Page 88 of The Playmaker

“Yeah, that…and I was waiting for you to grow the fuck up and be the man she needs you to be.”

“Cason, I’m…I’m not sure I’m good enough for her.” But I want to be. She makes me a better man, which makes me want to realign my priorities and be everything she needs.

“I know you had it hard, Cole. Believe me, I fucking know everything, and I’m telling you this—you are the only guy I’d ever want my sister with. You’re the only guy I’d ever allow her to be with.” He pokes me in the chest, and his love for me, his belief in me, helps me let go of past hurts, old insecurities—everything that had me hiding behind The Playmaker. “Underneath this ‘asshole’ shit, you are the best man I know. That’s the man she fell in love with. Guaran—fucking—teed.”

I breathe deep, and let it out slowly, expelling the pain of my past. I look at my friend, ready to face the future as a new man. “You…you think she loves me?” Could I be so goddamn lucky?

“Jesus Christ, how fucking dense are you? Of course she loves you. You.” He pokes me again. “Not the fucking Playmaker.” He gestures to the helicopter. “That says it all.”

After I left her bed, she still didn’t leave me. She believed in me, showed up to my game, bought me a gift that speaks volumes, even after I was such a cruel bastard. The fact that she came to the game, sat in the stands and rooted me on, is proof that she cares about me, the real me. The guy I never let anyone see…but her and Cason.

“I can’t believe this.” I swallow hard. “You really think she loves me, the real me?”

“Yeah, I do…but still, you went behind my back and slept with my sister, and well, I’m going to have to punch you in the face for that.”

I laugh, thinking he’s joking, but then his fist connects with my eye.

“Fuck,” I say, and stumble onto my stool. “What the hell, Cason?”

A hush comes over the crowd, and he hovers over me as people gather. “You going to go for it?”

I stand and square my shoulders. “Yeah, I’m fucking going for it.”

“You’re not going to back down like a pussy because I hit you?”

“Fuck no.” I might not deserve her after the stunt I pulled at the rink. But my fuck, from here on out, I’m going to do everything in my power to be the man she needs me to be.

“So she’s worth fighting for?”

“Yeah. I’d do anything for her. I need her so much, it hurts.”

“Then what are you fucking doing standing here with me?”

19

Nina

I spent the last two days swallowing past the gripping tightness clogging my throat, unable to sleep, eat…breathe. Could I have been so wrong about Cole? That underneath it all, he’s not a good man. I can’t believe that. I just can’t. My heart won’t let me.

Then why did he go off with a bunny as I stood there watching?

“Come on, you have to eat,” Jess says as she slides a slice of pizza onto a plate and hands it to me.

I finish the wine in my glass and gratefully accept the food, even though I haven’t had an appetite s

ince the night of the hockey game. I’ve been staying with Jess for the last two days, trying to get my head on straight before I go back to my place, to the bed Cole and I shared before he walked out of my life. But I have to go back soon and get my head back in the game. I have books to write. Bills to pay.

A laugh catches in my throat. Isn’t that how this all started with Cole?

Started and ended.

My editor emailed me yesterday, looking for a synopsis, and I have to figure out a plot before I lose this gig. But when it comes right down to it, I’m not sure I can sit in front of my laptop and write without thinking of Cole, and everything we’ve been through.

As a bone-deep weariness settles into my body, my phone pings. I exchange a look with Jess, and she reaches for it first. “It’s Cason.” She hands me the phone and I read his message out loud.

“You coming to the game tonight?”

I stare at the phone. How can I not be there for my brother? Heck, we talked about me going on the road with him. Not only will it be great for our relationship, it would certainly help me come up with hockey stories.

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