Page 218 of Breaking the Pucking Rules
“I don’t know,” I confess.
“You want to see her, right? Continue what you’ve started?”
I shoot him a sideways glance.
“And you’re going to tell Coach.”
My body locks up at the suggestion.
“Kodie,” he warns.
“We’re not telling anyone anything.”
“But—”
“There are no buts. I don’t know what this is or where it’s going. It might be nothing.”
“You don’t want it to be, though, do you?”
I stay quiet as I roll that question around my head for a few minutes.
The honest answer is no. I don’t want this thing with Casey to be nothing. I want it to be something. No—I want it to be everything.
But is that nothing but a pipe dream?
Guys like me don’t end up with girls like her. At least, not guys who already have commitments and not enough time to give her the attention she deserves.
Being with me… she’d get short-changed. She can never be my number-one priority. Sutton will always come first. Thankfully, Linc doesn’t push for an answer. He doesn’t need to. He knows it just as much as I do.
Instead, we turn our attention to the TV and dissect the highlights of the other games tonight.
Tomorrow, we return home. This two-week stretch has been one of the longest I’ve ever experienced, and I’m more than ready for it to be over.
Iwake with a start, my heart racing. Sitting up, I find the hotel room in darkness with Linc snoring beside me.
Reaching for my cell, I discover it’s only been thirty minutes since we switched the light out.
I lie back again, listening to the pounding of my heart as it begins to slow.
I stare up at nothing, and my mind runs away with itself.
I quickly find myself counting down the hours until I can see Casey again.
I told her to book the day off and demanded she send me her address, which she did instantly.
Was it a bit presumptuous of me to assume she’d be willing to drop everything to spend the afternoon together? Probably. Do I care? Not one single bit.
My need for her after our exchanges over the past two weeks knows no bounds.
It’ll be easier once I’ve had her. It will lessen, and I’ll be able to think straight again. Or at least, a little straighter.
Before I know what I’m doing, I have my cell in my hand, and I’ve pulled up one of the airline apps in my travel folder.
I tell myself that I’m just seeing if there are options. But I know it’s bullshit.
The second I see an earlier flight, I’m leaving.
Coach won’t care. I’ll bend the truth a little and say I had a family commitment come up. Tomorrow’s just a travel day. It’s not like anyone will miss me.
