Page 167 of Face Off
The knock comes fifteen minutes later, and I sprint to the door, throwing it open and finding Maverick on the other side.
“Hi,” I whisper, and he steps into the foyer.
“Hi.” He wraps me in a tight hug and kisses the top of my head. “I missed you so fucking much.”
I melt into him, believing that if he had news he desperately had to tell me, he would’ve already said it. That gives me hope that maybe this is all a misunderstanding.
“I saw you two hours ago.” I rub my hand up and down his back and across his shoulders.God, I love touching him. “What’s going on?”
Maverick untangles our torsos and threads his fingers through mine. “Let’s go to the living room.”
I let him guide me down the hall, and I memorize the back of his head. The dark hair that’s a little longer on his neck than it was a month ago. The small bruise barely hidden under the collar of his shirt, a mark left behind from our game the other night when he got checked into the boards.
My beautiful, beautiful man.
“You’re scaring me,” I say, and his thumb glides over the inside of my wrist. “Can you please tell me what’s going on?”
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to scare you, Emmy. I want to talk about this where we’re comfortable.” He tugs me onto the couch and pulls me flush against his chest. “I’m going to tell you a piece of information I’m not technically supposed to tell you, but I’ve been given permission to do it anyway. I want you to listen to all of it before you say anything, okay?”
“Okay.” I take a deep breath. My heart hammers like a drum, and I nod. “Go ahead.”
“Coach pulled me into his office after practice and told me you’re being considered for a trade.”
My stomach bottoms out. I adjust my position on the couch so I can look at him, and I blink. “What?”
“You, Finn Adams, and a first-round pick for Justin Harper.”
“What?” I repeat, because that’s an absurd offer. “Why would they ever do that? It’s basically giving away a star player for free.”
“They see your size and speed as an asset, and Finn, when he’s healthy—which he will be soon—is a great athlete. A first-round pick gives them something for the future, and it dumps the contract of a player who’s already paid his dues with a team and brought them exactly what they wanted.”
“Hang on. Justin plays in Toronto.” My brain is slow to catch up, and I shake my head. “That would mean I would leave DC?”
“Nothing is set in stone,” Maverick rushes to say. “Coach said he’s taking forty-eight hours to think it over, and I know he’s going to do what’s best for the team. He, uh, knows about our relationship, and I told him not to make any decisions on my personal behalf.”
I nod and stare at the floor.
I want to be disappointed, but that was the captain thing to say. I would’ve done the same thing in his position.
“Maybe Toronto would be good. Staying still isn’t in my blood, and if I get too comfortable, my playing might be affected. I can’t lose sight of my goal.”
“Don’t say that.” He scoots closer to me, knee pressing against mine. “Don’t run from me, Emmy. I don’t want you to go. I want you here with me.”
“That’s the reality of being an athlete, isn’t it? One of us is always going to be somewhere else.” I bite my bottom lip and shrug. “It’s impossible for us to ever really settle. Not until we retire, and god knows how long that will be. Five years, at least. Maybe ten? That’s a long way away.”
“I’ll retire if that’s what it takes to be with you,” he says.
I laugh even though it’s not funny.
He’d never do that.
“Why would you give up the sport you love?”
“Because I love you more!” he shouts, and my mouth parts. His chest heaves and he closes his eyes. Surely I didn’t hear him right. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to yell, but you need to hear it. Ilove you. I love every part of you, and that won’t change whether you’re here or there. I told you early on I’d find a way to track you down, and I would. Iwill, baby, because I fucking love you. I’m going to be on a plane to see you every day I can. I’ll buy a place up there so I can have somewhere to stay without invading the life you create for yourself. We’ll figure the rest out as we go. I know we will, because I. Love. You.”
He punctuates the last three words, and it punctures my heart.
Love.
