Page 69 of Caught from Behind

She grins. “I bet.” She shakes her head, leaning back in the chair, expression sobering. “But, honey…”

“What?”

“This—dating, chatting on the phone, worrying about getting a man to confide in you, presumably confiding in him in return…”

My heart skips a beat. “I know.”

“It’s a big step for you.”

“It is,” I agree. “But…”

“He’s different,” she says.

“Yes.”

“Different like what I have with Lake?”

Worry grips my insides—because he might leave me, because he says he won’t, but…he still might, and?—

I’ve let the man in far deeper than I’ve ever let in anyone, aside from Nova and Knox.

I haven’t been vulnerable like this since?—

That worry turns to terror, but I’m not a fucking weakling. I shove it down. I’m an Adler. I can handle this. I can handle anything. “Yes,” I agree. “Like what you have with Lake.”

Her face gentles and she takes my hand. “Then trust in that.”

I close my eyes, exhale sharply, and open them again. “I’m trying to.”

Her fingers squeeze mine. “And remember that it’s okay to want something more than you think you deserve.”

My heart rolls over in my chest as she gives me the words I once gave her. “Novs?—”

“We can leave it there,” she murmurs, slipping her hand from mine. “Just…don’t forget the wise words of my best friend, okay? She’s pretty damn smart.”

“I think I rather agree?—”

But I don’t get to finish that thought because I catch a flash of movement behind Nova’s shoulder…

And my world tips on its axis.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Riggs

Thankfully, our game against the Gold went better than the one against the Grizzlies—meaning that we managed to squeak out a win in a shootout instead of getting obliterated in regular time.

I jab at the button for my floor, waiting for the elevator’s steel doors to slide closed, and ride the car up to the sixth story, where all of the team’s rooms are located for tonight.

Tomorrow, we have one more game against the Southern California Vipers and then we’ll be heading back up into the mountains.

Clear air instead of smog. Winding roads instead of multi-lane highways.

Ella instead of…a busty puck bunny one of my teammates is escorting down the hallway, disappearing into a room in the distance.

Shaking my head—because some things never change—I turn the other way, moving toward my own room, rounding the corner and?—

Halting.

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