Page 173 of Power Play

“You nearly got your ass thrown out,” Cade said.

“The ref respected my passion.”

“The ref told you to shut the fuck up.”

“Same thing.”

Rider laughed while I shifted the strap of my duffel higher on my shoulder.

“Seriously, though, thanks for coming. I know you didn’t have to.”

Briggs pressed one hand over his heart. “I would cross any state line to watch you slaughter mother fuckers on the ice.”

“Then your evening was disappointing.”

Cade’s eyes moved over my face. He knew me well enough to see beneath whatever expression I had carried downstairs, and the humor disappeared from his.

“You hear anything yet?”

The question quieted the rest of them.

I looked toward the phone in my hand even though I already knew there wasn’t a new message waiting.

“Nothing that matters. She answers if I ask something basic, but that’s it.”

Briggs leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “What counts as basic?”

“Professor Brown. The weather. Whether the team food looks legally edible.” I rubbed my thumb over the edge of my phone. “Anything real gets ignored.”

Cade watched me. “How long has that been going on?”

“Three days.”

“You’re giving her the space?”

“That’s what I said I’d do.”

“You hate it,” Rider said.

“Yeah. I fucking hate it.”

The admission scraped on the way out.

Every clipped answer from Charm made the fight in my apartment feel more final. I had asked for six days because I wanted her to decide whether she could choose me when other people made that choice difficult. By the third day, some part of me had started wondering whether I already had the answer.

I looked toward the hotel windows. “This might be the end of it.”

Briggs stopped smiling.

Cade’s brows pulled together. “You believe that?”

“I don’t know what else I’m supposed to believe. She came to my apartment determined to fuck me, then disappeared emotionally the second I asked whether she wanted anything beyond what happened behind a closed door.”

“You know she wants more,” Cade said.

“No, I know she wants me fuck me. That’s different.”

Briggs leaned back. “Look at you being offended that a beautiful woman desperately wants your body. How difficult your life must be.”