Page 44 of Lock 'em Down

I snort. “Hardly. It’s something Rhett mentioned once.”

“Yes, he’s in the Hall of Fame. He and another former player, Noah Scotch, are the coaches. They’re actually family too. Merrick is Scotch’s father-in-law. They’re tough but fair.”

“That’s good. What was your first choice?”

“Probably California.”

“Because of the surfing?” I guess.

Leif grins. “There’s definitely that. And my brother Jensen plays for the Phantoms in LA.”

“Right. That’s wild that you all play hockey.”

“Yeah, but we’re all scattered. The good thing is we play each other during the season so it’s a built-in time to catch up and grab dinner.”

“That’s cool.”

Leif nods before wrinkling his nose. “Yeah, but I wish I got to see my sister more often.”

“Annie? In…New York City,” I recall.

“Yep. I see her when we play the Bears though.”

“I like that you come from a big family,” I admit.

“I love it, too. The only downside is there’s very little privacy. We’re all up in each other’s business and my mother is the worst repeat offender of all.”

I shrug. “Trust me, I can relate. No one is more meddlesome, or weighs in with more judgments, than my mom.”

“Cheryl does seem intense,” Leif replies, searching my eyes. He places down his burrito and cleans his fingers with a napkin. “I thought she’d push back on our marriage, not embrace it.”

“She worries about me and thinks if I settle down, I won’t be such a wild child.”

“You hardly seem wild. Spontaneous and carefree, sure. But not reckless,” he surmises.

I sigh. Wrinkle my nose. Admit a version of the truth. “I had a relationship, well, a situationship, that turned sour.”

Leif takes a swig of his drink. Clears his throat. His jawline tightens. “Recently?”

“About three years ago.”

“Were you together long?”

I snort. “A handful of weeks.”

Leif rears back in surprise. He clears his throat. “Something must have happened to leave such a big impression. Especially on your mom.” His tone is light. Testing. But his expression is carefully blank. Like he doesn’t want me to know what he’s really thinking.

I stall, taking another pull from my margarita. “It ended badly.” I clear my throat. “My mom doesn’t want me to repeat the same mistakes.”

Leif nods, but continues to watch me. “Were the mistakes life-altering?”

I bite my bottom lip, half wishing he would come right out and ask me what he wants to know and half wishing he would change the subject completely. “They could have been. And the fact that my reputation was salvaged hangs over my head like a massive warning sign, reminding me that sometimes spontaneity is impulsive. And sometimes carefree is reckless.”

Leif taps his fingertips against the ledge of the table. “Is that why you don’t want to be married to me? Do you think we’re more reckless than carefree?”

Shit. I freeze and stare at him. My insides twist and my heart hammers in my temples. I swore to myself that I’d be honest and direct in new relationships. That I would embrace adulting. “I don’t know yet.”

Leif nods. “That’s honest, Cam.”

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