Page 145 of Interference

My heart sank. Of course there had to be something. I knew this was too good to be—

“I want us to be able to go public.”

I tensed. “You… Are you serious?”

Anthony nodded. “I’m tired of putting on a show just to keep my professional life on the rails. I think…” He chewed his lip. “I think I want to tell the team management. Let them know Simon and I broke up.” He paused, then closed his eyes and released a long breath. “God, now that I’ve said it out loud—I need to do it.”

“But what about your career?”

“I think if I sit everyone down,” he explained, “Coach, the GM, the PR director—whoever. If Simon and I sit them down, explain we’ve been basically separated for months now without it seriously affecting the team—I mean, it’s more or less what Simon had in mind, just now instead of at the end of the season.”

“How do you think that’ll go?”

“It’s hard to say. I think Simon is right that if they realize we’ve functioned as exes without issue, then we should be okay. We stop rooming together. We stop with the charade of a happy couple.” He half-shrugged. “Nothing on the ice changes, because nothing on the ice has changed.”

“What if they don’t take it well, though?”

Anthony released a breath. “Then… I mean, getting traded or waived is always a possibility anyway. They might still decide to stick to their guns.”

“But they might also decide everything is fine as is.”

He nodded. “It’s a risk. But I think I’m going to bring it up to Simon tomorrow.”

“What if he’s not onboard?”

Anthony pursed his lips. “Honestly? I’ve been following his lead from the start on this. He’s been in the driver’s seat for everything. I’m making the decision this time. Especially since it isn’t like he’ll be the one who gets traded if it blows up.” He ran his thumb alongside mine on my chest. “It isn’t much different from what we’d already planned to do—just sooner. And… so I can go public with you.”

“You really want us to go public?” Admittedly, the thought of being out in public the way someone in his world had to be—that was intimidating.

“We don’t have to make a big thing out of it,” he said. “I just want us to be able to go out and not worry if someone thinks we’re together.” A small smile formed. “I want us to be able to go out and be obviously a couple, you know?”

Our earlier conversation was still fresh in my mind, but that didn’t stop me from being blown away by those words. That being visibly a couple was something he wanted. With me. This beautiful man who could have anyone was onboard with people knowing—looking at us and knowing—he was with me, warts and all.

“I want that, too.” My voice came out surprisingly thick. “I’m just amazed that you do.”

His smile melted my heart. “I think you’ll get used to the idea.” Then he pushed himself up for a long, lazy kiss.

I hoped I didn’t get used to it. I wanted to be constantly in awe that someone this perfect thought I was worthy and desirable.

For the first time in years, I was grateful for the painful twists and turns my life had taken. They still sucked, and I would probably always be angry over some of them.

But there was more gratitude and peace than there’d been in a long, long time.

Because by some miracle, all those painful twists and turns had led me into Anthony’s arms.

Chapter 41

Anthony

I hadn’t been this nervous since the first time Simon had picked me up after he’d moved out. This was a different kind of nerves, though. Instead of worrying about the eggshells I was walking on, I was nervous about the bomb I was about to drop.

As I slid into the passenger side, my stomach roiled and my heart pounded. I couldn’t look at Simon. I didn’t want to talk about this—not now, not ever—but I needed to.

So, before we’d even reached the 520 bridge, I took a deep breath. “Listen, um…” I played with the edge of the seat belt to occupy my hands. “I can’t do this anymore.”

Simon glanced at me, eyebrows up. “Can’t do what?” The unexpected note of hopefulness in his voice made me wince. Probably should’ve worded that a little differently so he didn’t read the wrong thing into it.

As gently as I could, I said, “I can’t keep pretending we’re together.”

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