Page 40 of The Love Comeback
And I left her cold.
Now, I have fame and fortune … but nobody to even share it with.
I never should’ve let her go.
I clear my throat and do my best to focus on the game. If I let my mind wander, I’ll end up in a mess—and then I won’t play well. The last thing I want is a bad game for Colton in front of his friend. So, I put my physical and mental blinders on and play the absolutebestI can.
“Congrats on the win,” Ella says as I step out of the locker room, happy to see that she accepted my offer to meet Colton’s friend.
“You were so sick out there!” Colton declares, giving me a fist bump and then gesturing toward his friend. “This is my best friend, Aaron. He’s super big into hockey like me, but his favorite player is Cameron Hastens because he’s super-fast.”
“Yeah, but you’re cool, too,” Aaron says, his face turning red.
I give him a fist bump. “Hey man, I’ll take what I can get. Is this your mom?” I point to the redheaded lady standing with Ella.
“Yep.”
“This is Valerie,” Ella chimes. “I’m so sorry. I should’ve introduced her. That’s on me.” She gives me a bashful smile and gestures to Valerie, who sticks out an eager hand.
“It’s so nice to meet you, Kade.” The woman beams. She’s eccentric and a little nerdy, and I can tell right away that she’s probably one of Ella’s teacher friends. It’s fitting. Ella has always had loud friends. It’s the opposite of what she is, and I have to admit, I’m a little jealous of anyone who gets to be this close to her.
I mentally shake myself. That’s not healthy. I’m better than that.
“It’s nice to meet you, too,” I say, shaking her hand. “Do you guys wanna meet the rest of the team?” I gesture to the rest of the guys, now slowly filing out of the locker room.
Colton and Aaron both nod, and I give a slight wave to Cam, who immediately knows what’s going on. He calls out for Colton, and the two boys rush over to the rest of my teammates, shaking hands and eagerly asking questions. It gives me a chance to talk with Ella and her friend.
“So, what did they think of the game?” I ask, trying not to be boastful.
“It was great,” Valerie answers, her eyes diverting to the group of men behind me. “You all played so well…”
I chuckle and then gesture to the team. “You can go meet the rest of the players if you’d like.”
“Okay,” she squeaks and slips past me, clearly having her eye on one of them.
“I think she has a crush on one of the rookies,” Ella says with a sigh. “There’s just something about you hockey players that gets to women like us, I guess.”
“Likeyou?” I can’t help but play into it. I have to take the bait.
“I mean…” She immediately slows down, shaking her head. “I just mean that we’re a little nerdy and, you know, jocks always seem out of our league. I don’t know, I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“Right,” I say, letting my chuckle die.
“Can we get pizza?” Colton interrupts suddenly, his eyes bright with excitement. “I told Aaron that we get pizza all the time after skate lessons, and it would besocool if we could get pizza together!”
I grin. “I’m in.”
“Will you come and play the racing game with me, Kade?” Colton asks, while Aaron shoves pizza into his mouth. “I bet I can beat you!”
“Sure.” I chuckle, pushing back from the table where Ella and Valerie are conversing about the robotics team. I give them both a smile that I’m pretty sure neither of them see and then follow Colton over to the car racing game.
I slide into one of the seats while Colton climbs into the other. I wait for him to adjust his chair, and I navigate through the menu and choose my car and avatar. Colton navigates his as well, and I note that he’s very particular about what he’s racing with. I find that quality endearing about him. Everything Colton does is intentional. “Okay, are you ready?” Colton wiggles his eyebrows at me, flashing me a wicked grin.
“I’m ready to whoop you,” I shoot back, keeping my competitive tone playful.
Colton smashes thegobutton, and the countdown begins. As soon as the light turns green, I slam the gas pedal and shift, since I chose the manual mode. I quickly realize that Colton has done the same—and he’swaybetter than I expected him to be. Without even burning out, his car flies off down the course through some fake city.
My jaw drops. He’sactuallygoing to be a challenge to beat.
