Page 79 of Breaking the Pucking Rules
His entire career, his life as he knows it, is at stake.
And yet, he was about to kiss you…
My eyes fill with tears, and I look away, embarrassed that I’m getting emotional over this.
It must be the alcohol.
“Casey?” Parker whispers in concern.
“I’m just going to call an Uber and head home.”
“I’ll do it,” she says, pulling her cell from her purse.
“No,” I say a little firmer than before. “You stay, enjoy the rest of your night. That guy was into you. You should?—”
“I’m not interested in him, Case. I’m worried about you, though.”
She taps the screen, ordering a car. “Two minutes,” she says before putting it away again.
“I’m fine. I’m just being silly. Coming here tonight was a mistake,” I confess.
“Was it?” she asks, linking her arm with mine as we wait. “Case, that man has barely taken his eyes off you from the moment you walked in.” Her words are spoken quietly so that no one else would hear, but they hit me with the force of a defenseman slamming someone into the boards.
I shake my head, refusing to believe her words.
“He was probably wishing I’d leave,” I mutter dejectedly. “He thinks I’m playing games.”
“Pfft,” Parker huffs. “Then he needs to get to know you better.”
“He can’t. We can’t. I just need to forget it ever happened.”
Her hopeful expression dies. She knows that isn’t going to be possible. She knows just how much that night meant, how much he means to me. Even if I don’t really know him. Even if he’s only a figure in my fantasies. He’s still a part of my life. One I never expected to be within touching distance of. But he’s here now.
I set all this in motion, and I’m going to have to deal with the consequences.
“Casey,” she sighs.
“It’s fine. I just need to pull my big girl panties on and move on with my life.”
She smiles sadly at me as our car pulls up to the curb.
She climbs in first, and just before I follow, I look behind me at the alleyway he’s loitering in.
He’s watching me. Electricity shoots through me the second our eyes connect, and I wish it was enough for him to step out of the shadows and stop me from leaving. But no matter how much I pray for that to happen, I know it won’t.
A heavy sigh rips from my lips a second before I turn away and climb into the car.
Parker doesn’t say a word. She doesn’t need to. A lifetime offriendship means she knows. So instead of saying anything, she reaches over and takes my hand in hers, squeezing in support.
The journey is mostly in silence, and when we pull up outside of my apartment building first, I tell her that I’ll call her in the morning before climbing out and heading inside.
If it were a different night, I might have invited her up. But right now, I just want to be alone.
Maybe we can have a do-over of our night out tomorrow.
My limbs are heavy as I plod through my apartment to my bedroom. The second I’m there, I drag my jersey from my body and throw it down on the bed.
My eyes snag on the name and number printed across it.
