Page 35 of Fool Me Once

“You take a sleeping pill every night?” I can’t hide the concern in my tone. “Since when?”

“Since I got to your sister’s,” she says matter-of-factly. “Don’t sound so surprised, Sawyer. Lots of people take sleeping pills.”

“I don’t know how healthy that is,” I say. “I’m not trying to be annoying about it. And trust me, if half the shit that’s happened to you happened to me, I know damn well sleep would be hard for me to find too.” I know I should stop. I’m pushing this too far, but, fuck, I feel like I’m the only one who can help her right now. “I’m sorry. I’m just worried about you.” I sigh. “And I want more than anything to take your pain away. And I don’t know how. To be honest … I don’t have a clue.”

She’s so quiet, and I’m worried that I pissed her off by pushing. Mostly because, after she found out the truth about why I’d left her, I’m already on thin ice.

Not as thin as the ice her dad’s skating on, but still.

I expect her to say something snarky or rude. I don’t expect what comes from her mouth next.

“Even though I’m still very, very pissed off that I had to find the truth out the way that I did, I can’t deny what you’ve done to help me lately. You’re doing enough for me just by letting me crash with you. And for taking me to see my parents today.” The truck grows silent. “If you hadn’t gone, I don’t think I could have done it. I don’t think I could have finally told them the truth. So, thanks for that. Truly.”

I’m flattered, but I’m just as frustrated because she’s dodging my concerns about her damn sleeping pills. She thinks she’s smooth, like I don’t see right past her trickery.

I see everything when it comes to you, Gemma.

Even the darkness she’s trying so hard to hide from the world.

I glance over at her just long enough for her to peek at me and smile.

As I turn my attention back to the road, she breathes out a tiny laugh. “What? At a loss for words, big guy?”

“Well, I expected you to say something downright mean. Not just because I’d said I was worried about you, but also because I’d more than deserve it after everything that happened in the past few hours. I didn’t expect you to hit me with a compliment. Sheesh.” I rub my free hand against my chin. “But just so you know, it was pretty obvious you were trying to get me to change the subject by pumping my ego up. Real smooth, Firefly.”

“Yeah, well, deflecting is a specialty of mine. What can I say?” she says almost in a playful tone before yawning again.

“You’re safe with me, Gem,” I say, daring to reach over and pat her arm. “Plus, Storm’s in the back, so you’ve got some extra protection. So, rest. I’ll wake you when we get home.”

“I’m not scared to sleep,” she answers almost resentfully, and I know it’s a barefaced lie. “And I told you”—another yawn—“I have a hard time falling asleep.”

“I know you’re not scared,” I assure her. “Just close your eyes and think of something good.”

For a few minutes, she still fights it. Almost as if she’s afraid to give in to sleep because she’s afraid of what might happen when she dozes off. Eventually, her fatigue takes over, and she breathes quietly with her cheek pushed against the seat.

I smile sadly, glancing over at her for only a split second.

She’s holding back everything from me. Part of me thinks it’s because she’s scarred for life after all she’s been through. The other part knows it’s because she can’t trust me after what I did to her. And she doesn’t want to risk me getting too close because the last time she did that, look what I did.

Things are different now though. Because now, she knows the truth. So, maybe, just maybe, that’ll change everything.

Maybe she’ll let me back in again and stop keeping me at arm’s length.

Once we finish practice—if we can call it that because it’s game night, so we didn’t do anything too strenuous—the team heads off the ice, but I skate toward where Kolt is standing.

An injury at the beginning of the season took him out for the time being, but he still joins every practice and even helps Coach a bit with the defensive guys since that’s what Kolt plays. It’s obvious some of the newer dudes on the team are intimidated by him, which checks out because he’s kind of terrifying.

“Kolburne,” I call out, and he lifts his gaze to mine.

Even though both of us are covered in tattoos, Kolt just carries himself differently. By differently, I mean, he’s sort of a grumpy asshole. Meanwhile, I’m that guy on the team who loves fucking with everyone and pranking them. Which is why I hung a huge dildo on Kolt’s locker before he got here this morning.

“Don’t even talk to me,” he grumbles. “I know that was you who put that fucking shit on my locker today.”

He was an easy target for the simple fact that since he isn’t practicing right now, he doesn’t usually need to go to the locker room before practice starts. The only reason why he did today was because some of the teammates had told him he had a surprise waiting for him.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, friend,” I say with a shrug. “It was probably Sterns. Did it have a dad joke written on it in Sharpie?”

“Sterns couldn’t pull that off; he would have come out of the locker room, laughing his ass off,” he deadpans. “Plus, he knows better.”

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