Page 13 of Not A Chance

At twenty-five, his face had been clean-shaven. Now, at thirty-one, his sharp cheekbones and jaw were accented by enough dark scruff that it was nearing beard qualification status. I could see a few tiny laugh lines creasing his eyes and near his full lips. His olive skin was deeply tanned after the summer months. He wore a plain white T-shirt under a gray hoodie, neither of which hid the work he put into his arms and chest. I didn’t let myself think about the abs thatwere hiding under that shirt. His look was rounded out by a pair of worn jeans that hugged his powerful thighs. Thank god I hadn’t seen him from behind.

My heart, which I had locked away the exact moment I’d realized Theo didn’t want me back, thumped pathetically in my chest. Though I’d tried dating in college, not one person had ever caught a glimpse of my heart since I’d offered it to Theo like a hastily wrapped Christmas gift.

All those feelings I’d built around my one-sided love for Theo ached to come back to life.

Instead, I imagined a hydraulic press crushing them back into the back of my brain where they belonged.

The last thing I was going to do was let Theo have any power over my feelings ever again. To do that, I had to get away from him now.

He stared back at me intently. I was so caught up in my swirling emotions I couldn’t decipher the look on his face.

Nor was I going to stick around to find out. He seemed at a loss for what to say next. I was going to take advantage of his inaction and make my escape.

I got my key unstuck and knocked the door open with my hip.

“Hope you’re doing well, Theo. I’ll see you around.”

There had been some talk among the senior team members about a new starting goalie. Since it hadn’t come across my desk yet, I’d put it to the back of my mind.

Why did it have to be Theo?

I shut and locked the door behind me, gently setting all the bags in my arms on the ground. Before I could do something like peek out the peephole to check if he was still in the hall, I kicked off my boots and headed for my bedroom.

I wasn’t going to feel bad about avoiding him. I’d just learn hisschedule and adjust my own accordingly. There was no way I was going to erase this distance between us just to make him feel better.

I didn’t owe Theo Yao-Miller anything.

Still standing in the hallway, I stared at her closed door.

Had Indie just given me the brush-off as if I were some stranger? As if I hadn’t spent countless afternoons of her childhood and my youth with her as practically a surrogate member of my family? What the hell had just happened?

Torn between irritation and disbelief, and maybe more than a little hurt in there somewhere, I unlocked my door and dragged my duffle inside.

I could concede that the last time I saw her would have been pretty embarrassing, but I’d chalked it up to one of those crazy things we all did as teenagers.

At the time, I’d just put the moment aside, keen not to let on to my family that I’d had anything to do with Indie’s unexpected departure from our Christmas Day celebrations.

Had she been that affected by what I’d thought was a gentle letdown that she’d been upset with me all these years?

Goddamn. Was I the reason she hadn’t come to spend Christmaswith us since? Fuck.

Emery had said that Indie had family obligations. But god, what if she’d been alone instead?

That idea didn’t sit well with me at all, causing a burning sensation in my chest.

I needed to fix things with Indie. I couldn’t bear the thought of being the source of her pain.

My mind was too riled up to take in what I’m sure was a very nice condo that the team had provided. I caught a glimpse of some wrought-iron details and some large wooden beams on my way to the dark gray sectional in the living room.

Allowing myself to fall backward onto the cushions, I leaned my head against the back of the couch. My eyes fell shut as I scrubbed my hands over my face.

I couldn’t stop the memories of Indie flooding my brain.

As a girl and teen, she had always been reserved, to put it mildly. Rocky could have won a medal for the best poker face for all her facial expression gave away.

So it wasn’t new to me that I’d need to puzzle out the interaction, but what was new was the abrupt, borderline dismissive attitude that she had shown me.

The Indie I knew took a long, long time to warm up to others. Her family was mega-wealthy. They owned a whole legion of businesses that I never paid attention to. While our house growing up had been on the larger side, Indie had grown up in a literal mansion.

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