Page 56 of My Best Bet

“Yeah, well, I’m not too crazy about it either,” she said softly.

“That I make you nervous, Mer,” I clarified. “I hate that I’m the reason.”

“You’re not,” she answered too quickly.

I arched a skeptical eyebrow.

“You’re not,” she said, doubling-down.

I took a step closer, right into her personal space. Her body went taut with tension as she watched me with those clear eyes of hers. I waited for her to back away. When she didn’t, I moved the curtain of dark hair off her shoulder and pulled down her scarf. Red and blotchy, just like I thought. “Mmhmm.”

She rolled her eyes. A second later, she was trying to side-step me.

My heart pounded in my chest as I stepped in her way. I needed her to stay. We needed to talk.

“JP says we should scream at each other,” I said abruptly.

Her light eyes flicked to mine. “Do youwantto scream at me?”

We were facing each other in a rink locker room hallway, hundreds of miles and years away from the one we first met in.

“I don’t know,” I admitted.

“Ishould scream atyou,” she said, then immediately buttoned up and looked away.

I smirked, amused that she was showing so much emotion here in the rink, because I knew she hated it. “Why’s that?”

“Not what that’s for, Bennett,” she mocked me– totally breaking her professional facade. Then she straightened up and shook her head. “Sorry, I shouldn't have said that. It doesn’t matter.”

“I think it does,” I said with a wry chuckle. “Maybe I wanted to fight. I was surprised you didn’t. It’s not like you to back down like that.”

“It’s not?” The way she was looking at me, probing for an answer, it was like she was seriously wondering.

“Not like… the you I knew.”

She nodded and released a shaky breath. “Yeah well, maybe I haven’t been her for a long time.”

“Maybe I miss her.” The words popped out of me automatically, but I didn’t regret them.

She stared at me for a second, then she shook her head. “I can’t do this.”

She turned to leave, but I knew I couldn’t let her. We couldn’t leave it like this between us. That tightrope we were walking just snapped and there was no going back.

“Don’t just walk away, Mer, please. We need to talk.”

“I know,” she said warily. She pushed through into the warm lobby. “I just… I need to sit down.”

She plopped on one of the benches and started rubbing out her knee. Her eyes closed and her delicate jaw hardened, like she was gritting her teeth to bear the pain. Guilt lanced through me. I should’ve known she was hurting. She was trying to take fucking painkillers when I found her.

“It still hurts you?” I asked.

“No,” she grunted.

I snorted. It was just such a Mer response that I couldn’t help it. I silently sat down beside her, giving her space to talk, hoping she would. That’s how it always worked between us when we were younger– if I waited her out long enough, she’d eventually spill her thoughts.

“It’s just been acting up since I’ve been coaching,” she said. “I think I’m getting too cold in the rink from not moving enough.”

“You should go in if it’s hurting. There are probably things you could do.”

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