Regret hits me square in the chest. Shit. She heard me say that?
I shake my head. “Briar, no. That was…” I struggle for a second to figure out how I’m going to explain this to her.
I can’t tell her the truth—that I had zero interest in that woman, and there was no way I was going to sleep with her last night because Briar was on my mind the whole time.Sheis the one I really want.Sheis the one I have a huge crush on that I struggle to hide every time I’m with her.
But she doesn’t like me like that, so I can’t say that.
“I was joking around,” I say. “We all were. We were giving each other shit, just saying random crap. It’s dumb, but we do that. We joke about the stupidest stuff just to get a rise out of each other. We’re idiots.”
I laugh like it’s no big deal, but on the inside, I’m nervous that she won’t buy the half-assed excuse I came up with. I don’t want her to think that I want her to move out so that I can have hookups in my bedroom. I don’t want her to leave. I want her to stay as long as she needs to.
Her expression is thoughtful, but then a second later, she smiles. “Really?”
“Yeah. Really.”
She bites her lip. “That was part of the reason I looked at so many apartments today. I thought you wanted me to leave.”
That nervous feeling inside of me turns to dread. “I don’t want that, Briar.” Gently, I grab her shoulders and hold her gaze. “Stay with me as long as you need to, okay? I want you with me. I don’t want you to move out until you find the perfect place.”
Her smile is relieved. “Okay. Thank you.”
“I’m sorry that my teammates and I being dumbasses made you doubt that.”
She chuckles. “It’s okay. I shouldn’t have been eavesdropping anyway.”
“You weren’t. We were loudmouths.”
She laughs, and we keep walking back to my place.
“Hey, how about some tacos?” I ask.
She looks surprised. “But we had some last night.”
I pat my stomach. “I’m having a craving. And you deserve your favorite tacos two days in a row after dealing with so many duds in your apartment search.”
She grins. “Okay.”
Chapter 6
Briar
Blake speeds across the ice, chasing after a player on the opposing team.
I watch him, in awe of his speed and strength. Even with all that padding and gear on, he moves effortlessly.
It’s the first game of the hockey season at Hollis U, and the guys are playing Wisconsin State.
He catches up with the guy and checks him against the boards. I jump a little at the sound of the impact.
Blake takes off with the puck, narrowly avoiding a Wisconsin player attempting to shove him.
I watch, wide-eyed, as he weaves around him. I’m always in awe of how fast he moves on the ice. Even in high school, he was a speed demon.
He looks up and catches eyes with me, then flashes a lopsided smile before racing down the ice.
My cheeks flush, and I bite back a smile. How can he be so smooth and sexy in the middle of an intense hockey game?
Anna, one of Blake’s friends and the girlfriend of his teammate Travis, elbows me gently. “I saw that,” she teases.
