Page 163 of Slapshot Bride

It's almost ten when she finally looks at me over the rim of her mug. “Do you love her?”

I don’t hesitate to respond. “Yes.”

My eyes meet hers across the room. “I love her. I loved her long before I realized that's what it was. And it isn't loneliness talking, because I was fine on my own. I was good at being alone. I'd built an entire life around it.”

My gaze drifts around the room before finding hers again. “Then she walked in here and turned on the lights.”

I swallow. “Now I can finally see how dark it really was.”

A sad smile tugs at my mouth. “And I can't unsee it.”

“Then why haven’t you gone after her?”

“Her brother asked me to let her go.”

She sips from her tea and looks away. I feel the need to explain more.

“Mason’s known me since I was fifteen. He’s watched me do every stupid thing I’ve ever done, and he called me and told me I was going to hurt his sister, and…” My jaw works. “He wasn’t wrong. I hid the Maya situation from her.”

“But it’s out in the open now. There’s no estranged ex-fiancé to hold you back. Your career has already taken the most brutal hit it can ever take. And Mason… he’s your best friend. I’ve known you boys together for over a decade. I’m sure you’ve had fights over the years. Mason loves you like a brother and would never intentionally hurt you. You only need to let him see the truth.”

I sigh. “It’s different.”

“How? You’re yet to let him see that you love his sister, Easton. He has a perception of you that you created over the years. The only person who knows the new you is Riley. You need to make him see it too. Tell him the truth. Show him that you love her.”

“What if he says no?”

She laughs. It’s calm and quiet. “You don’t get to assume until you’ve tried, son.”

The rest of the night goes by with various conversations around my career and her new life. She tries to leave at eleven, but I convince her to stay the night.

By the next morning, I drive her to the airport and watch her leave, after another talk session, making me promise to meet with Mason.

I return home feeling lighter than I’ve felt all week.

Kai shows up by evening.

The man drives up the canyon, punches a gate code Wyatt definitely gave him without asking me, and stands in my entryway with his car still running.

“Team thing at Merchant’s.”

“I’m not going.”

“I know you’re not saying no to me, Blake.” He cuts the engine and steps out of the car. He moves to the front door and lightly pushes me in. “Go get a shirt on, unless you want all the guys here hauling your ass out.”

I don’t wait another second because it’s obvious he wasn’t taking no for an answer.

We leave ten minutes later, in his car.

Back room, eleven guys, Wyatt on his feet within four minutes of my arrival. Nobody mentions the review. Nobody mentions the confession. Nobody says her name, which means every one of them decided that in advance.

That brings me some comfort.

Theo brings me a club soda without asking.

Wyatt tells a story about a rental car in Winnipeg that I’m fairly sure he invented on the spot, and I laugh once, and it’s real, and it startles me.

I last fifty minutes.