Page 5 of The Breaking Point

Love,

Grace

BRADY

An hour after running into Grace, I sat at a bar, waiting for my teammate and friend Mac to arrive. Mac had always been the one to arrive before me until he’d fallen in love with Elodie.

I had a feeling the two of them had gotten busy before Mac was about to leave. I grimaced thinking about it. I was happy for my friend, but I was also unbelievably jealous—not that I’d ever fucking admit it to him.

I was fond of this dive bar off Sunset Boulevard, mostly because nobody bothered us here. Nobody gave two fucks that I was a hockey player. People kept to themselves. Even the dreaded paparazzi left us alone here. Or maybe they just hadn’t figured out that so many of us from the Blades came here on the regular.

How the fuck did no one tell me Grace was coming back?I thought for the millionth time.

Running into her had given me the shock of my goddamn life. Running into her when I’d been totally naked? Christ, I’d been torn between laughter and arousal just from her being a few feet away from me.

Grace Dallas had grown up. As a kid she’d been chubby, with braces and glasses. She’d lost the braces, gotten tall and slim, and wore glasses only when she thought no one would see her.

At least, that was how she’d been as a teenager. The woman standing in front of me in that locker room was a stranger.

A fucking gorgeous and sexy blond woman. She had a self-confidence she hadn’t had the last time I’d seen her.

Then again, Grace had always confused me. One second, she’d been shy, then the next, a vixen who Satan himself must’ve sent to tempt me.

It didn’t matter that Grace was an adult now. She was still off-limits. When he caught me talking to her, Coach’s reaction showed me that nothing had changed.

“Sorry I’m late,” Mac said, slapping me on the shoulder. He sat down next to me, smiling like an idiot. “Elodie needed me to do something for her.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “Is that code for ‘I was banging my girlfriend’?”

“Surprisingly, no. She needed me to fix something with her car.”

I stared at my friend, unconvinced. Mac just chuckled and ordered a drink.

We chatted about the upcoming game against the Tsunamis, the latest play that Coach had had us practicing, and why our teammate Zach was a gigantic douchebag. I’d started in on my second beer, the alcohol relaxing me.

But when Mac brought up Grace, any relaxation I might’ve felt instantly fled.

“Yeah, I ran into her,” I said.

Mac stared at me. “What? When?”

“After practice.”

“Huh. I’ve only met her once, years ago. I’d always thought Coach would never let her work for the team. I’m pretty sure if he could’ve locked her up in a tower, he would have.” Mac chuckled. “I met her at a party at the Dallases’. She was home from college. And Coach gave her an earful because she tried some of the wine even though she wasn’t twenty-one yet. I think her birthday was a week away or something.”

I hadn’t gone to that party. I’d wanted to, but I’d steered clear when I heard Grace would be there.

“Her birthday was the day after,” I said without thinking.

Mac stared at me. I scowled at him when he gave me a look that said,Tell me more.

“I know the Dallases pretty well,” I finally hedged.

Mac just waited.

I sighed, but I also knew that I’d rather tell Mac all of this myself than have him hear it from a third party.

“You know my mom was messed up, right? Well, I was put in foster care starting when I was just five. My mom would get sober for a bit, I’d go home, then she’d relapse, and back to foster care I’d go. When I was fourteen, the state finally terminated her parental rights when ...”

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