Page 82 of Tempting the Goalie
“Yeah,” he says, but his voice is soft.
“You want it?” I already know by his demeanor what the answer will be.
“I do,” he admits. “But I wanted to talk to you first. I won’t do anything without you. Have you thought about your plans for next year?”
If he’s asking, he cares. He isn’t walking away from me. From us.
I exhale my heart is pounding. “I don’t know what I want yet.”
Luc doesn’t flinch. He nods, like he was expecting that. He takes hold of my hand and looks me dead in the eye.
“Izzy, I don’t want you to give anything up for me. Not grad school, not your future, not one part of your dream.”
My breath catches.
“I love hockey. And I want Philly, yeah. But I want you too. You’re not a pastime for me, you’re my everything.” His thumb brushes against the side of my hand. “We’ll figure out something that suits us both. I’ll make it work, whatever that looks like.”
Warmth rises in my chest, the kind that settles deep and doesn’t leave.
“Okay,” I whisper.
Luc nods like we’ve made a pact.
We turn back to our laptops, but something’s shifted. There’s no longer a question ofifjusthow. His leg rests against mine under the table, and this time, I lean in. We don’t need all the answers yet.
We have time and each other.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Luc
The locker room smells like sweat and stick tape. It’s the kind of scent that would make anyone else gag, but for me, it’s the scent of the rush before the game. I stretch my leg out, rotating my ankle in the boot of my pad, tightening the strap on my blocker.
“Is the kid’s name Atlas?” Macklin asks from across the room, pulling his jersey on inside out. “Like the Greek guy who held the world or something.”
“It is, cute baby. He’s got a full head of hair,” I say, checking my glove, snapping it shut and open a few times.
“Listen to you talking about babies,” Hutch says. “Ever since you went home for the summer to spend time with your baby nephew, you’ve gone soft.”
“Screw you,” I say to him. He isn’t wrong though. Spending all that time with Braden did something to me. The thought of having a kid doesn’t seem so scary anymore. Elyna has her hands full but she’s single. I can understand the need for a partner when raising kids.
Seth smirks beside me. “I can’t believe this guy is living with his girlfriend.”
“Screw you too,” I say to him. I wish Aaron was here for our first game of the season. It’s bad enough that Cade, Finn, and Hayden are no longer on the team. At least I still have Aaron and Macklin, but with Aaron still in the hospital with Briar and their new baby, Atlas, him being here was impossible.
Tyler slaps the back of my helmet as he walks by.
Coach goes over the game plan. “These are your clean zone exits, smart line changes, keep the pace.” The team nods along. I've done this a hundred times, but this one feels heavier.
Montreal. Philadelphia. They both want me.
I try to shove that thought to the back of my head. Right now, I need to stop pucks.
We head through the tunnel and go through the regular routine before a game. We’re playing Northeastern, a respectable adversary. Coming off a Frozen Four win means team morale is high.
The puck drops.
Brody is up at face-off and wins the draw, taking off down the ice, fast and clean. He threads the puck through two defensemen like it’s nothing and fires a wrist shot at the top corner. It clanks off the crossbar, close but no cigar.
