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Looking up, I see the hopefulness in her eyes, and it makes me sick. She has spent the last couple months tormenting me and the people I care most about, and here she is looking at me like a lovesick puppy? Fuck out of here with that shit.
“Maybe you two only look good on paper,” she says.
Fuck that. She looks good on me.
Running my fingers through my hair, I look around at the empty bar. “Do you think you could handle things here for a bit? I need to find a divorce lawyer. It’s time I let go of this once and for all and move the fuck on.”
Her grin widens at the idea of that. “Yeah, definitely. Go do what you need to.”
“Thanks, Riles,” I tell her.
Just as I reach the door, she calls my name and I turn to face her.
“Just know I’m here if you need me.”
I nod once. “I know you are.”
As I walk out, I nearly gag at even the concept of being nice to her. I have plenty of experience at playing nice when I don’t want to. I spent years on a hockey team with Isaac when all I wanted to do was see a puck knock his teeth out. But being nice to Riley when all I want to do is rip her limb from limb—that was a challenge.
IT'S BEEN A WHILEsince I’ve been here. The rink was a second home to me, but when Laiken left, being here never felt right. There was always something missing. And that absence made the hole she left in my heart that much more painful. So, I avoided it—until now.
I drive around to the back and park my truck before getting out. The back door is propped open with a hockey puck, and I kick it out of the way as I step inside, letting the door lock behind me. Laiken is standing with her back to me, talking to Cam and Mali, but the moment she hears the door shut, she turns around.
It only takes a second before she’s running full speed toward me and jumps directly into my arms. I catch her with ease, pressing her against the glass and holding her close as I kiss her.
“Oh my God, that was hell,” I tell her. “You need to know I didn’t mean a single fucking word of that.”
She nods quickly, kissing me once more. “Mali told me as soon as we left.”
The only way to make it believable enough was for Laiken’s reactions to be genuine. She couldn’t know the plan, and that was the worst fucking part about it, because as she broke down in front of me, it was real to her. And I never want to hurt her like that.
“So, the card you left on the counter for the divorce lawyer?”
“All part of it,” I promise. “There is no me without you, Laiken. I may not be sure of a lot, but I’m sure of that.”
She sighs in relief. “Good, because holy fuck. That felt like my insides were tearing themselves apart.”
“I’m familiar with the feeling,” I drawl, but there’s nothing venomous behind it.
Like I said, I completely understand now why she left to protect me. I was considering doing the same thing. But she could tell, and she called me the fuck out on it so fast, I didn’t even have a chance to make a decision before she was wiping the option clear off the table.
We kiss once more before I set her down. Her fingers lace with mine as we walk over to Cam and Mali.
“All good?” I ask.
Cam nods. “Everything is in place. Now we just need to see who she runs to.”
When the fight between Laiken and me broke out, every move I made was intentional. Especially when I walked toward the other side of the bar. We knew that Riley would be completely entranced by it, and that gave Mali the opportunity to get her phone and plug it into hers, transferring the spyware we need over to it.
“Are you sure there’s someone else involved?” Laiken asks.
Cam nods. “Killing someone and moving a body is hard. Riley wouldn’t have been able to do it alone. Someone is helping her.”
Mali hums. “After what Theresa told us, my money is on Monty’s mom.”
“The most that woman ever lifts is her pocketbook,” Laiken counters.
Tilting her head to the side, Mali sees her point. “Her dad then. Maybe they made up after he lost one kid. May as well find his back-up, right?”
