Page 48 of Pucking Secret

Most of the time, she’s so different from that girl I used to know. She’s always holding herself in check, clinging to the structures she’s set up around her, as if afraid that if she lets go, she’ll lose everything she has. I don’t know if she really trusts anyone other than herself, and it guts me knowing I’m part of thereason she’s become so guarded. I want to help her get back to who she was… the happy, free-spirited girl who trusted me.

“I remember,” she says.

“Perfect,” I say, gesturing toward the exit. “Let’s go. My treat.”

We make our way out to the parking lot and drive separately to the restaurant, a burger place that Carson told me about. It’s a quiet, cozy place with nostalgic decor harkening back to the days of roadside diners and soda shops. We find a booth and Stacey sits across from me. A waitress comes by to take our orders and bring us water. Once she’s gone, I give Stacey my full attention.

“What’s up?”

I can’t stop taking in every detail of her expression and anxious behavior. The way her brows pull together slightly, the way she bites her lip. She’s nervous, and it makes me nervous too.

Finally, she clears her throat. “Owen, I need to talk to you about something.”

Her voice is steady, but her eyes betray her hesitation. I lean forward, resting my arms on the table, trying to give her my full attention despite the anxiety bubbling in my chest.

“Okay,” I say, keeping my tone soft. “I’m listening.”

She takes a deep breath, her fingers fidgeting with the edge of her napkin. “It’s about the letter. The one you left before you moved.”

My heart clenches. Of course, it’s about the letter. I knew this moment would come, but that doesn’t make it any easier.

Before she can say more, the words spill out of me. “Stacey, I’m sorry.” My voice is firm but thick with emotion. “I was a kid, and I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to move. I was scared, and I felt completely powerless. I should have done better. I should have tried harder to reach out to you.”

Her lips part like she wants to say something, but I keep going, needing to get it all out before I chicken out. “That letter was a coward’s way out. I know that now, and back then, I… I let my stepdad control everything. I was so intimidated by him, by the way he just uprooted my life and acted like it didn’t matter. But I’m not that kid anymore. He doesn’t get to make decisions for me now.”

Her eyes glisten under the soft light, and I force myself to keep speaking, even as my chest tightens.

“I should have told him to shove it. I should have found a way back to you. I didn’t, and that’s on me. But Stacey...” I pause, running a hand through my hair, my voice softening. “I’m never going back to Canada. Not for him, not for anyone.”

Her expression shifts, the tension in her face giving way to something I can’t quite name. Relief? Understanding? Pain? Maybe all of it at once.

“Owen,” she begins, her voice barely above a whisper, “you have no idea how much that letter hurt me. I thought?—”

“I want you to know something,” I interrupt gently, meeting her gaze. “Up in Canada, I thought about you every single day, knowing I’d made the biggest mistake of my life. I neverstoppedthinking about you. Seeing you again now, I can’t help myself. I have to… I have to ask. Would you consider giving me another chance?”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: TRUST ME

STACEY

I stare at Owen,my heart hammering as his question hangs in the air between us.

He wants another chance?

From what I’ve seen since he’s been in Denver, he’s a good man who has earned the respect of his team. If I put aside my hurt and heartbreak from when we were teenagers, I can see that he’s grown up so much since then. Maybe he’s right to ask for another chance. We were just kids back then, after all. He clearly regrets the past. But still…

I shake my head.

“Owen, I have to think about what’s right for Millie…”

“Millie is amazing!” he exclaims, smiling with a surprising level of understanding. Reaching across the table, he squeezes my hand. “Look, I don’t care who her father is. He’s clearly an idiot to have left you and such a wonderful little girl behind. And listen, I know you and Millie are a package deal. I want you both in my life. I’d consider myself lucky if Millie saw me as a friend or family, let alone a father figure.”

His words invoke a wave of emotion within me and I can’t help myself. Tears start sliding down my cheeks, and suddenly,I’m full-on sobbing. I don’t care that I’m in a public place and likely drawing attention to us. I’m so tired of putting up a brave front when I’m falling apart on the inside. I want to let someone else take care of things once and a while so I can just… just let myself feel what I need to feel.

Can I trust Owen to be the one to step up and be that person so I can let go of some of the stress constantly weighing down my shoulders?

God, there’s a part of me that wants to so, so badly. It aches with the desire to rely on him.

“Owen, you don’t understand…”

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