Page 77 of My Best Bet

After a few minutes of silence, he thankfully changed the subject. “Why Chicago?”

“Piper,” I said automatically.

He smirked. “That’s what we figured.”

But for some reason, it was easier to speak the truth at night, and I found myself quietly admitting: “I didn’t want to be alone anymore.”

His hands stopped and my body wanted to cry out, but then he shifted so he was fully behind me. His body melded to mine, my back flush against his chest, his muscular arm curled around my waist, holding me close. And then I wanted to cry for different reasons– for ever having lost this, and for having it again, even if it was just for tonight.

“You’ll never be alone again,” he whispered, “you have us, okay?”

My eyes stung. I wanted to believe him, Ireallydid, but a nagging voice at the back of my head shouted at me–you believed him last time, too.

Like he could sense my inner turmoil, he pressed a kiss into my hair and whispered, “Don’t worry, I’ll keep telling you until you believe it.”

Now it was my turn to wonder if I was hallucinating, because those words, this comfort, was all I ever dreamed of.

Tucked against him, clutching his arm, I fell asleep in seconds.

21.Colt - The After

She was holding onto me like she was scared I’d disappear and that was my fault because I did have to leave her when I was young. But we were in different positions now, and I'd reassure her for the rest of time if I had to.

I never wanted to leave this couch, but as the sun came up and cast an orange glow in the living room, I knew we only had a few hours before the three of us had to head to the rink for game day prep.

Around 7am, I shuffled into the kitchen to start the coffee. While I waited for it to brew, I called up Ryan, our team physical therapist. If Mer couldn’t go in to the doctors, maybe I could have someone come and look at it for her. She’d be in this space with us here for support. I was just terrified that she could be doing more damage to her knee by ignoring the pain. And maybe I was dealing with my own form of PTSD because I felt like I had todosomething about her pain or I’d go insane.

“Hey Ryan, I need some help…” I peered into the living room where everyone was still sleeping. My eyes landed on Mer. “What would you do for knee pain from an old injury?”

“How old of an injury are we talking? Was it re-injured?” he asked, sounding distracted.

“Like ten years old? I don’t think there was a re-injury.” I hated that I didn’t know.

He blew out a breath. "Knees are tricky. The cartilage can be delicate because it doesn’t regenerate. I’d have to take a look. You want this off the record?”

“It’s not for me.”

“No, seriously, I can be discreet, just don’t hurt yourself more, Colt.”

“No, it’s for…” My eyes shut. I didn’t even know what to call her.Friendsounded so dumb and way too light a word for how I saw her. “It’s for someone important. Could you still come? I’d owe you one.”

“Yeah, no problem.”

A half hour later, Mer shuffled into the kitchen with her dark hair completely disheveled, looking sleepy. She stripped off my hoodie at some point in the night leaving her in a cropped workout tank top with flimsy little straps that revealed a sliver of her pale skin above her joggers. She was practically spilling out of that top, and I had to force myself not to stare or I’d fucking drool. She was curvier, healthier now, and my body wanted this mature version of her so fucking bad.

She leaned against the counter and I silently slid a mug of coffee in front of her.

“You still like vanilla in your coffee?” I asked. “I think I have some…” I searched my pantry and quickly found it. “Ah-ha,” I said, wagging my eyebrows at her.

But her eyes weren’t on the syrup. They were glued to the small tattoo on my left side. I’d taken my shirt off in the middle of the night and hadn’t thought too much of it.

“Colt…” She swallowed hard, staring at the small angel wings etched onto my ribs. “That’s not because of…”

Stepping closer to her, I used a finger to gently lift her chin so I could lock eyes with her as I said, “Yeah, it is.”

Her head cocked to the side, like something just occurred to her. She reached out like she wanted to touch it, then pulled back and blushed.

I grinned in amusement and dipped to whisper in her ear, “You like it? That I marked my skin for you?”

---