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“Oh, I’ve always tried to stay that way.” Ashton nods. “My Mother would bring me down a size or two if I got too big for my skates.”
They both laugh.
Taylor raises his eyebrows at me while they chow down on some of the tapas that have just been laid out before us. His easy smile tugs at his lips as he watches me eat some tortilla chips, dipping them in salsa.
“What are you doing after this?” he asks me while Maddie and Ashton chat away in their own little world. “Are you going to the hospital?”
“Yeah. I’ll probably go home first and change.” I nod. “Mom hasn’t left his side.”
He smiles ruefully. “Speaking of which, I have to go visit my Mom after this.”
My eyes momentarily grow wide, knowing he’s going to be right next door.
All this proximity to him is doing things to me.
I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that kiss. And I still don’t know what prompted me to do that right there and then.
My feelings are coming out of the shadows. Now that we’re on speaking terms again, and everything is going quite comfortably, it’s like I’m slowly opening up. I think he’s doing the same thing.
I need to talk to him about the kiss. His messages before he left for New York indicated he wanted to talk about it too.
I wish I could say I’m sorry about it, but I’m not.
Of course it felt strange at first, with it being so long since we even spoke, much less kissed. But it also felt good. So damn good.
“I hope things go okay with you both,” I say.
“I have to broachthatsubject with her, Em, just so you know.”
I nod. And I hope he isn’t too hard on his mom, as much as that time makes me cringe when I think about it. She doesn’t need any added stress right now.
Maddie seems to think that’s awfully forgiving of me, but I guess I’ve had quite a lot of time to think about it. Time makes things soften a little bit, so it doesn’t hurt quite as much as it did when it was happening.
I’m not the kind of person to hold something against someone for the rest of my life.
“I understand,” I say to him.
“I’ll come over and see you later if you’re home?”
I smile mid bite of a tortilla, and he takes a swig of his drink as he watches me intently.
His deep eyes hardly ever leave mine the entire time we’re there.
We don’t stay too long, as the guys have a team meeting before sundown, and Ashton is complaining he’s so sore that every muscle needs work on from the team masseuse. That earns a look from Maddie over at me. I try not to spill my drink.
I can only imagine what she’s thinking about his muscles and any form of massage.
“You guys must be pumped for the finals?” I ask them.
“It’s a dream come true,” Taylor says, taking a swig of his beer.
“We really came back in that final round.” Ashton shakes his head. “It was pretty brutal. Friday we’ll be off to play in Vegas.”
Maddison’s eyes bug wide. “Wow, really?”
“Yeah, we play the first two games here,” he tells her. “Then we head to Vegas to play against the Heat for game three.”
“Must be cool seeing all the different cities.”
