Page 166 of The Puck Stops Here

She squinted at her. ‘You too?’

‘Not the bad boys, but definitely the daddy issues. My father was so flaky after Mom died, he just stopped showing up, and then along came Aiden. So good, so kind, so dependable… until he wasn’t.’

Astrid opened her mouth to bat for him anew, but Sissi cut her off. ‘Don’t, Astrid. I know what you’re saying. I hear it. But that man, he doesn’t know, hecan’tknow, because he never let me tell him.’ She covered her stomach with her palm, the action as telling as the unshed tears in her eyes. ‘And I can’t forgive him for that.’

‘But he cared, Sissi, and I’m convinced he still does, and if I could tell you what happened that night to drive him away I would, but I swore I wouldn’t tell a soul.’

‘It wouldn’t make any difference.’

‘But Blake feels responsible, love. He believes he gave Aiden no choice but to flee, to choose his family over…’

‘Me?’

‘Yes. But if you could speak to him, if you could hear it from him, you would see?—’

She choked on her wine. ‘Absolutely not. It’s hard enough seeing him everywhere I go. But you, you have a chance to tell Blake how you feel. If I’d had the means to hunt Aiden down and make him listen to me about our baby, I’d have done it.’

Astrid didn’t doubt it and she reached out and squeezed her hand. ‘I know.’

‘Blake wouldn’t be this hurt if he didn’t care about you.’

‘You didn’t see his face, Sissi. He hates me.’

‘Love and hate, there’s a reason why they call it a fine line. Take it from someone who knows.’

‘He isn’t a bad boy either.’

‘If he was, you wouldn’t have fallen so hard for him. If he was, I’d be urging you to run the other way. But he’s not, honey, and he deserves to know how you truly feel. If he knows you’re not faking it, then maybe there’s a chance you can put all this behind you and look to the future.’

‘I think it’s too late for that.’

‘Shouldn’t you let him be the judge?’

Astrid blinked at her friend. Was she right? Could she lay her heart on the line? For the first time in her life, could she tell a man she loved them and risk having it thrown back in her face?

‘What if he rejects me all over again?’

‘Would it hurt any more than it does now?’

She shook her head. She couldn’t imagine anything hurting more than this.

27

‘Blake?’

Aiden caught him up in the tunnel as the distant roar of the crowd rose into a deafening crescendo. The Penguins had hit the ice…

‘What is it?’ he ground out, his sights fixed on the rear of Larsson’s helmet before him. He’d done a damn good job avoiding any kind of conversation since his return to the hotel the night before. The last thing he wanted was to shoot the breeze with his brother now. Not when he was this close to oblivion.

And not when he knew she was here somewhere, too close to breathe easy, let alone speak straight.

‘Rumour has it Zorro is after you, so watch your back out there, yeah?’

‘I always watch my back.’

‘I know you do, but ever since that illegal check last?—’

‘He made it illegal, not me.’

---