Page 85 of Zero Pucks

“I don’t want to ignore you,” he said very softly. “Maybe I want that. Maybe I want to be asked to stay.”

My heart rate kicked up several beats per minute. “Yeah?”

“I just…have a few loose ends,” he said into my chest, his words trailing off with sleep.

Okay, I wasn’t fucking around now. Yeah, he was half-out, but I needed to know if he was serious.

I shook him gently and waited for him to look up. “Deo. Are you…are you joking?”

Licking his lips, he forced both eyes open. They were crossed a little, and he looked so fucking adorable I wanted to squeeze him ’til he popped like a fat zit. Which, gross, but whatever.

His cheeks flushed deeper the more cognizant his gaze became, and then he cleared his throat. “I know it’s a r-ridiculous idea. People will probably judge us. B-but…but…um…”

I took him by the face and kissed him. “It’s not ridiculous. Or, well, maybe it is, but also who the fuck cares, right? We get to decide what works for us. Screw what anyone else thinks.”

He started to laugh, rolling away from me to take a deep breath. “Can we talk about it later? I know you have to run.”

Shit, he was right. I was already going to be late. “Yes. Whenever you want. But you mean it, right?”

He pressed both hands over his face and took in a trembling breath. “I’m perpetually terrified that I’m overstaying my welcome. Like, are you all being so nice to me because I’m a sorry sack of shit, or?—”

“Deo.” My voice was probably too stern for how vulnerable he was being, but I couldn’t help it.

He dropped his hands and looked at me. “Logically I know that’s not the case, but I have a lot to work on, and I do worry about being a burden. Surely your friends have warned you about diving in too fast with me.”

They hadn’t. “We’re a little different here, sweetheart. My friends would go to the literal molten core of the Earth to protect me if they had to, but they also know me. I’m not the kind of person who gives his heart away because I have no self-control. If I’m falling for someone, it’s for a reason.”

“A-and…and are you?”

“Yes.” I wasn’t going to hesitate on that one. I took him by the chin and leaned in to get a look at him as clearly as my eye could manage. I could see his freckles dotted along his olive skin, and his dark eyes, and his full lips. And his shaggy, thick mess of a mop on his head, which I was so into. “I’ve fallen.”

He swallowed heavily. “I do have to go back home and deal with my ex. He has my apartment, and he won’t leave, and I can’t break the lease unless I’m there. And I have things—important things—that I don’t want to lose. Plus, my sister will literally kill me if I refuse to come home and say goodbye in person, but…”

He trailed off, and I waited, but it was clear he wasn’t going to finish his sentence.

I touched his jaw and drew a line along the rough, rounded edge. “But what?”

He closed his eyes. “I’m afraid. I don’t know what Bryce is capable of. I don’t love him or anything like that. I’m not even sure I ever really did. But the idea of going back there to officially end it all?—”

I quieted him with a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth. He made a startled noise, then a pleased hum as he tightened his arms around me. “We’ll come with you.”

Rearing back, Amedeo blinked at me. “We?”

“Well, I can at least get Ford to agree. One of the fuck-face twins might too.”

“The who?”

I laughed. “Jonah and Micah. They’re not actual twins. We call them Irish twins…but they’re not Irish either, so…well. Whatever. Anyway, Micah does tutoring for kids at the blind school in the off season, so he probably can’t take time off, but Jonah can. Bodie’s kind of got a lot on his plate right now, so I doubt he’ll say yes, but I think three will be enough, right? To put the fear of God into your piece-of-shit ex?”

Amedeo stared at me for a long beat. “You’re not joking.”

“Sorry. Did I sound like I was? I know I’m not the best with sarcasm, but?—”

“No. No. Just…” He blew out a heavy puff of air, then bowed his head and knocked into my collarbone. “I’m not used to having, you know. This.”

I knew that, but I wasn’t going to rub his face in it. Digging my fingers into his hair, I held him against me. “Deo. I have to leave. You don’t want to see what’s left of me after the wrath of a hockey mom. But we will talk about this later this afternoon, okay?” I tipped his chin up so he was looking at me. “I want you here. I want you to stay.”

He swallowed, trying to hide a grin. “Okay.”

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