Page 61 of Breakaway to You

Her brows pulled together, her lips parting slightly. “What does that mean, exactly?”

I swallowed hard, forcing the words out even as my chest ached. “We have to cut all ties. Besides an occasional hello at work, we can have no conversations, no texting, and definitely no touching.” My jaw tightened, and I dragged a shaky hand through my hair before dropping it uselessly back to my side. “I’m not strong enough, and I don’t want to risk messing things up for you.”

Her eyes roamed my face, searching, her lips pressing together like she was holding back words. Almost like she couldn’t believe I would feel that way for her. Her fingers twitched at her sides, and for a second, I thought she might reach for me. But she didn’t. Instead, she just stared, her throat bobbing as if she was swallowing down whatever she wanted to say.

“I think today during our therapy session proved that I’m incapable of keeping things strictly platonic between us now. Especially since I know the sound you make when I kiss you right below your ear.” I lifted my hand and let my fingers slowly caress the spot I was talking about, and her breath hitched. “I can’t be trusted to not want to text you throughout the day and eventually invite you over for dinner. And then I’ll want to hear that laugh of yours and tease you until you get that fiery look in your eye that tells me you want to simultaneously smack me and kiss me at the same time.”

She gave me a shaky smile. “You’re right. We need to go back to being strangers. That will probably be the easiest.”

I nodded, even though everything in me screamed that this wasn’t how things were supposed to be between us.

I shoved my hands in my pockets so I wouldn’t reach out to her again and watched as she took one last glance around my apartment. My chest felt tight, like someone had grabbed hold and squeezed, but I kept my face neutral. I had to. If I let myself break now, she might break too—and this was already hard enough.

She swallowed, finally meeting my eyes. “I never meant for any of this to happen,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

I exhaled, suddenly feeling exhausted. “I know.”

We stood there for a few more seconds before she finally moved around me and headed back toward the front door.

She paused with her hand on the doorknob as she turned back and looked at me. “I’m sorry.”

My throat worked as I swallowed. I wasn’t sure if she was only apologizing for ending things, but part of me felt like she knew me well enough that watching someone else walk away was just another reminder of all the people who had left before her.

“I get it, Piper. I do.” I let out a low, humorless chuckle, shaking my head. “Heck, I should be the one apologizing. I’m the one who jeopardized your career. I never meant to put you in this position.” My hands twitched, aching to reach for her, to hold on. But instead, I forced them deeper into my pockets, anchoring myself. “Maybe this isn’t forever,” I murmured. “Maybe this is just temporary.”

Her eyes looked sad when she answered. “Maybe.” She gave me a small nod. “Goodbye, Zeke.”

My chest rose and fell in one deep, steadying breath. “Bye, Piper.”

For half a second, she hesitated, her hand tightening on the doorknob. But then she turned it, opened the door, and walked out.

I stood there long after it closed behind her, staring at the empty space she’d left behind.

Chapter24

Zeke

The past two months had somehow gone by in both a blur and in slow motion. Returning to my normal routine of hockey, hockey, and more hockey had been as comforting as it had been devastating. Although hockey had always been a great distraction, the greatest distraction really, for the first time it couldn’t block out the ache in my chest that had appeared as soon as Piper had walked out of my apartment.

I missed her. Every. Single. Day.

Thankfully, the season was almost over, and not seeing her on a daily basis would give me a much-needed reprieve from the gut-punch feeling I got every time I saw her but couldn’t talk to her.

I pulled a shirt over my head. Practice had ended, and I usually took my time leaving the ice, showering, getting dressed, and packing up my things, giving Piper time to leave the arena before I headed into the therapy room to have my session with Jill. Somehow without talking to each other, Piper and I had come up with a routine to see as little of each other as possible.

Gripping my bag higher on my shoulder, I shut my locker.

“Lawson.” Raymond’s voice echoed throughout the locker room. “Just the man I wanted to see.”

I glanced up to see Raymond in the doorway wearing a maroon Minnesota Wolves polo. “Hey, Raymond, what can I do for you?”

“I was hoping to talk with you for a minute in my office.” He gestured behind him in the general direction of his office, his face void of any expression.

“Yeah, sure. Of course.” I tried to smile, but my stomach twisted with a mixture of curiosity and unease as I followed him out of the locker room and down the hall.

I wasn’t sure what this meeting was about, but I had a feeling it wasn’t just a casual check-in. The team had made the playoffs and I was still playing well, but at my age, every season felt like it could be the last. I braced myself for whatever was coming as I stepped into Raymond’s office.

“Take a seat, Zeke.” He motioned to the chair across from his desk. “I’ll get right to it—we’d like to extend your contract for another year.”

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