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When my teeth sink into my lower lip, his gaze dips to the movement. Something subtle changes in his expression as his eyes sharpen.
“Well?” he adds gruffly.
It seems far safer to keep my private thoughts to myself. At least for the time being.
“I had a lot of fun tonight,” I say instead. “Thank you.”
He drags his gaze to mine. “Yeah, me too.”
With a snort, I roll my eyes. The tension that had gathered in me gradually loosens. “Doubtful.”
While getting up on stage and belting out a song will end up being the highlight of my month, it’s nothing for Ryder. He glides onto the ice every week during the season to thousands of fans cheering his name.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” He shifts and stretches his arm across the back of my leather seat.
“I’m sure what happened tonight was pretty tame by your standards.” I glance at the digital clock on the dash. “This would be considered an early night for you. I’m willing to bet that most of your evenings end with someone sliding into your bed.”
There’s a moment of silence as the tension ratchets up between us. I wish I could steal the words from the air, but that’s impossible. For better or worse, they’re out there.
“Not always.”
A kernel of longingblooms in the pit of my belly. Before I can inspect it more carefully, I stomp it out. Feeling anything other than friendship for Ryder would be dangerous.
Not to mention, foolish.
Especially since it would be all one sided.
I might be a lot of things, but stupid isn’t one of them.
“And how do most of your nights end?” His fingers lightly strum my shoulder and a sizzle of awareness shoots through me. I hate to admit just how much my brain short circuits at his slightest touch.
“Studying,” I whisper.
He nods as if unsurprised by my response. “Your nose has always been buried in a book.”
I gulp. “I’ve wanted to be a doctor ever since Mom…” My voice trails off.
“Was diagnosed with breast cancer,” he finishes softly.
“Yeah. I want to help women like her. It was terrible when we thought there was a possibility we could lose her. That’s not something I can imagine.” My heart clenches as I blink away the wetness that gathers in my eyes. Mom has always been my rock. And during that difficult period, I tried my damnedest to return the favor and be there for her. It’s one of the reasons I chose to attend school at Western. I wanted to stick close to home.
His fingers curl around the top of my shoulder and squeeze gently. “But she’s good now. She’s been in remission for a couple of years.”
I nod and try to clear the thick emotion that has gathered in my throat. It feels like a knot is wedged there, making it impossible to breathe.
“You’ve always been so driven.”
“Is that a euphemism for boring?” I ask, attempting to lighten the heaviness that has descended.
One side of his mouth hitches. “No. You’ve always been focused on attaining your goals. There’s nothing boring about that.”
“The same could be said for you.” Even when there weren’t team practices, Ryder was at the arena with Maverick and Dad, working on stick skills and speed.
He glances away to stare out the windshield. Something I never thought I’d hear from him invades his voice.
Doubt.
“Yeah. Who knows if that’ll happen or not.” He gives me a bit of side eye before adding quietly, “I’m kind of screwed if it doesn’t.”
