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He's quiet for a long moment, and then he sighs again. "At least you picked someone worth a damn. Is he being good to you?"
"Very." I lick my lips. "He's the reason I'm calling, actually."
"You're in love with him," Nash says, not sounding surprised.
"Yes."
"I don't even have to ask to know how he feels. Knew this was coming when he told me he wasn't going to spy on you."
"That's why I'm calling."
"I won't apologize for being worried about you. You're up to something. I've known you for your entire life."
"Why did you skip the draft after the accident?"
"What?"
"Why did you skip the draft? You could have gone into the NHL that year, but you gave up your spot. It almost derailed your career," I remind him.
"You think it's your fault," he says quietly.
"I don't know," I whisper.
"I skipped the draft because I wasn't ready, Aspen. I won't say you didn't factor into my decision because you did, but you weren't the biggest part of it. We'd just lost Mom and Dad. Every damn time I was on the ice, I thought about how the accident was my fault."
"Nash." My heart sinks, tears springing to my eyes. "How can you possibly think that?"
"You don't remember, do you?" He seems surprised. "You guys were on the way to see me, Aspen. I knew it was the last game of my college career, and I wanted you guys there. Mom and Dad closed the bakeries and checked you out of school to drive down for the game."
"Nash, that doesn't make it your fault. You aren't the reason the brakes failed." Tears stream down my cheeks, my heart hurting for him. He's carried this for so long. God, no wonder he's so overprotective. He thinks he's the reason I almost died.
"I know," he says quietly. "Logically, I know that. But back then? It's all I thought about every time I hit the ice. That's why I skipped the draft. I would have washed out my first year had I gone through with it."
"I always thought you skipped it because of me." I dab at my eyes.
"It wasn't you, Aspen. Why are you asking this now? What's on your mind?"
"I'm buying the coffee shop, Nash," I confess. "And I don't want you to give up hockey to come chasing after me. My future is here, but yours has always been on the ice."
"You don't want me there." He can't hide the hurt in his voice.
"It's not about me. It's about you. You've spent the last twelve years looking after me. It's beyond time for you to have a life of your own." I expel a breath. "This is where I belong. It's where I'm happy. And I'm in his hands here."
"You mean Noah's hands."
"Yes," I acknowledge with a small smile. "But not just Noah. Jack is here, looking out for me. The sheriff is looking out for me. My friends and their husband's look out for me. This is my home now." The people here will never replace Nash in my heart. They'll never replace our parents. But they've become family too.
"This is really what you want?"
"It is," I say, my voice clear and firm.
Nash expels a heavy breath. "Okay."
"Okay? Just like that?" I ask, highly suspicious.
My brother chuckles. "I know you, baby sis. I know when you've made your mind up about something. This time, you actually believe what you're telling me. You aren't just saying it like you have been for the past two years."
"I have not just been saying it."
