Page 13 of Breakaway

One of the guys commented, “You ready, T? Better hustle, I hear they make you skate laps if you’re late!”

Travis flashed her a flirty grin. “Sadly, I have to run.” He leaned over the counter and quickly placed a kiss on her cheek.

Morgan’s cheeks burned at the impromptu workplace PDA.

“Talk to you later,” he said, before he hurried off with the two other guys. He looked back and waved. “If you’re not early, then you’re late!”

Morgan frowned, deep in thought. One of the two guys Travis had left with was very familiar to her. It took a few minutes, but eventually she recognized him as Noah Rodgers, the professional hockey player. Last she’d heard, he played for Nashville, but now that she thought about it, when her uncle had stayed with them for her graduation, he had talked about the Renegades looking to sign Noah.

She watched as Travis greeted the two men, and the three of them walked towards Rink One locker rooms. The same locker rooms her uncle was in with the Renegades.

Morgan sweetly touched her cheek where Travis had kissed her, and suddenly her happiness went cold, and instead panic ran through her. Her stomach twisted, as she turned to the computer and quickly pulled up the Renegades roster. No Travis was listed.

Still confused why Travis was going into the Renegades locker room, her stomach settled, but she quickly realized that she didn’t know his last name, and nor did he know hers. If the other guys hadn’t called him Travis, she’d be wondering if that was even his real name.

All of her life, her uncle had been her main male role model, and he’d always been overly protective of her, especially when it came to dating. But his living on the East Coast, and her being on the West, had made things easier on her. If her uncle had had his way, she’d date a med student and marry a surgeon. Good thing he hadn’t known about the slew of skater boys, surfers, and high school hockey players she had dated.

But something in her gut left her feeling that she needed to dig a little more. “Katie, do we have a roster for the Renegades morning skate?”

“Sure,” Katie said, looking up from her computer. “It’s over here.” Katie grabbed a manilla folder from beside her computer, pulled out a piece of paper, and handed it to Morgan.

Morgan skimmed over the list, searching for only one name, hoping she wouldn’t find it.

Three names were handwritten at the bottom of the typed list.

Noah Rodgers. Ben Fischer. And Travis Anderson.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Travis

As soon as practice was over, Travis showered quickly and changed. He grabbed his hockey bag and ran his hand through his still-damp hair. All he was concerned about was meeting up with Morgan for lunch. As he hurried through the busy lobby to the receptionist desk, his heart raced.

“Hey.” He grinned at Morgan as he leaned on the desk, attempting to catch his breath. “Ready?”

“I am,” Morgan answered. But her eyes weren’t shining like usual, not even a glimmer of a smile. Something was off.

“Are you okay?” he asked cautiously.

“Yeah, sure. I’ll be done in a second,” Morgan said with a shrug. She finally flashed him a small smile, after getting a look from the other girl at the desk.

“Okay, great. Um, I’ll pull my truck up to the sidewalk,” Travis said, then hurried out to his car. He tossed his hockey bag in the back, the whole time wondering what was bothering her.

He pulled his truck up to the door, windows open, and the radio on. He got out and stood by the passengers’ door, leaning against the truck, arms folded across his chest, and waited.

After only a few minutes, Morgan emerged from the building, looking amazing as always. But the lost-in-thought look was still on her face.

He grinned and opened the door for her, because he was raised to always be a gentleman.

“Wow, not only curbside service, but you’re a gentleman, too,” she commented, as she gracefully got into the car. She adjusted her seat and reached for her seatbelt.

He couldn’t help but continue to smile, as he shut the door and hurried to his side of the car. They drove up the road in silence. Not an awkward silence, just more of a nothing-to-talk-about silence, or so he hoped. She did return his smile when he looked over at her and grinned, so that was a good sign. Yeah, maybe it was an awkward silence.

Pulling into a parking spot, he exhaled, thankful they were at the café.

“Ever been here?” he asked, as they entered the dining room.

Morgan shook her head. They were quickly seated, and they ordered water to drink.

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