Page 35 of Pucking Knox
She leaves us both watching her go, that damn envelope burning a hole in my palm.
"Thought you were staying away from her," Ace says quietly.
"Trying to." I shove the envelope in my pocket. "Not doing a great job."
Twenty-four hours later, I'm in the zone. Providence is a tough team, but something about that unopened note has me playing like I've got something to prove.
No fights. No penalties. Just pure skill and controlled power. Even Coach looks impressed.
"Whatever's got you focused," Coach says between periods, "keep it up. Scouts are loving this new style."
But it's not about the scouts. It's about green eyes and honest words and whatever truth is waiting in that envelope.
We win 3-0. My first shutout game of the season.
The team wants to celebrate at Kappa Pi, but I've got more important things to handle. Like the note burning a hole in my gear bag.
"Go ahead," I tell them in the locker room. "I'll catch up."
The envelope contains a single line in Kennedy's elegant handwriting.
My room. One hour. Don't keep me waiting.
My hands actually shake as I drive to her dorm. The whole way there, I tell myself to turn around. Remember why we can't do this. Remember all the reasons I pushed her away.
But I'm tired of remembering.
Tired of fighting this.
Tired of pretending.
Her dorm is quiet when I let myself in with the key she gave me weeks ago. "For emergencies," she'd said with that wicked smile.
This feels like an emergency.
I find her in her bedroom, but not how I expected. She's curled up on her bed, fast asleep in one of my practice jerseys, textbook open beside her.
Something in my chest cracks wide open.
Because this isn't seduction or games or pretense. This is just... Kennedy. Vulnerable and real and trusted me enough to fall asleep waiting.
I should wake her. Should talk about whatever she wanted to say. Should figure out what we are to each other now.
Instead, I carefully move her textbook and lie down beside her. She immediately curls into me, like her body knows mine even in sleep.
"Mm." She nuzzles my chest without waking. "Knox?"
"Sleep, Princess." I press a kiss to her hair. "I'm here."
And for the first time since the gala, since my father's threats, since all of it – I let myself admit the truth.
I'm not going anywhere.
Chapter 15
I wake to Knox's heartbeat under my ear and midnight shadows painting his face. For a moment, I just watch him sleep – the way his features soften, how young he looks without that constant guard up.
My movement must wake him because his arms tighten around me.
