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I didn’t kiss her.That was the win.
I left her apartment knowing full well I should never have gone over there, but the way I saw it, the rules didn’t give me a whole lot of choice. We needed to talk about Novek, and maybe I should have brought up what Morgan said, but I didn’t want her to know that one of the guys was on to us. Or me, anyway.
I could handle Morgan.
What I couldn’t handle was the idea of her getting hurt. I didn’t want her to get checked on the ice, or offended by a bunch of athletes. I didn’t want her to get fired.
I wanted to protect her from all of it.
It felt like every second we spent together we got closer, and we weren’t even trying. It just happened. Like breathing.
She was right, we shouldn’t go out for dinner. I was enough of a name in town that people would want pictures and then we’d be in real trouble.
Well, she would, and the injustice of that made me want to smash something.
Novek, maybe.
I paused at the bottom step and looked over my shoulder to the apartment directly below hers.
There, real quick, the curtain drifted back over the window as if it had just been moved. Creepy neighbor guy was seeing if I was leaving or staying overnight. I considered the trouble I could get into, especially if he had a phone and was already recording, but I couldn’t leave without saying something.
I could see the headlines now:
NHL MVP Threatens Innocent Civilian.
Coach would be furious, and if I had to guess, Liv wouldn’t be all that thrilled either.
But whatever, I had a little aggression that needed to be dealt with.
I walked over to the door and pounded on it. He opened the door far enough that I could see the chain was still in place. One heavy push and it would snap, but I was just here to offer a warning.
“What?” he snapped, his nose just under the chain. His beady eyes told me he was shitting a brick.
“Lose interest in the lady upstairs,” I told him. “She’s not for you.”
“I’m not-”
“This is a warning,” I said, not bothering to hear his explanations. “Next time won’t be. We understand each other?”
He nodded and shut the door.
I made my way to my Bronco and got inside. I still didn’t like it. Leaving her here in this shitty apartment complex didn’t feel right. I owned a penthouse condo in downtown Portland. Maybe I would check out the building and see if there was anything open, where she could stay.
Maybe, as in I definitely would.
That decision made, I drove home feeling a little lighter.
9
The Next Day
Liv
There were no stinky gloves on my desk the next day. There was something worse.
A pair of hockey skates in my size.
With a note from our equipment manager.
