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Warmth filled my chest. “I’m never doing anything without her again.”
I grabbed my shit, already looking forward to picking Piper up, when I saw the Grief Anonymous app notification on my phone. My chest tightened, knowing I needed to tell her, but how the hell would I explain she’d been sharing everything with me for the last year? Including how much what I did hurt her. How could I explain that even knowing what was happening, I still stayed away? Because it only made sense at the time; now I realized I was a fucking asshole.
I would tell her. Just not yet.
* * *
I was not prepared for Piper stepping out of her dorm. Her golden hair was around her shoulders, and she wore a deep purple, thigh-length dress that swung at the bottom and was tapered at the waist. I swallowed hard and clenched my teeth, resisting the urge to push her back into her room and pull it off her.
A slow grin curled my lips, and I wrapped her in my arms. “You look good, baby.”
Piper cleared her throat. “Hi.”
I kissed her forehead. “Hi, beautiful. How was the rest of your day?”
“Oh, it was fine. This guy kept texting me when I was in class though.” She pulled her lips in, fighting against her smile.
“Is that right?” I ran my nose along her neck, kissing the trail of goose bumps, and pulled her earlobe between my teeth. “Needy, is he?”
She sucked in a breath and tilted her head to give me more room. “Mmhmm, barely tolerable.”
“You love it.” I repeated her words back to her. She stilled, and my gaze snapped to hers, realizing what I said. “Don’t say anything.”
She rested her hand over my frantic heart. “You mean, do I love that one of the star hockey players has turned into an absolute simp for me?” She raised a brow playfully. “Yeah, a girl could get used to it.”
I captured her mouth in a desperate kiss. “You fucking better. Now, come on before I change my mind and we stay in tonight.”
She didn’t look completely opposed to that idea but headed toward the elevator without complaint.
* * *
Piper stared out the car window the entire fifteen-minute drive to the Brewhouse. Her shoulders pulled inward, and her hands wrapped around her elbows. I reached for one and entwined our fingers, kissing her palm.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
Her eyes darted to mine, and they shone a little too bright. “I’m happy.”
I stroked my thumb over her wrist in an arc, resting against her pulse. “Isn’t that a good thing?”
“I’ve been happy before. It’s kinda terrifying.” She sniffed. “What if it all falls apart again?”
“It won’t,” I replied, squeezing her hand.
“But what if? What if you realize whatever this is wasn’t what you actually wanted and—”
I kissed her words away and dropped my head to hers. “You have every right not to trust me, but baby, I’m going to fix that because there will never be anyone else for me than you.”
She pulled back and scanned my face before nodding. “Okay.”
“Okay.” I got out of the car and rushed around to her side, pulling it open and taking her hand, leading her to the restaurant’s door. “Ready?”
She took a deep breath. “How much shit do you think they’ll give you?”
I scoffed. “The better question is how much shit have I already gotten?”
Her gaze darted to mine. “Everyone knows?”
“You know that hockey players are the biggest gossips on the planet. From the second you showed up on our doorstep, there’s been bets going on about when I’d cave and beg to have you back.”
