Page 45 of The Girlfriend Goal
I stepped closer, noting how she didn't step back. Progress. "He said something he shouldn't have."
"About what?"
"Doesn't matter. He won't say it again."
Her eyes searched mine. "You can't just hit everyone who says something you don't like."
"I can when they're talking about—" I caught myself. "When they're being disrespectful."
"Very caveman of you."
"Matt said you'd say that."
A smile tugged at her lips before she suppressed it. "We should walk. It's cold."
I fell into step beside her, matching her pace. The campus was quiet, most students already at post-game parties. Our breath clouded in the November air.
"Three assists," she said after a moment. "That pass in the second period was particularly good. You saw the lane before it opened."
"You were paying attention. What did you conclude?"
"That you're better than I expected. Your spatial awareness, ability to read plays before they develop... it translates beyond hockey. You see things others don't. Patterns and possibilities. It's the same skill that makes you good with the kids. You see what they need before they know to ask."
The compliment hit harder than any check I'd taken tonight. "Rachel—"
"My building's this way," she said quickly, turning left.
I turned with her, not ready to let her retreat yet. "You came to the game."
"Maya made me, for team bonding."
"All of your team bonding happens at hockey games now?"
"It was convenient."
"Like how this route to your building is convenient? Even though it's the long way?"
She stopped walking. "What do you want me to say, Lance? That I wanted to watch you play? That I can't stop thinking about—" She cut herself off, jaw clenching. "Forget it."
"No." I moved in front of her, not blocking her path but making retreat require effort. "What can't you stop thinking about?"
She looked up at me, eyes bright with frustration and something else. "You. Okay? I can't stop thinking about you. About your stupid perfect passes and the way you are with Marcus and how you look at me. Like I'm worth looking at."
My heart skipped a beat. "Rachel, you're worth more than—"
"Don't." She stepped back. "Don't make this bigger than it is. We kissed, and there's attraction. But it doesn’t have to mean anything. Because I know how this ends. I've done this before."
"With Brad? I'm nothing like him."
"I know you're not Brad!" The words exploded out of her. "That's the problem. Brad was easy to walk away from once I saw who he really was. But you're actually good, and that makes you dangerous. To everything I've worked for, and everything I've planned." She wrapped her arms around herself. "I can't afford to want this."
"But you do want it."
A long pause. "Yes."
I wanted to reach for her, to prove she could have both her dreams and this. But Matt was right—I'd been making it too easy for her to run.
"I'm not going to chase you," I said quietly. "I'm not going to beg or make grand gestures or try to convince you we could work. Because you know we could. You're just too scared to try."
