Page 18 of From Ice to Home
Calling it quits.
The thought really never crossed my mind. Not even once.
My only desire is to find her and talk to her.
“No.” As the word leaves my mouth, it turns sour wondering if she might want to file for divorce, or get an annulment or something. “At least I don’t know. I don’t know what she wants to do.”
I take a seat on the bench, digging my fingers through my hair, urging the answers to come from somewhere.
“South, you’re a mess,” Declan says. “You have to tell Coach about this, and I’m guessing Harry too. As much as I hate to say it—this isn’t just about you. You can’t play when your head isn’t in the game.”
His words hit home. It wouldn’t be fair to me, or to any of the guys if I keep on going out on the ice when I’m this distracted. I could get hurt…my teammates could get hurt.
“Nobody knows about this, Dec.” I glance up at him, not sure how I’m going to share this with other people when I don’t have clarity. “I need to sort this out before it gets out, and I need to do itwithher. I can’t talk about this to anybody, and I can’t bear to think what would happen if the press got wind of this.”
EJ nods in agreement before coming to sit down next to me, his blue eyes clear and focused as he looks at me.
“What’s the plan?” he asks.
I sigh. “EJ, I don’t know where she is. I’ve tried to reach her but she’s ignoring all my texts, all my calls…I don’t know what to do next.”
Declan slaps me on the shoulder. “Go full-on stalker mode man. I’ll ask Megan. That girl is a beast at finding stuff on social media.”
“That should scare you,” EJ mutters, smirking as he looks at Declan. “Means she knows every time you’ve been messing around.”
Declan waves him off. “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again—we’re not exclusive.”
“Tell her that,” EJ says dryly.
Taking out my phone, I unlock the screen and it opens on her social media page—right where I left off.
Her blonde hair and sad smile immediately catches my attention.
Someone has done me a favor and tagged her. Her brother, Micah. He’s much younger than I am, but I owe him big time because on my screen is an image of Hannah with her golden hair tied up in a high ponytail as she is running around with a bunch of middle schoolers. The golden letters on her t-shirt spelling Camp Grace.
I should’ve known she’d gone back to her happy place.
“Looks like we don’t need Megan for this then?” Declan asks, coming closer to get a better look. He gives a low whistle. “I forgot how hot she is.”
“Say what you want, you married yourself a real beaut,” EJ says with a smile.
A flicker of jealousy and pride mixes inside my chest. Hannah’s mine.
If she was yours, you’d be with her right now.
“She’s back home,” I whisper, more to myself than anyone else, a plan already forming in my mind. “Tomorrow we’ll play the Leafs, and straight after the game I’m on a plane to South Carolina.”
“Wait, what?” EJ says, a deep frown on his face. “We have another game coming up, not to mention Coach will not allow you to go anywhere.”
I look at him. My mind is kind of already made up. “He will if I tell him I have an emergency. I might just have to bench a bit.”
“Bench a bit?” Declan says from my other side. “It’s the playoffs! You can’t be on the bench! You’re the starter—the one who sets the pace of the entire game. Come on, South, this just has to wait—“
“I have to do this, Declan!” My voice rises, determination now coursing through me. I need to settle this—one way or another. “I have to talk to her and figure it out. I can’t live like this one minute longer.”
“And you want to do this how?” EJ asks. “You need permission. You can’t just leave.”
I know I’m going to have to tell the team’s manager. I’ll have to talk to my coach…which means more people will know about this mess I got myself into.
