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It just came out, and she didn’t regret a word. At least, not until she saw his expression.
It might have been disbelief, or disgust, or more likely embarrassment that he’d let it get this far.
His body language changed. Shuttered completely. “You hardly know me.”
“I know enough.” Desperately, she plowed on in the knowledge that she might get just one shot to make her case. She had to scoot through before he closed the door on this chance for them. “You’re such a great guy, Dex. A kind, generous, decent human being. You think your past makes you unworthy of great love. People have left you, shunted you around, made you think that your only value is this talent you have on the ice. It’s more than that. You’re more than that.”
He wanted to believe. She could see the hope simmering in his eyes. All he had to do was let her in, let that hope take root.
“I’m not, Ash.” He sounded so melancholy, like she’d given him the worst possible news. “You shouldn’t have talked to her. Now it’s all messed up.”
It? Did he mean them? It didn’t have to be. But she heard the whine in that voice in her head. It was a little too familiar, a reminder of those final months with Greg.
We can make this work. Do what’s best for Willa.
Only she hadn’t been thinking of Willa, not entirely. Ashley had held onto her marriage long past its expiration date because the thought of being alone scared her. Since then, she’d figured out that riding solo was better than letting her happiness be dependent on a man. And no matter how kind that man treated her daughter, she wouldn’t compromise like she had before.
Putting this lovely thing out there, her love for this man, should have filled her with joy, so why did she feel like the bottom of her world had fallen out?
Because she’d misjudged. Reached too far. Singed her butterfly wings.
She wouldn’t beg. If he couldn’t respond positively to her profession of love—which seemed like hours ago—then she had to recognize defeat.
She withdrew her hands from his and took a step back.
“You’re not ready. Maybe you’ll never be.” About his mom, about them.
His eyes turned to hard, flat discs. “You don’t approve of my stance here.”
“This is your choice. Your decision on how to handle it. But problems don’t just go away because you ignore them.”
He shook his head. “You should have left it alone.”
Perhaps, but she hadn’t come this far without facing her own problems head-on. She’d already spent a decade of her life with a man-child, who left her to do all the hard things. The feedings, the school pick-ups, any difficult conversation with their daughter. She needed a man to ride shotgun with her, not one who was afraid to step up and do what was difficult.
Or recoiled at the mention of the L-word.
She was a problem-solver, always had been, so she assumed Dex’s relationship with his mom could be tackled the same way.
That telling him she loved him would make him feel safe.
But apparently not.
Watching him leave, she realized that some people preferred the safety of the status quo—and that, in the coming days, she might wish she’d chosen that path for herself.
37
Belated congratulations to Georgia Goodwin, who was recently revealed to have married in a Las Vegas wedding ceremony in January. Ms. Goodwin is the daughter of Penny and Marcus Goodwin, owners of the AmeriTrust Corporation and noted Chicago area philanthropists. Ms. Goodwin’s new husband, Dylan Bankowski, plays hockey.
— Chicago Tattler
Foreman threw his stick to the floor of the locker room where it promptly cracked.
“What the fuck was that, guys?”
Dex looked down at his skates, wishing he could shrink inside them. They’d probably smell funky but at least they’d be dark and dingy, the perfect spot for him to hide out.
“So we had a bad game.” Grey blushed, unused to speaking up first and drawing attention to himself. “It happens.”
