Page 122 of A Little Complicated

“Why?”

“Because I’m not finished.”

His nostrils flare, and he faces me fully. “Fine.Finish.”

“Don’t quit,” I tell him.

“Pretty sure it’s not your decision.”

“You love hockey.”

“So?”

“So, if you love it, why let it go?”

His chest expands on a deep breath, and he rumbles his hostile amusement. “I’ve let go of a lot of things I love, Opie.”

“Why?”

“Because I have no future in hockey.”

“Says who?” I push. “You have your entire career ahead of you. You can’t just…quit.”

“Pretty sure it’s exactly what I did,” he returns dryly, bringing the stupid beer bottle to his lips and finishing the rest of the amber liquid off.

“Look at the big picture, Mav,” I beg. “Look at a year from now. Two years from now. Five years from now.”

“There is no five years from now.”

My frown deepens. “What do you mean?”

He gulps and scratches his chin. “I mean, shit changes. Shit out of our control. We’re not guaranteed tomorrow, let alone five years from now. Life doesn’t work that way, no matter how much you like to plan for it.”

“So it’s easier to quit?” I demand. “To throw in the towel?”Man, I want to shake him!“Look, I know you have a short attention span and all, but your future—”

His jaw sets, and he shakes his head. “My attention span has nothing to do with this.”

“Then what is it?”

“Maybe I wanna have one fucking ounce of control over my life.” He turns to me, his eyes dark and clouded. “Ever think of that?”

“What are you even talking about?” I whisper. “You’re not making any sense.”

“Go inside, Lia.”

“No.” I shake my head. “What’s going on with you? Yesterday you were fine, then—”

“Then Archer showed up.”

I pull back, surprised. “Is that what this is about?”

“Fuck.” His head hangs, and he pinches the bridge of his nose. “No. That isn’t what this is about. I’m being a dick, okay? You should go inside.”

“What’s going on?” I beg. “I feel like we took a hundred steps back after making so much progress over the last little while. What happened? What changed? It’s like a switch flipped or something. I feel like you aren’t…” I hesitate.

“I’m not what? The guy you fell for?” he finishes for me. The darkness in his eyes practically swallows me whole.

I pull my hand away from him and place it in my lap, hating the iciness in his gaze and how it makes me feel. “I guess not.”

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