Page 45 of Pucking Never

I quickly tell her about my interaction with Camille and what the woman had told me.

“I ruined it,” I whimper, clutching my phone tighter and shaking my head. “I ruined it, Sky. I had a good guy and I jumped to conclusions. Why would Jensen give me a second chance when I didn’t give him one?”

Skyler releases a long breath and gently says, “Sweetie, you need to talk to Jensen. You need to explain everything to him. Most of all, you have to stop lumping people into groups and making assumptions about them. It’s only getting in the way of your own happiness.”

Her words are firm but fair. I know she’s right. If I hadn’t been so insistent in my belief that all hockey players were womanizing jerks, I would have given Jensen a chance to explain. I wouldn’t have run away and hidden from him.

“I’ll talk to him,” I murmur. “I’ll make this right.”

“That’s my girl,” Skyler declares, sounding proud. “Go get your man!”

I release a shaky breath and hang up the call. I take a few more minutes to gather my courage before I finally leave the bathroom. As I’m making my way back to the press box, I hear the final buzzer and roar of the crowd and pause. The game’s already over? I’ve been so preoccupied I lost track of time. I change direction and head for the locker rooms instead. I need to talk to Jensen as soon as possible, and if that means walking into a room full of sweaty hockey players to catch him, so be it.

The crowd is starting to make its way out of the stadium and I have to fight against the current a little bit as I make my way to the locker rooms. I slip down a hallway free of fans and hurry along, but as I draw near the players’ area, I hear angry voices bouncing off the cement brick walls. When I turn the corner at the end of the hallway, I spot Jensen in a heated conversation with an older man I don’t recognize.

“I’m a grown-ass man, Dad!” I hear Jensen snarl. “I know exactly what I want. It’s not your career or Camille. I have my own career, and a woman I’m madly in love with…”

I gasp and Jensen looks up and spots me. His eyes go wide.

“Grace?”

Chapter Twenty-Three

JENSEN

The team is pumped up, excited about our win, especially since it feels like redemption from our loss on the road. They're all whooping and jostling each other as we make our way from the ice to the locker room. I trail behind the rest of the team, unable to match their exuberance.

All I can think about is Grace and that look of devastation on her face when she saw Camille at my door. She refuses to take my calls or answer my texts, and so far, I’ve been too much of a coward to go over to her place and talk to her face-to-face. I need to find her, though. I can’t lose her. She’s the woman I want, and I’m not going to let this misunderstanding tear us apart.

I need to figure out a way to win her back.

Entering the locker room, I strip out of my gear until I’m just in my pants. As I’m reaching for my towel to head to the showers, Wilder suddenly approaches and pats me on the shoulder.

“Dude, your dad’s here and wants to talk to you,” he says. “He’s waiting outside the locker room.”

My heart flips in my chest and I stammer, “Oh… oh, all right. Thanks, man.”

My dad? What’s my dad doing here?

Wilder nods and moves away, heading for the showers himself. I immediately head for the locker room door and out into the hallway.

The moment Dad’s eyes land on me, he snaps, “What is this I hear about you banning Camille from coming to see you?”

Breathing out in frustration, I slowly approach him. “Dad, I’m not talking to you about this now.”

“No, you are,” he insists, his tone angry. “I’m sick and tired of your shortsightedness, Jensen. If you don’t start doing what I tell you, I’m cutting you off from your trust fund?—”

“I don’t care!” I exclaim, my frustration boiling over. “It’s my life, dad, and I’m going to live it how I want! I don’t want your money and I don’t want the plans you’ve made for me.”

“You’re being foolish,” dad hisses. “Why can’t you have Tyler’s sense of reason?”

“Tyler might be content coming to work for you when his football career is over,” I growl, “but that’s his choice. It’s not what I want!”

“You don’t know what you want.”

I take a deep breath and wrestle my emotions under control.

When I’m ready, I look back at him and cooly say, “If you keep pushing me into being someone I don't want to be, you will lose me for good. I do love you, but not at the expense of my happiness. So please, take me as I am and be proud of me for who I am, not who you want me to be. I have my own career, and a woman I’m madly in love with…”

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