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I beamed at him. “Did you carry me up here?”
“I sure did.” His big hands clutched my hips. “How are you feeling this morning? Better?”
I nodded. “Much, thank you. I, uh, had an idea, though.” He wasn’t going to like it.
“Did you? What kind of idea?”
“That I want to quit the band.”
Tommy’s eyes went wide, then narrowed. “No, no way. Absolutely not.”
“Why not? If I quit, then we can be together. Wherever you end up, I can go with you. I can take care of my mother, go to school, get a job and—”
“No, Blake,” Tommy growled. “You have the chance of a damn lifetime, and you want to throw it away? I can’t let you do that.”
I struggled in his grip. “So, throwing our relationship away is better?” I climbed from the bed. “Is that what you want me to do? Run off with Mulligan so you can have your shot at fucking your way through all the hot puck bunnies? Am I not important to you?”
“You’re the most important person in my life, Bug, so don’t go saying stupid shit that you know isn’t true. I love you. I want to be with you, but I also want you to go chase your dreams. Staying here and taking care of your sick mother is not part of that dream.” Tommy yanked back the covers and swung his legs over the side of the bed.
He looked so damn sexy in just a t-shirt and his underwear. I wanted to climb into his lap, kiss the hell out of him, and tell him how much I loved him. Except I also wanted to punch him while yelling that he had no right to tell me how I could live my life when I all I wanted was to be him.
“Tough. You’re not the boss of me.” I raised my chin in defiance.
“Are you trying to break up with me right now? Is that what this really is, because—”
“Fuck you!” I spat.
Tommy’s brows shot up. “Fuck me? Fuck you. All I want is for you to live your best life, and you’re just going to throw all this talent away because your mother can’t get her shit together. You’re going to end up just like her. Is that what you want?”
His words cut like a razor. I stared in horror at my best friend as I felt my chin begin to tremble. Get yourself together, Blake. “That’s not fair, and you know it.”
“I’m sorry, Bug. I didn’t mean it. I’m just upset and frustrated at the thought of you quitting the band. How would you feel if I said I was going to stay here instead of going off to college and taking my shot at the NHL?” Tommy started around the bed toward me.
I shook my head. “To be with me? I’d be upset but happy. You’re the only shooting star in my life.” I took a couple steps away from him. “Don’t touch me.”
“I’m sorry. Let me hold you,” Tommy whispered.
I gritted my teeth. “Don’t. Just don’t.” But he was faster than I was, and that’s how I found myself suddenly pinned against his bedroom wall, staring up into his beautiful face.
“Please, Bug,” he begged. “I love you, and I’m sorry I got upset. It’s just that I don’t want you to waste this gift you’ve been given. She wouldn’t want you to, either.”
My nostrils flared. “You have no right to say what she wouldn’t or would want for me. Let me go, or I’ll scream. You don’t want your parents to think you’re hurting me, do you?”
The pain that flashed in Tommy’s eyes made my heart crack open.
He released me and moved back, his shoulders slumped forward. “I do love you, Blake. So damn much, and if you’re going to leave me because of this, I don’t... I’m not sure we can even be just friends. I couldn’t bear to see you with someone else.”
“I’m not!” I suddenly had the urge to touch Tommy, wrap my arms around his waist, kiss his soft lips, and listen to the low moans and gasps he released. “I don’t want anyone else. I’m not going to leave you. I’m upset, Gretzky, there’s a difference. I just need a little time and space to myself.”
Tommy nodded. “Sure, right, I understand.”
“I need to figure out what I’m going to do. That’s it.”
“But you want to do that alone.”
I sighed. “Yeah, I need to. Please don’t read into it. I love you.”
“We never fight, and I don’t want you to be upset with me. I take it all back. Quit the band if that’s what you want, but just don’t be mad or leave me. I don’t think I could handle you being angry with me,” Tommy begged; his eyes cast down. It made my heart hurt to see him like this.
