Page 72 of Hearts on Ice
Again.
His skate guards were at the other entrance to the ice, but he didn’t care. He marched up the steps to the lobby, heading to his office, ready to lock the door before Colby came after him, because he knew she would. The door to the rink opened, and some skaters came in, not students. He glanced at the clock over the door. Great. Their after school crowd was on their way in, so he couldn’t deal with Colby right now, not here in public.
And yet here she came, through the door from the rink. He looked down and saw she’d taken time to remove her skates, was just in her socks. He sat at one of the tables to remove his own skates.
“Deck.”
He held up one finger to stop her. “Not here.”
She sagged a bit, looked toward the newcomers, who were looking from Declan to Colby and back again. He ignored them and bent to tug at the laces of his skates hard enough to snap one, and he swore loud enough to have the two skaters scurrying past to go to the counter.
Great. He never had a temper except where Colby was concerned.
He hated that he was right about her. Hated that his mother was right, that she hadn’t changed.
He still wasn’t enough for her.
He strode toward the office, collected his shoes and his keys, turned to see her hovering right outside the office door, her face creased with concern.
“Are you going to be okay to get home?” he asked her.
She paled a bit, then nodded. “Sure, I can get a ride.”
He bounced his keys in his palm a minute, wondering if he should go ahead and listen to what she had to say, but no, he didn’t want to do it here, and not when he was so mad he wouldn’t be able to process what she said anyway.
“I’ll text you later,” he said, carrying his shoes toward the door, not looking at her again, but sensing her confusion.
“Text me?”
“I need some time.” He wanted to talk to his brother, but at the same time, he didn’t want to reveal to his family that he’d been wrong.
“Time to do what? Won’t you be back for Josh and Lexi’s lesson?”
“Probably not.”
“Declan, if you just listen to me—“
He wheeled on her. “Just. Give me. Some time.”
She stared at him, eyes wide, then she nodded and stepped back, letting him walk out, letting him leave her behind.
Colby stormed backinto the rink to deal with Xavier, who was instructing his camera crew on where to set up.
“No point in that. Declan left. Why are you here?”
“I told you, I came to put some polish on your little endeavor here.”
“You dropped me. You’re not my manager anymore.”
“I thought we could change that.”
“Did you not get the hint when I didn’t answer your calls?”
“You didn’t, but your mother did, and she made it clear you were very busy, but very on-board with this idea.”
“But you didn’t confirm it with me.”
Xavier waved a slender hand. “You didn’t answer your phone.”
