Page 68 of Off The Ice

“Yeah?” I asked, curious. “You want kids?”

“Of course.” She stared at me with those big blue eyes. “I’d have a whole bunch if I could. It’s all I ever wanted!”

I grinned at the idea of it. A bunch of little Cassie’s jumping around the place.

But then, all the excitement inside of her deflated like a balloon being popped right as it was expanding. Her eyes shifted, staring off into the distance.

“But who knows?” she said nonchalantly. “Maybe it’s not in the cards for me. At least I have my kiddos at school.”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” I asked, hating the way her bubbliness morphed into some weird, insincere masking of her excitement.

“I mean, it just depends on how life goes. The whole breakup kind of threw a wrench in all my plans. Who knows if I’ll meet someone who actually likes me enough to want all that with someone like me?”

Her words were like a bucket of ice water, freezing me in place.

How could she even think that? Did Dave really screw her up so badly that she thought she might never meet someone who likedher?Honestly, she’d have a harder time finding someone whodidn’tabsolutely fall for her the moment they met her.

I could’ve told her all of that. I wanted to. But I was stuck on something else she’d said.

“What do you mean, someone like you?”

“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m kind of a lot.” She laughed, trying to pass it off as a joke, as if I couldn’t see beneath the surface of it. “Too much for most people.” She shrugged.

“What the hell does that mean? ‘Too much?’”

“I’m overly emotional.” She held out a finger, preparing to count out her flaws to me. “I get too loud when I’m excited. I get excited too often. I’m kind of clingy—” She paused. “And the list goes on.”

“Are you serious right now?” I stared at her in disbelief.

She laughed as if about to brush it off once more, but I wasn’t about to let her get away with that. Not this time.

“Cassie,” I said intently, staring into huge blue eyes,willingher to understand what I was about to say. “Do you have any fucking idea what people would do to have someone like you in their lives? Do you even realize how rare it is to find someone as alive as you?”

“Liam, you don’t have to—” she stuttered. Her cheeks burned, and she looked as if she wanted to disappear, but I wasn’t done.

“No.” I shook my head, not letting her escape this. “You think being emotional is a bad thing? It’s not. Youletyourself feel the whole spectrum of emotions that come along with life. Do you understand how brave that is? That instead of shutting yourself down or shutting the world out, you just deal with it?”

She stared at me, mouth slightly agape.

“You’re a lot more real than anyone I’ve ever met,” I said honestly. “And if anyone doesn’t like that, it’s probably because they’re terrified of seeing all the waysthey’relacking when they have to look at themselves compared to you. Okay?”

“Well,” she said, staring anywhere but at me in a way that made me want to grab her chin and give me back those blue eyes—to make her accept the truth of my words. “At least I know I’ll always have the approval of my best friend’s big brother.”

Her words extinguished whatever fire had been burning inside of me. I’d forgotten who we were to each other. Forgotten that she was relying on me to be a safe space for her for a while and nothing more.

She thoughtshewas too much? Jesus, I’d just basically serenaded her against her will. I was ridiculous.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt as passionate about anything other than hockey. How was it possible that this girl was breaking down every single wall I’d constructed over the years, demolishing them with a single, wide-eyed gaze?

“Right,” I said, straightening. “Did you talk to Maggie about coming to the game with you?”

Cassie squirmed uncomfortably in her seat, her eyes focused on the soggy clumps of cereal she pushed around in the bowl.

“What is it?” I asked, fear taking hold of me. Did she not want to come anymore? Was she busy? Did she have a date lined up?

What the fuck does it matter if she does?I forced myself not to grit my teeth at my inner monologue. It took all the strength I could muster to remain neutral.

“I know this isn’t my place,” she said, staring timidly up at me. “Like, at all—”

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