Page 116 of Off The Ice

She had asked me as if I ever would. As if I was even capable of that, now that my heart belonged solely to Cassie.

I wouldneverhurt her. I knew that. But I could go one further. I wouldn’t let anything else fucking hurt her, either.

Never again.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Cassie

For a minute, I was in heaven.

There was an arm wrapped snugly around my waist, a warmth radiating from the body next to mine, and a feeling of utter security that I leaned into in the early moments of waking up.

But then I realized.

Dave and I had broken up. And he’d never smelled like clean winter air or felt like safety, not like this.

My eyes shot open, seeing that it was Liam’s bed I was in, and his arm slung over me.

And then the humiliation hit.

I’d told himeverything.

Things I’d never even told Dave. Why had I done it?Because Liam had asked.

And some part of me had trusted him.

But now, the same fear crept back in. He wasn’t permanent. He was going to leave. I had shown him too much, and it was going to overwhelm him, and I’d lose the only good thing going on in my life.

But here he was beside me.

For now.

But last night… his hands had been on me, my body curled around him. He held me and let me cry on him and let me fall asleep in his bed.

That had to mean something, didn’t it?

My phone buzzed by the bed and I scrambled away, leaving the room. I wasn’t ready to deal with waking up Liam and seeing any regret on his face over the intimacy of last night.

Maybe he had just comforted a girl who he knew was an emotional trainwreck, and that was all there was to it. I didn’t know for sure, and I wasn’t ready to find out.

In the living room, I looked down at my phone. Maggie had texted, asking if I wanted to grab a coffee. Relief washed over me, grateful for the opportunity to escape a morning filled with awkward conversation with Liam about how I’d dumped an entire life’s worth of trauma on him.

Get ready. Be there soon.

Maggie Brynn was probably the prettiest girl I’d ever seen. The type of girl whose hair always shined, skin always glowed, and makeup was somehow effortlessly perfect, no matter what.

But lately, she was radiant. And I think it had something to do with the new hockey boy that she was dating.

She looked happy and healthy and… in love.

And I wasn’t going to put a damper on that by talking about my same old issues that never seemed to go anywhere.

So, when she asked about my mom, I tried to give her the briefest rundown, if only so I didn’t have to dwell on it either.

“It’s the same old thing.” I sighed. “She’ll probably be out in a few days, then right back in the hospital in a few months.”

“I’m sorry, Cass,” she said, green eyes welling up with sympathy, the same way her brother’s had last night. “It sucks.”

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