AllFreeNovel
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Dang it, I know the harm. Which is why I’m not going.
No more accidental meetings, and definitely no accidentally-on-purpose ones either.
Only, even as I think it, I find myself scanning the windows between the rink and the main hall. Ugh, and that’s totally a pinch of disappointment at seeing the glass free of broody NHL players.
George raises a brow. “What, is it Ted?” She lowers her voice, even though the girls have already gone into the locker room and the Zamboni has started its first loop around the ice. “So he likes you, so what? I already told him to forget it. The hockey fanboy is too strong with him. But he’s fine just being friends.”
“Wait, what?” I shoot a look toward the hall leading to the other rink. “Ted?”
“Yeah. Ted. Light-brown hair, nice eyes, hangs on your every word. Always offering you a ride home from practice. Asks you to grab a drink every time he sees you.Ted.” Shaking her head, she throws the phone into her bag and slings it over her shoulder. “Okay, so it’s not Ted. There isn’t a game tonight. What’s up?”
A part of me wants to tell her. Spill the whole shady story right here. George is one of my closest friends. She’s been there through my best days when we were winning championships in college and my worst when the doctors told me I was done playing. I love her. I trust her.But…This thing with Vaughn isn’t something she understands. And I’m already confused enough about my own feelings without bringing hers into the mix.
“Earth to Natalie?” she sings, waving at me like I might have lost her in the two feet of space between us. “You okay?”
“Sorry! Sorry.” I meet her eyes and give her the closest thing to the truth I can scrounge up. “Actually, I didn’t get much sleep last night.” So true. So, so worth it. “You guys have fun tonight, but I think I’m just going to go home and crash.”
For a minute, I think she’s going to call me on my lie, but she pulls me into a hug instead. With a last smile, she heads out and I duck into the coaches’ locker room to grab my shoes. Then drop my skates at the sharpening hutch. I check the schedule pinned to the wall, to see who has ice when.
Killing time, I realize with another guilty pang. Waiting to see if Vaughn might turn up. If maybe he found another excuse to be where I was. To see me again. But he hasn’t… and that’s a good thing.
I know it is, even if I can’t stop thinking about him.
Chapter 12
Vaughn
I’m not a prick.
That’s the excuse I’m going with as I take the short walk up to Natalie’s door, my pulse jacked like the puck’s about to drop.
We had sex. Hot. Wet. Blow-your-mind sex.
And I’m not looking for a repeat.
I’m not.
I’d have to be a total fuckwad if I showed up here intent on backing her against another wall and catching her breathy moans with my mouth when it’s been less than twenty-four hours since we agreed we were only going to do it the one time.
This is about making sure she’s okay after last night. Because despite what our track record would suggest, I don’t get the feelingcasualis her style. So it would be shitty not to check in.
It’s not about seeing her again. It’s about doing the right thing.
I won’t even go inside. Hell, maybe I won’t even have the option. Her lights are on, but it’s Friday at ten p.m. She’s young. Single. Has a life full of family and friends.
She’s probably not even home.
I rake my hands through my hair. What was I thinking showing up at her place like this?
I should have called. Texted.
Scratch that. I have no idea how her notifications are set up and wouldn’t want to risk my mug popping up on her screen while she’s hanging out with her douche brother playing Scrabble. And yeah,Scrabble, because that’s a hell of a lot easier to swallow than the more likely scenario where she’s out at some bar getting hit on by every dude with luck enough to share space with her.
I swallow past the fist stuck in my throat at the idea of all those guys moving on her when she’s—
Damn it, she’s not mine.
I ought to leave. Turn my ass around and go home. Get some rest for the upcoming games.
