Page 80 of Almost Ours
The way he said my name–low, rough, like it had caught in his throat–sent a shiver down my spine. My breath caught.
No one had ever said it like that.
Like it meant something. LikeImeant something.
I should’ve looked away. Should’ve laughed it off, made a joke, broken the tension before it swallowed us whole. But I didn’t.
I couldn’t.
Instead, I leaned in too, barely, but it was enough. Enough to feel the heat radiating off of him. Enough to notice the way his eyes dropped to my lips and then back to my eyes like he wasthisclose to crossing a line.
I swear the world tilted.
My heart thudded so loud I was sure he could hear it.
And still… neither of us moved. Not fully.
Because if we crossed that line–if we kissed–nothing would be the same.
But God, I wanted to.
Then–
The door chimed and Nina’s voice followed instantly. “Sorry I’m late! I had a work email I had to reply to quickly, which turned into ten more.”
I blinked, jolting back as Ryan straightened abruptly, dragging his hand away like he’d touched fire. His jaw clenched, just briefly, before he covered it with a sip from his drink.
Nina slid into the seat beside me, one brow raised like she hadn’t missed a thing. “Did I interrupt something?”
“Not at all,” I said a little too fast. “Just… reliving the trauma of sled pushes.”
Ryan didn’t say a word, but his knee brushed mine under the table–and didn’t move.
We started talking again–teasing, joking, slipping back into familiar rhythms–though my focus hadn’t splintered.
Because that tension?
It hadn’t gone anywhere.
It was still humming between us, louder than ever.
And I had no idea what was going to happen when it finally snapped.
What the hell was I doing?
This was supposed to be friendly. Casual. I thought we were becoming friends–real, solid, comfortable friends. The kind you could count on.
He was Connor’s hockey coach for God’s sake.
And whatever just almost happened? That wasn’t friendship.
That was not neutral territory. That was something charged and electric and impossibly real.
And now I couldn’t stop thinking about how close we’d come. How easy it would’ve been to fall into him. How much I wanted to.
God.
I wasn’t ready for this.
