Page 55 of My Best Bet

We’d gotten close to sex a few times, but I always cut us off because I wanted to wait until after my run for the Olympics. Heknew that, and he never pushed me, but… I still couldn’t wait to dance around that line with him.

Colt intertwined his fingers with mine and kept hold of my hand while he led us to the party, stopping to chat here and there as we went.

I couldn’t get over how good he was with people. He seemed totally at ease while I was an anxious mess beside him. He could instantly charm with his signature grin, and he asked questions, like he truly cared about each person. He was a master at small talk.

As we made our way through the party, I started seeing him in a new light. At some point, he stopped being the shy boy at the rink who struggled to handle all his emotions. He was a mature adult… Who was about to move out of the country on his own. I knew right then that he’d be able to handle being a pro hockey player. He’d handle the press, the fans, everything. He’d be good at it. And I was proud of him.

When we finally made it to the back where the tent was stretched out behind the pool, he asked, “Let’s get food, yeah?”

Inside the tent, people were lined up for barbeque food, which smelled amazing. Mrs. Conover hired a private chef for all her parties.

I stood behind Colt while he loaded up his plate with double scoops of everything. I went slowly, mentally calculating how much I should have. I needed to be careful because we were heading into competition season. Things with my new partner, Andy, were working out really well, and I didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that. Andy’s coach, Vlad, who had recently teamed up with Iryna, already mentioned that it’d be best if I lost a couple pounds.

My brain now weighed everything I did off the ice with how much it could impact my skating. How I slept, how I workedout, how much I ate, everything was about skating. Everything except Colt. He was just for me.

Colt hesitated when he saw my plate. “You sure you don’t want more, babe?” he whispered down to me, his eyebrows knitting together in concern.

“Yeah, I'm not that hungry,” I lied.

He looked like he wanted to say something, but then some old men dressed in button down shirts and ties came over and surrounded him in conversation.

I easily slipped away and sat out by the pool with Kappy and JP, listening to their funny stories while we ate.

Colt kept giving us longing glances. At one point he mouthed, “save me.”

“Your boy’s goin’ places,” Kappy, who was sprawled out on a lawn chair, said. “Like, even if hockey doesn’t work for him, he’s gonna own a bank or some shit.” Opposite of Colt, Kappy looked completely disheveled. His white dress shirt was rumpled, unbuttoned, and rolled up at the arms. On closer inspection, I recognized that white shirt as one of Colt’s.

JP was also starting to look a little messy, his tie– also Colt’s– hung undone around his neck. He pulled off his dress shoes and tossed them aside before rolling up his pant legs to dip his feet in the pool.

“Yeah, he is. You guys are, too.” I smiled and smoothed my dress. “Going places, I mean.”

“You think?” Kappy asked, pushing up his dark hair.

JP stared at me with his serious blue eyes, waiting for my answer.

“Yeah, I really do.”

13.Colt - Still Hurts

Coach called me in for a Captain meeting early on Wednesday to go over some game tape and ask my thoughts on a couple of our rookies.

By the time we finished our meeting, I had a weird hour gap before team workouts, so I made my way to the weight room to get in some time on the bike.

I was just rounding the corner of the locker room hallway when I plowed into someone. I instantly knew it was her. Her hair. Her perfume.

She let out a hiss at the contact and stumbled to the side. I caught her around her waist to steady her. Two pills were knocked out of her hand and tumbled to the ground.

Fear snaked down my spine as my eyes darted to the pills. Without thinking, I immediately grabbed them up and inspected them. My chest loosened with intense relief when I saw they were just Tylenol.

“I don’t know if you still wanna use those.” I handed them back with a wince. Hockey players were known to spit on the locker room hallway floor.

Mer’s face screwed up in irritation, but she masked it a second later with professional blankness. She was on her skates, but she still only barely came up to my shoulders. It was kind of funny how she’d stayed the same height since we met, but I felt much larger than her now.

“You alright?” My eyes scanned over her like I’d be able to tell why she needed painkillers.

“Yeah, fine,” she said, adjusting her scarf.

My jaw locked and I had to look away. “I hate that,” I bit out.

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