Page 20 of Penalized Love

Dad laughs and shakes his head. “I can’t fire everyone in the room with you, sweetheart.”

I roll my eyes but can’t help smiling at Dad’s attempt at a joke. “You’re hilarious. But seriously, no meddling, okay? Promise me.”

“I promise. Scout’s honor.” He holds up his hand in a mock salute.

“You were never a Boy Scout,” I point out with a smirk.

“Semantics.” He waves a dismissive hand. “Point is, I have full faith in you. And if they don’t pick you, it’s their loss.”

“Thanks, Dad. Seriously, I needed to hear that.” I stand up and put my bag on my shoulder. “I should get going because I have a paper to finish.”

“Alright, and don’t be a stranger. And let me know as soon as you hear anything about the job.”

“Will do. Love you.” I blow him a kiss as I head out the door.

“Love you too, Iz.”

I grin because he uses a childhood nickname that I haven’t heard in a while. It brings up this warm, fuzzy feeling that I haven’t experienced in a while.

The smile stays on my face as I make my way toward the exit of the arena. I pull out my phone to see if I have any text messages or emails before I head back to my room. Maybe Selene is free so I can avoid my roommate for a while longer. I’m not paying as much attention as I should be, and that becomes apparent when I collide with a solid wall of muscle. I stumble back, an apology on my lips, when I look up into a familiar pair of striking green eyes.

“Whoa, sorry about that,” a deep voice says, steadying me by placing his firm hands on my shoulders.

Asher Bennett.

I’m convinced I forget to breathe as Asher’s hands linger on my shoulders for a beat too long. This is the first time he’s had his hands on me in over three years. I swear I can feel the warmth from his touch through my blouse. This simple thing is making me feel things I shouldn’t.

I look down and shrug my shoulders, forcing him to drop his hands. “Um…sorry about that.”

I’ve rehearsed repeatedly what I would say the moment I saw Asher again. If I ever saw him again. And now that the moment is here, those are the only words I can think of.

Asher takes a step back and shoves his hands into the pockets of his red hoodie with the words Crestwood Hockey written across the front. “It was you.”

“Wait, what?”

“I mean, uh, I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

“Well, I could say the same thing about you,” I mutter, adjusting the strap of my bag because of nerves.

“I was just heading to see your dad. Coach wanted to talk to me about something.”

“Right. Cool. I don’t care, and I won’t keep you.” I step around him because I’m ready to escape this awkward encounter.

But Asher sidesteps and blocks my path on purpose. “Isla, wait. Can we talk for a second?”

I glance down at my phone, pretending to check the time. “I need to get going...”

“Please. It’ll only take a minute.”

I think about his request as I stare back into his green eyes. His eyes were one of the most entrancing things about him, and even now I find myself getting pulled into them. However, this moment reminds me too much of when he broke my heart.

“No, because I don’t owe you a thing.”

I step around Asher, and he doesn’t try to block me this time. Without looking back, I make a beeline for the exit. I can’t do this. I thought I might have been over all this, but seeing him again made me realize the wounds are still fresh, even after all this time.

“Isla, please,” Asher calls after me. “I just want to talk.”

I whirl around because the only emotion I have now is anger. “Talk? You want to talk now? Where was this desire to talk three years ago?”

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