Page 122 of Lose You Twice

Kai’s gaze moves over my face, and the softness vanishes into something sharper.

Concern.

Great. Exactly what I need.

“Wren,” he says.

Weston looks between us with intense interest.

I lift the clipboard. “Everyone needs to move along and proceed to your assigned hockey tasks.”

Weston’s eyebrows climb. “Assigned hockey tasks?”

“Skating. Lifting. Emotional repression. I don’t know. Pick one.”

“That last one is Kai’s specialty.”

Kai doesn’t look at him. “Cooper.”

“Proceeding to hockey tasks.” Weston salutes and backs away. Asher follows, shaking his head.

I turn toward the shelves, pretending to compare tape rolls. “You should go too.”

“Are you sick?”

I exhale and lower my voice. “Bad cramps. That’s it.”

His face changes.

Not in the gross way some guys react to periods, like I’ve announced a contagious disease. Not even awkward. Just…processing. Making room for the information without turning it into a scene.

“Do you need to sit?”

“I need everyone to stop asking me what I need.”

His jaw tightens, but he nods once.

That should be the end of it.

It isn’t.

He reaches past me, not touching, and takes a bottle of water from the case on the shelf. Then he grabs a granola bar from the team snack bin and sets both beside my clipboard.

“I’m not asking,” he says. “I’m leaving supplies.”

My mouth opens, but no words come out.

His eyes hold mine for one second too long. “Make sure you drink enough water to stay well hydrated. And eat a snack or something.”

Then he walks away.

A few minutes later, I’m feeling a little more off than normal and decide to sit for a few minutes.

I drink the water. I also eat half the granola bar.

Not simply because Kai told me to.

Because I’m practical.