Page 31 of Goalie's Obsession

He takes a step closer.

Not asking. Not pushing. Just giving me the option to meet him there.

And I do.

I reach for him before I know I’m doing it. One hand in his lapel. One breathless second of hesitation.

Then… I lean in.

And kiss him.

It’s soft. God, it’ssoft.

His lips move against mine with the kind of patience that undoes me more than anything else tonight. One of his hands finds the back of my neck, the other resting lightly at my waist, and he kisses me like I’m breakable. Like he knows I’ve been holding my breath for hours and he’s trying to give it back.

When I pull away, I’m shaking but he stays close.

His voice is rough as he smiles down at me, his hand still cupping my cheek. “Wow. I wasn’t expecting that, Lucy Lou.”

“I know,” I breathe, smiling for the first time in what feels like a week.

Snap.

The sudden sound cuts through the quiet like a gunshot.

I freeze on the spot and watch as Connor's eyes widen in front of me.

Snap snap snap.

Connor turns fast, stepping in front of me, shielding me with his back from the sudden burst of light across the street.

"Fuck. They've found us, Lucy."

I look past Connor's shoulder and see the man darting in the darkness with a camera. A huge lens tucked under his arm as he ducks into a van across the parking lot.

"Shit," I curse under my breath.

I just kissed Connor Walsh. After spending my families fortune on him in an attempt to outshine my brother for my own selfish needs. In public. With the whole world watching.

Congratulations, Lucy.

You just turned a one-night bid into a full-blown nightmare.

Guess we’re fake dating now.

Chapter Seven

Connor

It’sbeenfourdayssince the gala.

Four days since Lucy kissed me—then vanished into thin air like I hallucinated the whole thing.

I haven’t stopped thinking about it. About her.

The locker room smells like eucalyptus and over-roasted espresso, the kind of high-end scent that only exists in facilities where someone gets paid six figures to do 'vibe curation.' The Icehawks Players’ Lounge has been freshly redone since we brought the Cup home—sleek new hardwood floors, smart glass partitions, matte black lockers lined with custom lighting, and a goddamn barista on staff from six a.m. to post-practice.

Because that's what this place needed… more fucking luxury.

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