AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Cassian flips through the pages, scanning them with his lightning-quick gaze. “Smith will have to call the lawyers. But we’ve all discussed this. We knew they had this option.”
That’s true. I knew there was a chance my contract might not get renewed. But I never let myself think about it much. I’m usually the lucky one, remember?
I told myself I would work it out when I had to, never expecting it to actually happen. Just like I never expected I’d be completely all-in in love with an omega who needs me to be worth a damn.
I scrub my hands over my eyes, but I can’t feel them. Are they numb? Or is it my face?
Cassian takes a long look at me and hesitates before setting his hand on my shoulder. When I can’t seem to make myself blink, he grumbles, “Listen. There’s a chance, if you play well enough in the playoffs, they’ll drop this whole thing. They haven’t released you yet—this is just notice that you’re in review. If you post enough points in the playoffs and we actually win, they’ll have to renew your contract.”
I finally raise my head, meeting his heavy stare. “And if they don’t?”
A wince pulls at his features. “It will suck, but we can get past it. We can get you a job at Pierson Properties or—I mean, you wouldn’t want to keep playing, right? If it meant moving away from?—”
I watch him choose his next word carefully. When he finally settles on it, the pain in my chest pulses.
“—us?”
Because it isn’t just Remi. She’s the biggest part, now, but I’d also have to leave Cass, too. My brother, basically. And his brother, who’s more like the only family I’ve ever had.
Could I walk away from all of them?
If I don’t, I’ll be a washed-up former athlete.
Hockey is all I’ve ever been.
If I leave it behind, what do I have left for Remi?
“I think…” I look back at the rumpled paperwork piled between us. “I think I need your help, Cass.”
chapter
fifty-four
I’d forgotten all about Smith being a contractor in his former life… until we had to figure out how to turn on the hot tub.
He seemed to snap into a version of himself I’d never seen before, stripping his shirt off and getting on his back to access a panel of controls tucked under the railing on the deck. Within thirty minutes, we had a perfect whirlpool and the most delicious Italian takeout I’ve ever eaten.
It’s clearly from an upscale restaurant, but Smith takes the time to unload everything onto the only two plates in the whole house, arranging my pasta on a turquoise plate with seashells around the rim.
When I smile at the dinnerware, he smirks ruefully. “You’ll need to put your skills to good use around here, angel. Aside from the table, there’s just a nightstand and a bed.”
My brows draw up. “One bed?”
He pulls the cork out of a bottle of champagne—the single item I found in the refrigerator—and meets my eyes steadily. “One bed.”
Does that mean he finally feels like I’m ready for whatever he wants to do to me? Or maybe he’s planning to take me home and tuck me into my own bed alone?
It seems unlikely we’re going anywhere when he pulls a second bottle out of the to-go bags and places it in the fridge to chill for later.
The hot tub is a luxury I’ve never experienced before. While Smith wades right in, arranging our dinner on a wide wooden ledge built around the lip of the bubbling pool, I linger at the edge, dipping my toe in.
It is hot. Whoa.
When Smith notices my hesitation, he leaves our plates behind and comes over, holding out his hand. “It’s okay,” he murmurs, eyes soft and dark in the waning sunset. “It feels really good once you’re in. Trust me?”
I do. So much more now than I did even a few hours ago. When I slip my fingers into his, something hot and bright flares in his gaze. He wraps his free arm around my waist and lifts me right in.
The water is sweltering… for a moment. But as soon as I’m in it, the heat melts my apprehension into a puddle.
