Page 73 of Not A Chance

Carefully, sliding a hand under Giz, who startled at the feel of my cold hand on her peach-fuzz-covered skin, I lifted her onto a pillow before I got up to join Indie in the kitchen.

When I reached her, I pressed myself against the back of her body and wrapped my arms around her middle.

Indie so rarely gave me glimpses of her unguarded self, like she had just a moment ago. I wanted her towantto share more of her unfiltered thoughts with me.

I nuzzled my nose into her hair, which was still messy from our midmorning wake-up.

“You were hoping for snow, eh?” I mentally ran through her list and tried to remember if anything on it required snow.

She slowly measured out the coffee grounds and shook her head. “It’s stupid. Forget I said anything.”

I kissed the top of her head before gently grasping her shoulders to encourage her to turn around and look at me.

“It’s not. I get it. I still remember the first big snowfall after I moved up to Abbotsford. It was enough to slow down the city for a couple days. Shoveling the driveway of the rental house I shared with a couple of teammates, though, got old pretty fast.” I spoke quietly, hoping she would open up to me.

“Yeah, I guess I was thinking about how nice it would be to see why people go on and on about how great a white Christmas is. I figured, if I’m only here for the year, that was the thing I was most looking forward to.” She shrugged again.

Another thing we hadn’t talked about was the future. Not a single word about what would happen after this season.

How many things are you going to put off asking her about because you’re afraid to hear what her answers are?

I pushed my inner Jiminy Cricket aside and focused on the problem I could solve right now: Indie was going to stay in Toronto for Christmas alone?

The thought of her being alone thousands of miles away from home was another blow. The realization was like taking a slapshot to the chest without my gear.

She didn’t even sound sad about it. Just like it was a given that she wouldn’t be going home or that it hadn’t crossed her mind.

“Come home with me.” The words were out before I thought about them.

For all I’d missed over the years, I usually made it home for Christmas Eve or Day, depending on the game schedule.

Indie had stopped coming to spend Christmas with my familyafter that disaster Christmas morning when she was nineteen. In the years that followed, if the topic came up, Emery had said that Indie had other plans.

But had that been true? What if she had spent the last six Christmasesalone?

But did I want to take my words back? No. I wanted her to come home with me, as a couple, and for her to feel the comfort she used to in my parents’ house. Even if she had kept her distance over the past several years, I knew my dad and siblings still considered her part of the family.

Indie’s gaze whipped to mine. “What?”

I let my hands settle on her hips. Damn, I loved the feel of this soft-as-hell pajama set now that I knew I was the only one seeing her in it. I couldn’t stop my thumbs from making slow circles where they rested against her hip bones.

“You heard me, baby. Come home with me for Christmas.” I held eye contact with her as I repeated my invitation.

“This isn’t funny, goalie.” She crossed her arms, an uneasy expression on her face. Her lips tightened into a half grimace.

Another bruise of hurt formed on my heart, for her and myself, with her defensive stance.

My first instinct was to take it personally that she thought I was the kind of guy who would joke about wanting to take her home to my family. Because that’s what this would be,metaking her home. Not simply Emery bringing her best friend home for Christmas when Indie’s parents put their careers ahead of their daughter.

This was me bringing home the woman I was falling in love with—despite her efforts to keep this relationship as something manageable in her mind—for the first time. The person I saw involved in the decisions I was soon going to have to make aboutmy future in the NHL and elsewhere in my life.

But this was not about me. She either couldn’t understand why I would seriously want her to come home with me, or it hadn’t occurred to her that this was something that I would want.

Both options absolutely shredded my heart because she deserved to believe in how much she was wanted. And not just by me. She had always had a true family in Emery and Abbie. I couldn’t believe that she didn’t see that?

“I’m not joking.” She tried to break out of the loose hold I had on her hips. I let her go, only to cage her in by moving my hands to grip the countertop behind her.

Indie huffed with frustration. “Come on, Theo. I’m serious. Move.” She pressed her palms against my chest and applied a little bit of pressure, not nearly the kind of force that would dislodge the obstacle of my body in front of hers.

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