Page 12 of Break

“No. She said she’s not ready to talk to you yet… Marie bought us some clothes and we have toiletries, everything we need, honestly. We think we’ll stay here until you’re back from your away games next week so that we don’t have to go back and forth.” I hear Marie talking in the background and Caroline answers her lowly, too low for me to hear. “Anyway… See you soon.” She hangs up and I stare blankly out the window into the black night sky.

Alex offered to hang out with the girls during the away games. Looks like the girls didn’t approve. I guess I can tell her she can just make herself at home or stay in the vacation home since she isn’t moving in yet. We’re not allowed to bring our girlfriends, wives or families with us unless they’re staying in a separate hotel and take a commercial flight. Or any flight that isn’t on our team jet.

I tap my fingers along my steering wheel and watch as the lot empties. I frown at my phone when I scroll through my notifications and don’t see anything from Alex at all. Usually she at least calls or texts.

I make my way home and head straight to my room, slamming the door. Alex doesn’t move in for another week or two. I don’t think I’ve ever been here alone.

Sure, Marie has had overnight dates, the girls have had sleepovers with their friends…

But now it just feels so empty, lonely. Like my brain knows this is how it’s going to be from now on. I need to figure out a way to see Marie and talk to her. If she didn’t want to live here with Alex, then we could have been adults and talked about it.

I try calling Alex and leave her a voicemail when she doesn’t answer. “Hey… It’s me. Haven’t heard from you today and just want to make sure you’re… good, I guess. I wish you were here with me, the girls aren’t here so it’s so quiet. Anyway, we had a decent game tonight, we won 4-3… Um, okay. I hope you have a good night.”

I toss my phone onto the bed and slip out of my suit, hanging the articles up on the chair beside my bed.

Shit, that’s right. Tomorrow is Alex’s appointment at her doctor’s office. She told me I don’t have to go, but I might as wellnow that I don’t have anything better to do. Plus, she came to mine, what’s the harm?

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After practice, I try calling Alex again but her phone goes straight to voicemail. I frown and step up into my truck and head out to the doctor’s office that she said she booked the appointment at.

I haven’t had her naked, writhing under me for months. I groan at the image that’s branded into my brain and park five minutes before the appointment time.

I head into the lobby and don’t see her seated anywhere, she must have already been called back. I knock on the counter and wave to the receptionist.

“Can I help you?” She frowns at me and glances around, probably looking for the poor woman who she thinks I dragged in here behind me.

I smile at her and shove my hands in my pockets. “Hey… My girlfriend Alexandra Miller is being seen. I made it as soon as I could.”

She glances down at the clipboard in front of her and flips through the pages. “I can’t give out patient information… But I can tell you that no one by that name had an appointment today. Maybe you typed in the wrong address.” She turns around and answers the phone at the desk and I step back.

I try calling her again and just decide to head up to her vacation home. Maybe her phone’s dead, maybe something came up and she had to cancel the appointment? Or she changed it to another location. I groan. It would also be typical of me to mix up the address or doctor’s name, though.

I blast some music on the way up to her house to find her car in the driveway. It’s a brand-new yellow Corvette that I hope she parks in the garage and uses some sort of SUV or truck when it starts to snow. I hop out and knock on the door, stepping back as I wait.

The house is almost as large as mine, but a hell of a lot more modern. All steel and glass, with the views of the city, forest, and even the lake. It’s gorgeous up here, I can see why her family bought a vacation home here.

I fidget with my phone and send out texts to Marie, Alyssa, and Caroline, hoping that at least one of them doesn’t hate me today. I miss them. I feel like I’m turning into a damn woman lately.

Alex opens up the door with a frown. She’s wearing a robe and her wet hair is piled up on her head. “Hey?” She murmurs and steps back, allowing me inside.

“Hey. I went to your appointment but they said you didn’t have one booked today?”

She laughs and shakes her head after she shuts the front door. I follow her through the halls to her bedroom and sit on her soft, unmade bed. It smells like her in here, her expensive perfume. Nothing fruity or calming like what Marie and the girls wear. “I already went this morning. I saw Dr. Carmichael. Had a pap, some blood work done, and got a new birth control implant.”

I cock a brow at her and lean back on my hands, my fingers sliding against the soft, silk sheets. “Carmichael?” I frown. I could have sworn she told me a different name. “Why didn’t you tell me? I would have tried to make it.” I try to remember thename of the doctor from the office I walked into this morning, I’m pretty sure the name Carmichael rings a bell.

She waves me off and sits down beside me. “Don’t worry about it. As soon as the results are in we’re clear.” She winks at me and her green eyes darken with the hunger I’m definitely feeling. “I miss you.” She slides a soft hand over my face and leans in to kiss me.

I oblige, wrapping my arms around her perfect body, pulling her closer to me. Breathing in her scent.

She pulls back and winks at me. “I might have to head to LA to sit in meetings with my mother in the next few days. She’s going to call me in a bit to let me know. What are your plans this weekend?”

I shrug and bite my bottom lip as I look her over. She’s stunning without makeup on. She looks a lot younger than me, but when she’s dressed up, dolled up… she looks like a model. “Nothing. The girls are staying at Marie’s.”

Alex’s face darkens and she blinks, looking away from me. “Were you two… ever together?”

I shake my head and pull her closer to my chest. “No. Never. We’ve just been friends for a long time. She’s helped me raise my sisters, we were there for each other through everything. Our parents, college, me getting into the NHL, her becoming a PA.” Not that I’ll ever tell her that I’ve had a thing for Marie since I was twelve. She’s never liked or loved me in any romantic way anyway.

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