Page 60 of Lost in You

“How’s that gonna work? She’s in Chicago and you’re in Minneapolis. Or on the road.”

I shrug. “I never said anything about it working. But no one knows me the way she does. No one else could get how I’m feeling right now. It’s like part of me is missing.”

A few seconds of silence pass.

“Does she feel the same way?”

“I have no idea. We never talked about it.”

“You should talk to her.”

I stand up and pace to the other side of the empty weight room. “I don’t even know what I’d be asking her for. It doesn’t feel fair to ask her to move when she has a life and a career in Chicago.”

“You can’t move there, though.”

“Yeah.” I look away. “I want to talk to her, but it feels more like an in-person conversation.”

“Are you sure things will be the same between the two of you when you’re living a regular life instead of a permanent honeymoon in a cabin? When you’re stinking up the bathroom and gone for road trips more than half of the time?”

I scoff. “You know me. I’m not a relationship guy. I don’t have the answers to any of this. I’m just telling you--”

There’s a knock on the locker room door, and Dane opens it and looks between us. “Time to go, ladies.”

We both stand up. Even though I’m not dressed in my uniform, I’m sitting with the team in an assistant coaching capacity tonight. One of the other assistants gave up his spot for me. I even had to borrow his dress clothes, and the shirt’s too tight in the arms and too big in the waist.

But I get to be with my team. They were insistent that I be with them tonight. Tomorrow, I’ll start practicing again and undergoing the tests I need to be cleared to play.

Dalton claps a hand on my shoulder as we walk out of the room.

I want to call Trin, but I don’t know what to say. I need to figure things out myself before I can talk to her about any of it.

I force it from my mind as we leave the locker room to head for the ice. I’ve made this walk many times, but it feels different this time. Like I’m not a member of the team but just there to support them.

The lights of the arena flash and blink brightly, the crowd roaring and the music pumping. It’s the polar opposite of the cabin, where soft music flowed from the record player as I danced with the woman whose body fit perfectly against mine, her cheek on my shoulder and her breath on my neck.

Impossible as it seems, or the next three hours, I have to focus on hockey.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Trinity

“Are you sure you want to be here?”

My coworker and friend, Genevieve, gives me a concerned look as she sips her coffee from the chair on the other side of my desk. Which is also kind of her desk because she was moved into my job a couple of months ago, but Gloria is letting us share the job for now.

“I have three months’ worth of catching up to do. And I can’t get a moment of peace at my apartment, anyway.”

There are a handful of reporters and photographers who have made it their mission to take photos of me and shout questions at me every time I go in and out of my apartment. I’m grateful for Gideon and Brielle, the bodyguards who switch off escorting me everywhere. Linc hired them because of Ronan, but I need them to fend off not just the reporters but also people I pass on the street who recognize me and take photos.

The story of our rescue is everywhere. I have a new phone, but I keep it set to silent and only use it for phone calls and texts because social media is overwhelming in every possible way right now.

“You need to come stay with me,” Genevieve says for at least the fifth time.

“Then they’ll just wait for me outside of your door.”

“They’ll have to go through me first.”

“I missed you.” I set down the latte she brought me a few minutes ago. “And I’m sorry, but I can’t drink this. I’m not used to this much sugar anymore.”

---