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“You’re scared.” I grab her arm. “And I am, too, but it’s not worth letting it go...”
“Stop it,” she snaps, pulling away from me and shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter what I am. It just can’t happen. I’m sorry. I am. But this ends here. It has to end here. We had an agreement. We both agreed that good things come to an end. Goodbye, Cameron.”
Nila grabs the handle of her carry-on and walks away, leaving me standing there like an idiot in the airport.
I put it all on the line for her and she shot it down. More than once.
And dang, that hurts.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and reluctantly, I fish it out as Nila disappears into the crowd. I know we have something, but I can’t force her to take the chance with me.
I sigh as I glance down at Kade’s name lighting up the screen. He promised to pick me up, and I’m sure he’s waiting somewhere around here for me.
And just like that, I head for the exit, leaving whatever Nila and I had in the dust.
“You do not look as happy to be home as I thought you would,” Kade says to me as I climb into the passenger seat of his GT. “I thought you’d be bouncing off the walls with excitement. Did they kill your spirit in the mountains?”
I side-eye him. “No, but they might as well have.”
“Whoa, that’s intense. What’d they do to you up there? Make you drink the punch?” He bursts into laughter, though his eyes stay lined with concern as he pulls away from the pickup area.
“Nila,” I tell him. “Nila happened.”
“Oh...” His voice trails off as he navigates the traffic. “I take it things escalated in the mountains, yeah?”
I avoid his gaze, focusing on the window and traffic—anything to keep from showing how defeated I am. Even Lacey breaking up with me didn’t sting like this. I just ... I really thought I could convince her that there was something more between us.
“Dude.” Kade nudges me. “Just tell me what happened.”
“I really like her. I don’t know. I thought she felt the same way, but I guess I was wrong. I don’t know if she led me on, or if she’s just too scared to take the plunge, so she’s pushing me away.”
“Isn’t she the one who broke up with her ex-boyfriend because she didn’t want to be tied down? I think that’s what you told us. Right?”
“Yeah, but I would never try to stop her from following her dreams. I would’ve supported her in everything she did—no different than the level of support I’d hope someone would give me when it comes to hockey.”
Kade nods as he turns onto the freeway, punching the gas. “I don’t know why you’re surprised. Some women are just like that. They don’t want to commit to someone. Maybe she enjoys the freedom of flirting with hot clients.”
I make a face at him. “Seriously? Why would you even say that?”
“Uh, here.” Kade fumbles with his phone and tosses it on my lap. “You should look up Garrett Norris. He’s broadcasting it all over social media that she’s coming to work for him.”
I roll my eyes and set his phone back on the console. “I don’t care. I’m well aware of who he is, and I don’t think Nila is like that. I don’t think she cares at all about who her client is. If anything, she was super weird about us potentially being together because of that.”
“Oh,” Kade says and then shrugs. “Well, maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about, then. I literally have no clue when it comes to women. All I know is that I fell in love years ago, and I’ve never found anything close to that.”
I eye him. “Yeah? You never mentioned that.”
He frowns and then blows out a sharp breath. “No, I don’t talk about it because, to this day, it still stings when I think about it. I still think about her all the time. I kinda think there’s something wrong with me.” His dark eyes cloud over with an emotion I relate to right now, and it leaves me feeling even more empty.
“Can we go somewhere else?” I ask as he turns onto my street. “Like maybe to the rink? I could stand some practice and stretching my legs after that plane ride.”
He gives me a sympathetic smile. “Nah, we gotta go here.”
I sigh, already knowing where this is going. “There’s a freaking welcome home party, isn’t there?”
“You didn’t hear it from me.” Kade chuckles, shooting me a wink. “But just know that it wasn’t my idea. I had no desire to throw you any kind of party. But you know us, we like to throw parties for everything. It’s excessive.”
“No kidding. It was probably Dylan, wasn’t it?”
