Page 150 of Dating Goals
I slump in my chair. “He hasn’t called today.”
“No,” she agrees, a small smile playing at her lips. “He hasn’t.”
There’s something in her tone that makes me look up sharply. “Mama, what did you do?”
She rises from her chair with a mysterious smile, walking to the door. “Give him a chance to explain before you jump to conclusions.”
The door opens, and there he is.
Griffin.
My heart flips in my chest as he stands there, snowflakes dusting his shoulders, his cheeks flushed from the cold. He’s wearing a blue knit hat pulled down over his ears, and his dimples wink as he smiles at me.
“Hi,” he says simply.
My mother slips out behind him, closing the door with a soft click.
I stare at him, afraid to blink in case he vanishes. “You’re here.”
“I’m here.”
He remains rooted by the door, almost as if he’s tentative to come in.
“For how long?”
“That depends.” He takes a step toward me. “On you.”
“Me?”
“Well, first of all, I want to tell you why I’ve been gone so long.”
“Oh? If you’re here to say goodbye properly, you didn’t have to fly across an ocean. A text would have sufficed.”
He chuckles, shaking his head. “I’m not here to say goodbye.”
“You’re not? Then why…”
“I bought the team,” he interrupts. “Well, not just me. Owen, Sawyer, Hendrix, and a few others. We pooled our resources and bought the Titans.”
I blink at him. “You…what?”
“We own the Titans now,” he says, grinning.
I stare at him, stunned. “You…own a hockey team?”
“That’s why I couldn’t come back right away,” he explains. “There was a mountain of paperwork, negotiations, league approvals. I wanted to tell you in person, and I made sure the news didn’t leak until I could get back here.”
This is good news. It really is. And I’m happy for him. But something inside of me just broke, and I feel a knot forming in my throat.
“Very cool,” I say, forcing tears down. “I’m so happy for you.”
He studies my face. “But?”
“But nothing. This is incredible news.”
“You look like you’re bracing for something.”
I sigh, wrapping my arms around myself. “I’m just being realistic. You’ll be heading back to Toronto soon, I guess? Now that everything’s finalized?”
