My lungs stuttered. That was so far away. “From who?” I worked to keep the panic out of my voice.
“Capilano. It’s not high profile, but they’ve got a good program. Decent funding. I’d get to help rebuild it from the ground up.”
Capilano. Vancouver.The image of Blakely standing outside Chase’s hotel room in Clearwater flared in my mind like a match.There’s a player who wants to talk to you . . .
Had he known that night? Or at least had an idea?
“Are you going to take it?” I asked.
Chase dropped his gaze. “It would be smart.”
I wanted to ask about Douglas, about potential opportunities here, but I couldn’t do it. He was here because of a connection through his dad. He was a compliance coach, even if he was currently filling in for Kaplan.
He said he didn’t want, but we both knew this wasn’t even close to his end game.
“I don’t want you to leave,” I whispered, my eyes already stinging. This wasn’t about me. He’d been with his mom at a prison this morning, and I didn’t want to add more of a burden, but I couldn’t keep the words from spilling out.
Chase pushed my curls back from my face. “I thought you were leaving first.” The corner of his mouth lifted, and I coughed a laugh.
“I wanted to leave first. I didn’t actually do it.”
Chase grinned, and everything I wanted to say jumbled in my head.
“You’re thinking too hard.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead, then pulled me against his chest. I didn’t respond because Ididn’t want to hear the words I was certain he’d follow with. Whatever happens, happens. It will be what it’s going to be.
Screw that. I didn’t want to float through life and hope I got where I wanted to go. I wanted to fight for it, even if I lost.
But I couldn’t fight for this alone. Chase had a job offer. He had a thousand reasons not to want to stay here in Calgary or work at Douglas. So instead of flaying myself open and pouring out my heart, I said, “Write me?”
He chuckled, the sound rumbling through my chest. “Send me cookies?”
I grinned, needling him in the ribs. “Those you only get in person.”
It was either both of us diving in the deep end.
Or me, standing on the deck.
Chapter
Twenty-Six
The last monthof the semester passed in a blur of late-night study sessions, phone calls to landlords when our fridge went out, and too many trips to Tim Hortons. Crystal and I were deep in finals prep, but we managed to find enough time to help Shar and Rob look for a new place. It had two bedrooms and was closer to campus than my place.
I filled every spare second. It helped keep my mind off of Chase. That is until I crawled into bed at night and then, no matter how tired I was, I couldn’t keep thoughts of him out of my head. It was the sweetest torture.
Shar’s spring concert rode the heels of moving chaos and just two days before final exams. The Rozsa Centre was packed, and Shar looked radiant in the black satin dress she could still fit into. She was worried about having to buy a new wardrobe, but I, for one, couldn’t wait until her belly was big enough to rub.
The moment the final piece ended—a lush, soaring rendition ofScheherazade—our group erupted.
“THAT'S OUR GIRL, SHAR!” Axel bellowed, loud enough that an older man in the front row adjusted his hearing aid. Bearwhistled through his fingers, and I had to tug on Rob’s sleeve to keep him from jumping up on his chair.
I couldn’t stop smiling.
We headed to Ranchman’s the night finals wrapped up. The team had just gotten their marching orders for the offseason, but for the moment, we were all free as birds. Rob danced with his arm slung over Shar’s shoulder, gently rocking her in time with the music. Bear and Nick kept the pitchers of beer replenished, and Rory challenged two girls to a game of pool. Which he lost. Crystal pretended not to know him until he dipped her on the dance floor and whispered something that made her laugh so hard she dropped her clutch.
When the three of us reconvened at our table an hour later, Shar looked tired. Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes as she watched Rob put Nick in a headlock.
“Everything okay?” Crystal asked.