Page 55 of Home Ice

I hear a sigh on the other side of the door—her sigh—so I take a step back. Any second, the lock will squeak and click, then the door will swing open. If I see her face to face, I can make her understand this isn't a big deal. I wait. But there's no squeak or click.

"Lily." I look around the hallway to make sure there's still no one around. There isn't. But there are dozens of doors just like hers, and that gives me an idea. I walk up to the door, sure that she's standing right there. "We need to talk," I whisper to her. "I need to talk because I apparently fucked up, but if you don't answer your door, I'm going to knock on the door across the hall. And the ones beside you. Until someone answers. Maybe I'll knock on all of them because I need to talk to someone. I'd rather it be you, but if it's a businesswoman who's in town for this weekend’s Grain Elevators of the Future exhibit, then she'll be the one who gets to hear that I'm scared I might have ruined everything between you and me."

"No, I'm ruined because of you," Lily says from behind the door. "You get to go on like nothing happened while I'm the one who suffers."

I rest my head against the doorframe. "You're not ruined. Please open the door so I can explain."

She rips the door open. I expected her to be crying. I thought her eyes would be bloodshot. But they're not. She doesn't look sad. She looks pissed, and it scares the hell out of me because I don't know what this means for us.

"You cost me my job. Probably my career. All because you can't keep your mouth shut. At least the sex was good when you went down on me, so I'll always have that, I guess."

I press my hand over her mouth before she can say any more. "Lily, please. You don't know who's in these rooms. Can we talk? Preferably without broadcasting all our secrets?"

"A little late for that," she hisses. "You were the one who was going to go door-to-door and tell them all. That's probably what you did with your teammates. Is there a players’ group chat where you announce these things? You all brag about the latest girl you fucked?" Somehow, she seems even angrier when she's whispering. "You need to go. Meghan could be back at any time."

She tries to push me out of the way so she can shut the door, as if she could budge me when I don't want to move. And right now, I'm not leaving until we work this out. "You know me better than that. I didn't tell anyone. It is my fault, but I never told them. They figured it out because I couldn't hide it."

"Bullshit, Brant. We're never close to each other when we're around them. I don't even work with you at practices, just in case."

"They said they can tell because I always look for you. And Milo thinks I get some goofy-ass grin on my face every time I see you. That part sounds made up."

"Your grin is extremely goofy looking."

I know she wants me to think she's being mean, but I hear the tiny difference in her tone. "I swear, Jams. The last thing I want is for you to ever get hurt. I never told anyone. I would have kept this secret as long as I needed to. If I could."

"I hate you calling me that."

"No you don't. You just won’t admit that you like it." I rest a forearm against the doorframe, leaning into it and taking up the entire opening. I try to glower but in a sexy way. It made sense when Kayden described it, but now that I'm trying it, I'm worried I look like I'm casually pissing myself. But I stick with it. The boys say women love it when guys do things like this. Even Poppy swears it's how he got his husband.

"What are you doing? Stop it. You look like you're about to sneeze on me." Could be worse. I stand up straight and try to make my face look normal, but it's hard to make your face look normal when you're trying to make it look normal. "Other than that weird look, the rest was kinda hot." She traces a finger down my chest. My cock that's been bored with my night so far is suddenly interested. "We can't talk though. Meghan really will be coming back."

"We can't talk here, but if you go out with me, we can." I know it's a long shot, but I'm going to try. "I promise you won’t lose your job because of us. You can talk to the guys and see for yourself. They won't say anything. Or we can go somewhere else. Alone. Anywhere. You name it."

She blows out a long breath. "Is it stupid that I believe you?"

"No. I'll never let anything bad happen to you, remember?"

She taps the side of my shin with her toes. "You let me sprain my ankle, asshole."

"Just to get you in my bed."

"But you didn't let me do anything other than sleep in it."

I lean back and scan the hallway. Still no one around, so I give her a quick kiss. "Don't forget what happened on the counter. That was just step one." The way her cheeks color let me know it will be a long time before she forgets what happened. Once we get back home, I'm going to make sure she knows that wasn't it for me. "Is that a yes? Let me take you somewhere tonight. Just us."

"Brant, I'm a mess." She looks down at herself, and my eyes follow hers. She's wearing baggy white sweatpants and a pink hoodie. "It would take too long to get ready."

"You're perfect just like this. What do you say? I still have two hours before curfew."

The way she pulls in her lower lip tells me she's trying to fight it, but she's just about to give in. Unfortunately, the elevator chooses this exact moment to chime. I step out of the doorway just as I hear it slide open, and I look down the hall. Fuck. It's Meghan. I flash a quick look at Lily to let her know I've got this and then turn toward the other woman. "Here she is now. Great timing, Meghan. You're just the person I was looking for. Did you pack any of that new Dragon Skin tape for this road trip? I think I might re-tape my blade before the game tomorrow. See what I think of it."

The way she's wobbling down the hall on those heels, combined with that glassy look in her eyes, makes me think stick tape is probably the last thing on Meghan's mind right now, but after a moment to gather her thoughts, she tells me there should be a few rolls in one of the cases.

"Great, I'll get that from you when we get to the arena tomorrow. You ladies have a good night." I don't dare look at Lily before I walk away.

CHAPTER 37

IT'S NOT SMALL. IT'S FULL OF CHARACTER

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