Page 56 of Face Off
So, he’ll have to try harder than that to get me to leave.
You don’t even know who she really is, do you?
Haven’t you ever wondered why Camden had a different last name from Hayley and Boyce?
If he were really Boyce’s, then why would his last name not be Boyce’s.
Vince’s words slam into me like a bucket of ice water, as my eyes spring open. The sunlight streaming through Hayley’s bedroom warms me. Maybe it’s not the sunlight, but Hayley’s small body, curled into me. Her ass pressing into my morning wood.
7:33 a.m., the alarm clock blinks as I slip out of her bed, much to my dick’s protests, and wander downstairs to put on a pot of coffee. Morning skate is in a few hours, so I have just enough time to get my head on straight and head to the arena. What I wouldn’t give to be doing other things with my time before practice, yet here I stand, giving my dick a lecture about not needing morning sex. If I’m going to figure out what the right thing to do is, I need a clear head, not a sex-crazed one.
Hayley wants me to move in. The last time I lived with a woman, she crushed me. Broke my heart. Maybe not broke my heart, considering I didn’t go into monkhood after I found out about her infidelity. My downward spiral was a result of the trauma I had faced as a child. Every time I thought of her with that other guy, I pictured my father doing the same thing to my mom time after time. My mom had a broken heart because she was truly in love. What Tiffany had done just broke my trust. My faith that there were still decent women in the world.
Much like Hayley, she had her trust broken as well. Yet she was willing to trust me again. Ask me to take this leap into the unknown with her. Become a family with her and Camden. A father figure. Some father figure I’d be. I had a shitty example of one, so how can I be the positive one Camden needs? Yet a part of me wants to try. Still the conversation with Vince looms over my head, making me doubt everything with Hayley.
I love her, but who is she really?
“There you are,” Hayley bellows from the entrance of the kitchen. Her small arms wrap around my waist from behind as she places small kisses along my bare back.
Pulling her hands from my waist to my mouth, I place small kisses on the back of her hands. “Here I am.”
She moves around me, grabbing a mug from the cabinet before pouring herself a cup of coffee. My oversized t-shirt rides up ever so slightly, causing me to inwardly groan as the raging boner I just got to go away, returns with a vengeance. God, I’m so addicted to her.
“You know, if you want me to move in here with you,” I say, kissing the side of her neck. “We may need to lay out some ground rules.”
“And why would you say that?” she challenges as she blows the steam off the top of her coffee.
“Well, for one, I barely have self-restraint around you as it is.” Yeah, considering I had to talk the big guy downstairs into submission this morning. “Plus, if you don’t want Camden to see me eating you out on the kitchen island like a sausage, egg, and cheese. I think these rules are for his benefit too.”
She shrugs her shoulders and leans her back against the kitchen counter as she watches me curiously. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Well, you’ve been weird since last night. If my asking you to move in here has freaked you out, then you don’t have to. We can take it slow,” she rambles off as if she’s stuck inside her own mind.
“Hayl,” I try to cut her off as she paces. “Red, you’re going to wear a hole in the kitchen floor.” I say, stopping her in her place. “I’m fine. Just worried about the rest of the games this season. We really have a shot at the Cup this year.” I pull her into my chest, placing a chaste kiss on the top of her head. “I would love to move in with you, Hayl. I just think we should wait till the season is over. I’ll stay as much as you want me to, but I think the whole consolidating everything into one place should wait till after the Cup.”
Her shoulders deflate. “You’re right. I’m sorry. It’s just… Never mind.” She turns to face away from me, her fingers dancing around the rim of her mug. “So, what time is practice?”
“I have to leave here in ten.”
She wipes the rims of her eyes before turning to place a kiss on my lips. “I’ll see you after then.”
With a nod, she walks back to her room, leaving me feeling as if the solid ground we just got back on is about to crumble all over again.
???
“I can’t believe she brought that fuckhead to dinner last night,” Channing complain as we warm up on the ice. “Fucker showed up looking like he’s never played a game in the league to save his life.” He slaps the puck hard at Weatherby’s pads. “I’m mean come on, who has hair that looks that fucking perfect? All the damn time. Has to be plugged.”
I shake my head as I pass the puck to Denizen who lines up for a shot. “I get why Cassidy brought him, but we could have all probably done without.”
“What’s up, man?” Channing eyes me suspiciously. “Did that fucker say something to you about Hayley?”
“How well do you really know Hayley?”
It’s the questions that’s been on the tip of my tongue since after dinner last night. Hayley knew something was off with me, and I didn’t want to cause another rift between us. So, I kept the comments to myself. Yet all Vince had said that night when the two of us sat like a divorced couple at the negotiation table, are all I can think about.
I should trust Hayley, right? Right. I should trust her. I love her and without trust, you can’t have love. So, I should put this all behind me. Right?
