Page 151 of Breaking Away

Tyler scoffs. “The guard dogs are here, though there’s no reason to have come. I’m having a friendly conversation with Kavi.”

His hands go up.

“It’s fair to have closure, don’t you think? Kavi has been avoiding me for too long. Not answering her messages or my calls and going places her parents don’t even know about.” His eyes narrow. “Well, now they do. Lokhov’s place. I should have known after you called me from his hotel room after that game that’s where you’d end up.”

Hughes blocks me completely, so I don’t have to see Tyler. “You need to shut the fuck up. And run before he sees you.”

Tyler snorts. “Who? Lokhov? He’s not risking anything off-ice and public?—”

Hughes and Quinn laugh, cutting him off.

Hughes shakes his head. “You’ve no idea what he’ll do for her.”

Tyler scowls. “Like what? Nothing is more important than playing hockey and winning. Everything else, personal shit included, comes second. He wouldn’t risk his career.” He looks straight at me as if summing me up. “No one would.”

His words…

He sounds exactly like my dad, I realize.

Living like that, as if family is second-best to ambition in every case, makes a person feel so unwanted. Like they’re a burden. Or an extra.

I don’t want people in my life that hoard their love, waiting until it’s convenient for them to pass it out. You always feel you’re not enough.

Quinn smirks. “You don’t know how wrong you are about Lokhov. Wait until he sees you and then you’ll understand.”

No. The thought of Dmitri getting pulled into this mess jolts me. “Go away, Tyler. I don’t want to see you again.”

“Who says I even wantyouback?” he mocks. “Don’t you realize I can do way better than you?”

Hughes cracks his fists. The scar on Quinn’s face becomes stark. Their anger is palpable, but I also don’t want them hurt.

As for me, my shock is fading. Tyler is speaking to me as if I’m the Kavi Basra from high school. A girl with no faith in herself. And—maybe—I’ve been that person for a long time, but I’m not her now.

There are so many things I’ve accomplished since we’ve last seen each other. I’ve broken up with Tyler even when everyone around me said I couldn’t do better than him. I didn’t move in with my parents because I knew it wasn’t healthy for me to do so. And—I still can’t believe it—but I took a chance living in Vancouver and moved in with Dmitri. The nerves, uncertainty, and bravery of that decision still floors me, but I’m so proud of myself. If I didn’t do that, I would never have photographed the team or met Sonya and made a genuine friend. I would still be running errands for other people, too afraid and uncertain about following my own dreams. But now, here I am. I chose not to play it safe, advocating for and accepting a social media manager position.

And this confident person? Tyler won’t like her, I’m sure. He prefers me to be smaller, quieter, and doll-like. For so long, I was an assistant he demanded devotion from.

Fuck. That.

“I’ve outgrown you so much,” I say with such low finality.

Tyler clamps his mouth shut. His cheeks flush with fury, especially when Hughes and Quinn whistle, as if my words were deadly.

That pisses Tyler off more. He tries lurching at me, but can’t because an arm from behind has wrapped around his shoulders.

Dmitri is here.

He holds Tyler in place, immobilizing him.

Hughes and Quinn go around, shifting to stand behind Dmitri, blocking his actions with their bodies so people can’t notice.

Golden eyes find me. “Tell me what you want me to do to him. Say the word, Kavi. I’ll do it.”

Tyler sputters, “You make it sound like she owns you.”

He flicks a glance sideways at Tyler. “She fucking does.” Then he looks at me again. “I’ll rearrange his face, if you want? He’ll never look the same again.”

He’s completely serious. No one is talking him down. Not his captain, Hughes. Not Quinn.

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