Page 80 of Ice Dance Hockey

His tears fracture my brain. I didn’t like it when Jack cried either, but this is so much worse. Checking for the necklace I bought him; I can’t find it. He’s wearing a button-up plaid shirt that’s a few sizes too big for him—they’re converting him to Canadian lumberjack—and the collar is too high.

Maybe it’s underneath. Yeah, maybe.

Or maybe it’s sinking to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean by now.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s too late for sorry, Rhett. I’mnevertrusting you again.”

He trusted me? I had his trust?

In the short time I’ve known him one thing has been clear. He trusts no one—except a small fistful of people, and even that has tiers of trust to it.

His hands are balled, and his teeth are clenched. My gut churns with another internal crisis. “How do I make it better?”

“You don’t.” He yanks his hands away from me. “The only reason I’m going to continue this charade with you is because Merc got a lovely little text from your coach this morning. You’re right. Your father is trying to meddle with Jack’s hockey career. Eddie’s doing what he can, but we’ve got to be more convincing.”

“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem for me, Logan. I’m?—”

“Don’t you dare say it.God!” He furiously wipes at tears and all I can do is stare, helpless to do anything about his distress. I can’t help but admire his ireful beauty. It pinkens his cheeks and darkens his expression. I want to kiss him stupid against the house.

Mercy, who has probably been watching from the window, storms out of the house with new hatred for me. I’m not just the man who tried to take the love of his life away, I’ve harmed his newest bear cub.

He gathers Logan in his arms and glares murder at me. Logan clings to him and any trust he might have had for me is transferred tenfold to his big brother. “You’re lucky I’m a law-abiding citizen, Rhett.”

He’s definitely dreaming up how he could make an exception.

“Oh, jeez,” Jack says as he jogs to join the commotion. He doesn’t have the baby, for once. “Rhett, this way. C’mon. Merc, Stan’s upstairs with Bethany, maybe you and Lo could go get him?”

It’s a distraction, but I still reach an arm out for Logan. “But?—”

Jack grabs it. “Oh no, you don’t. Come with me, man.”

I follow after him, but my heart goes with Logan. He’s shattered because of me. All I want to do is fix it. We walk away from the house and to another area of the property where it’s smattered with tall willow trees, giving the idea that this was maybe an orchard at some point in history.

“Take it from someone who knows, you can’t ‘leave’ a Meyer like that.”

“He’s not a Meyer,” I insist.

Jack waves his hand. “Details. We’ve been through this, he’s Meyer enough. Anyway, if you want to win him back, you’ve got to prove yourself now.”

“You sound like you’re speaking from experience.”

“Boy, am I. And I got off easy with Merc. He’s older—so he’s more mature—and we’d already been through some stuff.” The way his eyes shift is telling.

“It all had to do with me, didn’t it?”

“Mostly, but I made some foolish decisions. Anyway, I tried to warn you, but you didn’t listen. No one ever listens, I guess.”

I look to the sky to ask for the words to get him to understand. “You don’t get it, I was frozen. I’d still be in my apartment if it wasn’t for Logan’s text. I didn’t hurt him on purpose.”

“No, I don’t imagine you did, but as you can see, he’s still hurt.”

“I see that. He won’t even let me talk to him.” I find myself clutching at my heart again. “What do I do?”

“You’re going to have to prove yourself. I don’t know exactly how. You’ll have to figure that out on your own.” He smacks me upside the head. “And listen to me next time, dumbass.”

“I’m not sure if I like this new you I’m experiencing.”

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