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My heart races wildly as I consider everything working against us. “I live nearly three thousand miles from you. Do you know how intense the hockey schedule is? Aside from these three months of the offseason, I barely get an afternoon to myself. If I’m not in Seattle, I’m on some team plane across a different part of the country. You deserve to have someone present in your life. Too many people are absent when they should be hanging on your every word.I wantto hang on your every fucking word.”

She shifts slightly on the counter as my hands fall to her smooth, bare thighs, and my fingertips dip under the hem of the old shirt she wears like it’s worth a million dollars. “That’s just logistics. I know it will be hard, but?—”

“You don’t knowhow hard, Rocket. I’ll never see you. Look how often I see my parents. Plus, my life looks very different in Seattle to what it is here.” I take another deep breath, knowing however I put what’s coming next, I’ll no doubt deliver it badly. “I can’t deep-dive into something. I’m a fucked-up mess, and I need to be better for you.”

“There’s no one better for me.”

Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, I know that’s not true. “He’s still got feelings for you.”

She balks and pulls back from my touch entirely; the loss feels instant and ice cold. “Who’s got feelings for me?”

“You know who. Luke.”

She scoffs. “Are you serious? We broke up over a decade ago.”

“You might be over it, but I know a struggling guy when I see one, and he’s still into you.”

She crosses her arms protectively over her chest, just as she did that night when we first kissed, and I reach up and pull them apart, wrapping them around my waist. I know I’m sending all kinds of mixed signals, but right now, my actions can’t seem to override my messed-up mind. “It’s bro code. I’d be moving in on a friend’s girl.”

Her voice is sharp and tinged with frustration. “I’mnot hisgirl anymore. In fact, Zach, I’m notanyone’sgirl. I’m free to be with who I want, free to see who I want. This bro code stuff is bullshit.”

I place my hands on the cold counter on either side of her and lean forward, my forehead resting against her chest. “I get that I just... I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

She brings her hands to the top of my head, sliding her dainty fingers through my hair. “We can’t be responsible for everyone’s feelings all of the time. He knows why I split with him, and he knows we can never go back there.”

I kiss the edge of her jaw because, apparently, I can’t keep my hands off her. “What happened? I know it ended just before college. He was torn up.”

“I ended things with him because I knew I wanted…”

“Knew you wanted what?”

She shakes her head. “Never mind.”

“Knew what, Luna?”

Removing one of her hands from my hair, she places her soft palm against my bare chest, her touch spiking my pulse. She pushes me back and drops down from the counter, looking up at me. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It does.”

“No, it doesn’t. And just for the record, I never want to hear about ‘bro code’ again. I’m my own person, and things ended years ago.” She looks around at my partly redecorated beach house. “We’re running out of time before the end of summer, and you only have six weeks before you need to be back in Seattle. We need to get moving.”

I wince slightly. “Actually, I have five weeks left here in total. I need to be in Whistler for a week with the team on July tenth.”

“See, no time at all.” She reaches up and pats my shoulder, pretending like these past ten minutes haven’t affected her when I know they have. I hope they have, because I’m a fucking mess. “Now, I need to head back home, grab a shower and fresh clothes. Then I’ll be back to paint your room in that cheerful shade of gray you insist on.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

LUNA

“This color is even worse on the wall.”

“I think it's stylish,” Zach counters.

I laugh, stumbling back and almost knocking the paint can behind me over as I do. “Stylish? Since when are you a designer.”

Zach turns around to face me from where he’s currently sanding the bedroom door frame,in nothing but athletic shorts again. “You should see my apartment. Open-plan, hardwood flooring, sleek, modern. I did most of it myself.”

“Did you now?” I quirk a brow. “Well, maybe one day I’ll get to see this interior masterpiece.”