Page 19 of Rule 5: Never Crush on the Captain
Maybe other people noticed.
I rake my hand through my hair, and his eyes narrow on me. My hand feels heavy.
“So, you’re still living in Boston?”
Isaiah’s eyebrows raise slightly. “Yeah.”
My cheeks warm. I should know my teammates’ lives better.
EVAN
Something is going on with Vinnie. He’s gone all sullen. It’s hard to imagine that last night he was reading a princess story to my kid.
His eyes don’t glitter.
He doesn’t speak.
And it seems like he’s lost all movement in his lips, because it’s impossible to imagine that he was ever capable of smiling, much less, well, actually smiling.
The worst thing? He’s avoiding me.
Oh.
Obviously, he’s eager to leave. I’m an idiot. Maybe he’s hoping that Jasmine will volunteer to watch me and wondering why I didn’t enthusiastically tell Isaiah and her to stay.
He probably wants to go to his penthouse in Seaport with its slick dark counters and views of the harbor that casting directors would kill for. He doesn’t want to be in an old townhouse with a kid he barely knows and a friend he long ago ghosted.
The problem with work friends is that I still see him most days of the year, and for some reason, we still work well on the ice. So well that the media still report on it. They call us telepathic. Ha. There’s no one I know less well.
Did I tell him too much about myself sometime? What was the action that made him want to pull back? To decide that awkwardness was better than hanging out?
I realize I’m staring at him when Jasmine gives me a strange look.
I hastily sip the cucumber-infused water that Vinnie set out of me.
I have a feeling the strange dizziness around me can’t just be blamed on my lack of caffeine. If I’m honest, I don’t think it’s my head either.
I think it’s Vinnie’s presence. And I don’t know why that makes me so uneasy.
Something clenches in my chest.
Vinnie’s gaze jerks to me. “Are you feeling worse?”
“I’m fine.”
“I guess feeling the same isn’t optimal.”
“No.” I look around for my phone. My head still hurts, and I still hate it.
Vinnie gets up, then brings my phone from the armchair in the kitchen. “Here you go.”
“Thank you.”
“Dude, you brought an armchair into the kitchen?” Isaiah laughs, then takes a large bite of French toast.
“I wanted him to be comfortable,” Vinnie explains.
“Seems you’re telepathic even off the ice,” Jasmine says. “You didn’t even have to tell him what you were looking for.”
