Page 73 of From Wink to Kink

This woman is truly weird. And I love that about her.

Shit. Did I just use the ‘L’ word?

I shake my head. "Only you would be excited about being trapped in a building full of books," I tease.

She grins. "Hey, for an eight-year-old bookworm, it was like being locked in Disneyland. Minus the creepy mascots."

As we move on to the main course, our conversation shifts to our jobs. Ruby talks about the challenges and joys of being a librarian, even though at this stage she does a lot of the grunt work. But hey, isn’t that how most jobs start out?

"It's not just about organizing shelves, you know," she says passionately. "It's about making sure people can find what they need."

I am captivated by her enthusiasm, I can’t deny it. "I've never thought about it like that," I admit. "But the way you describe it... I can see why you love it so much."

She blushes slightly, looking down at her plate. "Sorry, I tend to get a bit carried away when I talk about books."

"Don't apologize," I say, reaching across the table to touch her hand. "I like seeing you passionate about something. It's... awesome."

Our eyes meet, the air between us charged. But then Ruby clears her throat and asks about my career, interrupting the moment.

I tell her about life in the NHL—the thrill of the game, the pressure to perform, the camaraderie with teammates. But as I'm talking, I can feel a knot forming in my stomach. I know what I want to say, what I need to say, but the words stick in my throat as I babble on about how much I love hockey.

"Chuck?" Ruby's voice breaks through my thoughts. "You okay? You look like you're trying to solve complex math in your head."

"That obvious?"

She reaches across the table, her hand covering mine. A simple gesture.

"Ruby, I... I need to tell you something. About why I'm really here."

Her brow furrows slightly, but she nods.

I take a deep breath. "Right before I came here, I got into a fight. A bad one. Ended up spending the night in jail."

Ruby's eyes widen, but she doesn't pull her hand away. I take that as a good sign.

"It wasn't my first... incident. I've got a temper, and it's gotten me in trouble more times than I can count. The team management is fed up with me and gave me an ultimatum—come to this retreat, work on my issues, or risk my contract. I have to do other things too, but they had me start with what they thought would be a ‘relaxing vacation’."

I pause, gauging her reaction. She's listening intently, her expression a mix of concern and something else I can't quite read.

“Relaxing vacation,” she laughs. “If they only knew.”

"I know, right? Anyway, I've been angry for a long time," I admit, my voice low. "Angry at my parents for their neglect, angry at myself for not being good enough, angry at the world for... I don't know, existing, I guess. I've used that anger on the ice, channeled it into my game. But off the ice? It's been pretty fucking destructive."

I can’t believe I just said that out loud. I can’t believe I even admitted it to myself.

What’s happening to me?

She squeezes my hand. "I didn’t know."

I shrug, trying to lighten the mood. "Yeah, well, 'angry hothead from loaded but terrible family’ isn't exactly first date material, you know?"

"So, team management sent you here?"

I nod. "Yeah. They thought it might help me 'find my center' or something like that. But Ruby, here's the thing. I didn't find my center doing trust falls or sharing my feelings. I found it… with you."

Ruby's breath catches, and I press on before I lose my nerve.

"These past few days with you... they've been… good. Great, even. You challenge me, you make me not take myself too seriously. And I know this whole situation is crazy, but I can't help feeling pretty damn fortunate that we ended up here. I... I think I'm falling for you."

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