need to go, like you said.”

He nuzzled me. “I need to be with you, too.”

“And you will. Later.” I gave him a little push. “Go.”

He kissed me, his lips a little chapped after the game. “Are you sure?”

“Mom and Dad are with me. I’ll be fine.”

He held my gaze, and I felt my cheeks heat. It was as if he were looking into my soul.

“Okay,” he said eventually. “I won’t be too long.”

He kissed me once more and went to join Jesse. I watched him go but noticed as I did that another pair of women were watching him too. The way their eyes tracked downward to rest on his ass, I knew they liked what they saw.

A knot tightened in my gut. I didn’t have to worry about other women, did I? We might not have said the words, but we were together.

The women followed the team out. I tried to suppress my growing discomfort. Everything would be fine. I could trust Austin to behave. He cared about me.

But I’d be so much less worried if we’d resolved things between us. A sinking feeling inside me suggested it had been a mistake to take the easy way out. I hoped that feeling was wrong.

TWENTY-FIVE

AUSTIN