Page 97 of Stay
I have to nip my lower lip with my teeth to keep from laughing. I get the feeling this is her way of torturing him.
“Um, I’m not sure,” I murmur in return.
Not caring about the audience we have, Cole presses his lips against mine. “Last night wasn’t enough to persuade you to sleep in my bed from now on?”
It was more than enough to convince me that I never want to sleep anywhere else.
Ever.
When I remain silent, he says, “Cassidy?”
“Yes.”
When I finally rip my gaze from his, I find Brooklyn using her fork to shred the last of her salad, and Austin is staring at her with a pensive expression.
“How about I pick you up after practice?” His fingers continue to toy with mine.
I nod, knowing that I can’t allow him to distract me as easily as he did last night. No matter what, I have to get everything out in the open so we can move forward.
“All right, I’ll see you then.” He glances at his teammate before giving me a wink. “You ready to go?”
Austin gives Brooklyn puppy dog eyes as if that will thaw her iciness toward him.
It doesn’t.
“Yeah.” He sighs in frustration. “Let’s get out of here.”
26
CASSIDY
It feels amazing to fly down the ice with the puck before snapping it into the net with a flick of my wrist. When I’m out here, I can shut off everything in my head, and lose myself in the physical exertion.
“You suck, Cassidy!”
Our goalie shakes her head, irritated that I was able to slip another puck past her. I grin around my neon-pink mouth guard before skating to center ice. Sammy glides over before slapping me on the shoulder. I wince from the impact of it. The girl doesn’t know her own strength.
“Nice goal. The team really seems to be shaping up. I think we’re going to have an awesome season this year. I’m glad you decided to join us.”
That makes two of us. Playing with this group of girls has quickly become everything to me. I never thought I’d enjoy hockey again. I wasn’t even sure if I’d skate. And I owe it to Cole. He figured it out and found a way to give it to me.
I huff out a tired breath as both of us glide to center ice for another face-off. We scrimmage for another forty minutes. Halfway through the practice, I glance at the bleachers andalmost stumble as my gaze zeros in on a lone figure sitting in the stands.
Squinting, I try to get a better look. It can’t be who I think it is.
It just can’t be.
A thin shiver of unease slithers down my spine. It feels as if Luke’s gaze is focused on me. I spin away, thankful there’s a number plastered across the back of my practice jersey and not my name.
Why is he here?
Is he actually watching me?
Brooklyn’s words from earlier echo throughout my head. The last thing I want is for him to cause problems with Cole.
Seeing him here at practice and running into him on campus earlier…it can’t be a coincidence. Gulping down my fear, I try to force him from my mind, but that turns out to be impossible. For the remainder of practice, I can’t stop wondering about what he wants from me. The question circles through my head, shooting my focus to hell. It causes me to miss shots I could easily make in my sleep, or misjudge the edge of my skate, which sends me crashing onto the ice.
Every few minutes, I find myself glancing over my shoulder, checking to see if he’s still there.
