Page 8 of From Ice to Home
“Do you want to call it a night?” I ask, knowing I have togive her the option of leaving but praying that she won’t take it. “Or do you want to go get dessert?”
She looks up at me and for a moment there’s a flicker in her eyes, like she’s weighing the same fears and hopes that I am. Then she smiles. A cautious smile that gently tugs at the corners of her mouth.
“You do know we’re in a restaurant that most definitely serves dessert,” she murmurs, a hint of teasing in her voice. “Michelin star-level dessert, I might add.”
“True,” I say, glancing just past her shoulder. “But this restaurant also has your friend and two of my teammates in it.”
Her smile deepens and the sight of it sends something warm and electric through me. Silence lingers between us just long enough to feel like a question.
Then she tilts her head. “I guess we should go get dessert somewhere else then.”
Relief floods my system a long with a surge of hope I didn’t realize I’d been holding out for.
“Great, I know just the place.”
I’m obviously lying. I don’t know anything about dessert places in Vegas. But I’m not ready to say goodbye just yet and if that means winging it until she kicks me to the curb, then that’s what I’ll do.
“One condition though,” she says, a small frown forming. “Just please no noisy, slot machiney places.”
I get up and hold out my hand toward her. “No casinos, got it.”
“And no fancy dresses or diamonds,” she adds, slipping her small hand into mine. Her warmth seeps through me and I have to take a deep breath to settle the storm building inside my chest.
“I didn’t pack mine,” I say with a grin. “So we’re safe.”
Her laughter pulls me in like it always has, that warm, familiar sound shaking loose a thousand memories. For asecond, it feels like we’re back in Georgetown, sneaking off from her parents’ porch to steal a late-night adventure. But here, with her hand in mine, I’m very aware of the fact that we’re two adults choosing to spend more time together.
We’re not those two kids sneaking around town anymore; we’re two people who’ve lived, who’ve lost and gained parts of ourselves in all the years apart. We’re in the middle of a city far away from home, adults with no one to answer to but each other. Maybe it’s a fluke that we’re both here, at this place, tonight.
But I don’t believe in coincidences. Never have.
There’s something bigger at play, I can feel it. If there’s even the slightest chance that this night means something more, then I’m going to hold onto it for as long as she’ll let me.
The feeling is intoxicating, threatening to drown out every ounce of common sense.
“Dec,” I say, obviously interrupting my defenseman as he’s majorly zoning in on Hannah’s friend. “I’ll catch up with you later.”
“No problem,” he says, barely looking at me. Liz takes a second to wink at Hannah before we head out of the restaurant together. EJ waves before making sure Liz is occupied with him instead of Declan.
Poor man is working too hard to keep Declan from self-destructing again.
Neither of them says a word about the curfew or us sticking together, whether it’s loyalty or distraction, I’m not sure. Either way, I’m grateful.
As we reach the busy hotel foyer, the expression on Hannah’s face changes to discomfort in a second. Somehow this place never quiets down, and there are always people around. I guide her toward the front entrance, figuring we’d take a walk along the strip and see where we end up.
“Tell me why you’re in Vegas when you obviously don’t likeit here?” I ask her, leading her through the revolving doors and feeling her relax next to me as the cooler night air hits us. It’s not so noisy out here, the openness somehow swallowing the music and voices all around us.
“It’s to celebrate graduation,” she says with a shrug. “And to celebrate this amazing job I just got. I’ve been working so hard to get it, and it finally happened. I wanted to go wine tasting, but Mona and Liz said we’ll have enough time for that when we’re heading into our first mid-life crisis.” She laughs a little, but it’s filled with tension.
“I didn’t think two days here would actually kill me,” she adds, her voice tinged with forced amusement. “Although now I think I might’ve been wrong.”
I glance at her, raising a brow to challenge her to give me a little more.
She sighs. “I don’t know, don’t you feel it?” she asks, her nose scrunching a bit. “Something about this place…It just doesn’t sit right.”
I look around me, at the people coming in and out of casinos. There’s a hum to this city, an undertone that I don’t want to dwell on for too long. It’s undeniable.
“I get it,” I say, looking back down at her. “When we heard we’d be getting two days off I wanted to get in my truck and head back home to see Noah and dad. But…the team has to stick together, so Vegas it is.”
