Page 58 of Christmas on Ice
His soulful eyes bored into mine. There was pain there, and I was pretty sure I’d caused it. “I’m glad you came.”
An awkward silence screamed between us. I spoke quickly to fill it. “I’m sorry about last week. I—I think I’m ready to try again. I just—I’m not sure about—It’s scary to—”
“Kami.” Trask wrapped his fingers around mine and lifted our hands to his chest. “I don’t want you to be scared of me or to have any regrets. I can’t do this if you’re not one hundred percent sure this is what you want.”
My hands started to shake, and he let them go. I shook my head sadly. “I think a hundred percent might be more than I can give right now.”
I practically ran away from him and back to the dining room. I needed to think, and I couldn’t do it here. “Bren, can you keep an eye on Ryleigh for a bit? I need to run home.”
“Did you forget something?”
“No. Yes. I—I just need some time and space. I won’t be too long. Promise.”
“Okay.”
I grabbed my coat and purse and hustled through the chilly night to my car. I started it up and blasted the heat.
I let my head fall to the steering wheel. Its icy surface seemed to bring me clarity. What was I doing? I wasn’t a runner. I wanted this.
I loved him.
I opened my purse and pulled out the small bubble envelope. As I fastened the delicate bracelet onto my wrist, a wave of hope rushed through me.
No more indecision. I was going for this. All of it.
31
Trask
After Kami left, I found a seat on the couch to watch the game. I needed a distraction. The Edge’s starting goaltender was having a bad night. It was his first game back after the undisclosed family emergency, and halfway through the second period, they sent in the backup goalie.
“Mr. Tiggerman?”
“Hey, sweet girl.” I grinned at Ryleigh, and she climbed up onto my lap, clutching the toy puppy I’d given her. “Happy New Year.”
“Happy New Year.” She giggled. “Are you going to kiss my mommy at midnight?”
I smiled sadly. “I don’t know. I was thinking about kissing Luna.” I leaned in conspiratorially. “I heard she gives the biggest kisses.”
That set Ryleigh off in a fit of giggles. Luna was Coach Conway’s Great Pyrenees dog.
Next to us, Brendan gasped. “Oh, damn!”
I followed his gaze to the screen as everyone in the room reacted to a save gone wrong.
“Holy…!”
“Oh my God! So much blood!”
My stomach dropped. A pile-up in the crease led to the goaltender’s glove flying off, and a skate blade found its way to his wrist. Blood spurted as whistles blew and players dispersed to make way for the doctor and trainers. None of us could pull our eyes from the screen.
“He’s hurted!”
Snapping back to reality, I shielded Ryleigh’s eyes from the gruesome replay and stood up, calling for Brenna.
This was bad. I looked over at Jason. His face had gone ghostly white. Lauren was whispering in his ear. One thing I’d learned from living with him was that being sliced by a skate blade was his biggest fear.
And this could have been him.
