Page 40 of Slapshot Bride

I release a shaky breath.

Because whether either of us likes it or not, this decision still has to be made.

“I have to go. I can't do this to you.”

“Okay,”

His response shatters me more than I expected. It’s simple and gives me the freedom I’ve always wanted, but then a part of me freezes.

Maybe it’s the part that has believed after two days with this man, that he’s the one person who sees me and is willing to slowly anchor me into my new path. But he doesn’t have to. As it is, he’s done more than enough.

I nod, and look down.

“Where? What’s the plan?”

My eyes shoot to his. The question throws me off. I try to speak, to say something meaningful, give him a run down of a plan I don’t have. Nothing comes out.

That is the entire problem. I could walk away from here right now, and end up back in Preston’s home because there’s nowhere to escape his presence. Not with my entire life tied to him.

Mason could have been the obvious answer but he's also the second place Preston will look. A hotel needs a card I can't use without a flare.

“I don't know,” I say honestly, losing the fight.

The tears I’d willed away, trickle down my cheeks, now coming in torrents.

Without a word, strong arms wrap around me, and my head nuzzles into his neck. He smells like the rink and clean cotton and the cedar underneath that I noticed on his hoodie the first night.

His palm moves in slow, soothing circles across my back.

A few minutes later, I finally manage to pull myself together enough to step back.

When I look up, an unreadable expression flashes across his face. His jaw is tight, his mouth pressed into a thin line.

I drag in a shaky breath, that does nothing for my bunched shoulders. The words that follow, have me breaking eye contact, because I simply can’t do it. I can’t look in his eyes and say them.

“I can't stay here, Easton. You have a career. There are photos of us. And the kind of man Preston is, you don't understand. He told me, in writing, this morning, that he's going to make decisions for both of us. I can't be the woman whose mess takes your life from you.”

“Riley… sweetheart.”

My chest constricts from hearing his voice alone. I can feel the uncertainty.

“Look at me, please.”

I look at him.

“We’re staying home for the rest of the week. Nobody is going to find us. The team has it handled. I’ve already spoken to everyone who needs to be spoken to.”

His gaze locks on mine.

“You’re not leaving. You’re not going to ruin my life.”

The muscle in his jaw flexes.

“The only way you ruin my life right now is by walking out that door before either of us has had a chance to think.”

“B-but you have a career.”

He takes my hands, and his warmth melts into me.