Page 47 of The Grinder

“No, no. Nothing happened. I just…” Her nose wrinkled. “I heard about your divorce.”

He blinked. “Oh. It’s not recent. I mean, I’ve been divorced for almost five years. Sorry, I guess I should’ve said something but it never even occurred to me—”

“No, wait.” She held up one hand. “I’m sorry. It doesn’t matter to me that you’re divorced. I just…you never said anything. And I know how stupid that sounds considering we only met Friday.”

Grimacing, he shook his head. “How bad am I gonna sound if I say I barely ever think about being married anymore? It was years ago and I kinda…forget.”

Damn, that sounded really lame or really self-absorbed. Fuck.

“Really, I don’t mean to pry—”

“Whoa, no. You’re not prying. Seriously. What do you want to know? Just ask. I’m an open book.”

Her lips curved. “Okay but why don’t we go inside where it’s not so cold?”

He jumped out of the car and hustled around to take her hand and help her out. Then he put his arm around her shoulders and tucked her into his side. She didn’t stiffen or try to pull away. If she had, he would’ve released her. Instead, her arm went around his waist and she pulled him even closer.

Now he wanted to run for the house and nail her against the front door.

He refrained, but just barely.

“Do you want something to drink?” She took off her coat and hung it on the hook by the door.

“Yeah, I’d love some water.”

She smiled over her shoulder as she headed toward the back of the house. “I’ll be right back.”

Shedding his coat, he sat on the couch, grinning when he had a flashback to last night. He couldn’t wait to repeat but first…

Aly returned with a bottle of water for both of them then sat next to him.

“I really didn’t mean to pry,” she said. “If you don’t want to talk about your marriage, we don’t have to. It just kind of took me off guard.”

“It’s not a big secret.” He shrugged. “It’s just been a while since I was married. Kind of seems like another life, if that makes sense.”

Drawing her legs up underneath her, she propped her arm on the back of the couch and rested her head on her hand. “How long were you married?”

“Two years. The first year was good.” He grimaced. “Mostly. We were high school sweethearts and the plan was to get married after I finished college. But…my second year of college didn’t go so well.” Total understatement. “I partied too much, didn’t study enough. The only thing I had going for me was hockey but I… Well, I flunked out.”

He could still remember the look on his dad’s face when his parents had come to get him at the end of the semester. So damn disappointed.

“I’d planned to enter the draft that following summer, but my parents convinced me to take the year off, move back home and work, then go back to school for my degree and get drafted between junior and senior year.”

“Sounds like you had it all planned out.”

“What’s the saying? Best laid plans?” He shook his head. “The only job I could find was working night shift in the local mill. And I fucking hated it. Then I got picked up by the Great Lakes Hockey league. It’s a full-contact amateur league and it filled that hole.”

That hole had been a gaping wound. He’d never told anyone, not even his parents, just how much not playing hockey had hurt.

“I think Ann figured since I was home, that’s where I was gonna stay.”

“Did you want to go back to college?”

Aly watched him with intent blue eyes. Those eyes mesmerized. He wanted the light to be on tonight when he made love to her so he could see those eyes.

“Yeah, I did. I wanted my degree. Even back then, I knew I couldn’t play hockey all my life. I needed something for after. With a degree in sports management, I figure I can stay involved with the game even after I can’t play anymore.

“I played amateur for a season and got married because I loved her and I figured there wasn’t much difference between marrying her then and waiting a couple of years until I graduated. But Ann didn’t count on me going back to school. We had a huge fight the night before I left to go back. That was pretty much the beginning of the end. I wanted her to come with me. She didn’t want to leave our hometown. And I realized it was never going to work. I don’t think she ever really believed I was going to make hockey my career.”

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