Page 11 of Breakaway (Nashville Knights Hockey #3)

Chapter Eleven

DAX

A nother cryptic text from Chloe.

Throughout our entire friendship, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten as many texts like this as I have since her wedding.

At least this time I’m meeting her someplace outside of the city. Which tells me that her meeting with Duncan didn’t go well.

Pulling into a dirt parking lot, I throw my truck in park and hop out.

Nashville’s Zip-lining Adventures is painted in red on a wooden sign. People mill about as I walk up to a small shack.

“Can I help you?” an older man sitting behind the counter asks.

“I’m looking for someone.”

“Chloe?” he questions.

“Yes.”

He points behind him. “She’s getting in her harness. Told us to be on the lookout for a confused guy. You seem to fit the bill. ”

“Thanks.”

At least I’m predictable. I find the sidewalk behind the building leading to a row of people stepping into gear. The familiar blonde at the front draws my attention.

“You’re here,” she says once she spots me.

“And what exactly is here?”

“I figured it was time to tackle another item from my list.”

A man is adjusting the straps on her harness as she tells me this. A soft breeze blows through the tops of the trees.

“I take it meeting Duncan didn’t go well?”

Chloe pierces me with a look that tells me all I need to know. “Not at all.”

“And instead of talking through it with me, you decided to go zip-lining?” I look around. A family is walking toward one of the tall platforms. Others appear to be returning from their trip.

“Nothing a little adrenaline boost can’t fix.”

“You going with her?” the guy helping Chloe asks me.

“He is.”

“I am?” I question.

Chloe nods. “Yes. I already paid for you. We’re doing it together.”

“Jesus,” I mutter, scrubbing my hand over the back of my neck.

This is not how I imagined my afternoon going. After a good practice with the team, I was ready to grill out and have an easy night in.

Zip-lining was not on the agenda. It’s not something I ever wanted to do, but for Chloe, I can’t say no.

“I’ll help you get fitted for a safety harness and go over everything with you.”

“Great. ”

The attendant finds the right size harness for me and starts hooking me in.

“This is going to be fun.” Chloe is grinning from ear to ear under her helmet.

“Are we going to talk about what happened with Duncan?” I ask.

Chloe might be excited, but I’m nervous. Heights? Never been my thing. I prefer to keep my feet on the ground and my skates on the ice.

She shrugs. “Do we have to right now?”

“If you’re making me go zip-lining, then yes. I don’t like heights.”

“You don’t? How do I not know this?” Chloe asks. She waves me off. “You don’t have to go.”

“Because I always thought you didn’t like heights, so it never came up.”

“I don’t, but this isn’t that high up,” Chloe says.

“About thirty feet or three stories,” the guy confirms. “Not bad at all.”

“He doesn’t have to go,” Chloe says. “I can do it by myself.”

“I’m not chickening out now. Not if we’re doing it together.”

“You sure?”

I nod. “I’m sure. Let’s go.”

Chloe grabs my hand and gives it a squeeze, but I don’t let her let go. I need something to hold on to so my nerves don’t get the best of me.

This is one of those things that I always kept to myself. Mainly because Duncan was the one who pushed me off a high bluff into a river when we were in high school. I’ve hated heights ever since.

Probably about the same time my feelings toward my own brother changed .

I listen intently as we get the safety speech. The fact that it’s not the longest course here is my saving grace.

Thank fuck for that.

“Since you’re bigger, we’ll put you in back and clip your girl in front of you,” the attendant says.

“Thanks,” Chloe answers before I can correct him.

Your girl.

God, I wish Chloe was my girl. I still don’t know what happened with my brother, but I can’t imagine it was good if we ended up here.

“Once you’re ready, you’ll push off from this platform and keep your legs up as you go into the next. My colleague will help you at the next spot. Any questions?”

I shake my head at the man as he starts to attach Chloe in front of me.

It feels too good. She feels too good trapped between my legs as the carabiner is secured. Every scared and anxious thought at doing this goes out of my mind as the guy has me wrap my arms around Chloe as she takes hold of the contraption holding us to the line.

Yup. This was a really bad idea. Holding Chloe like this is bringing all sorts of reactions out in me. Namely, my dick.

Get a grip.

This is not the time or place to be having these kinds of feelings for Chloe. But it’s hard to ignore how soft and pliable her body is in my arms. I’ve never let myself go there and I’m doing it now?

“You ready?”

“Yes,” I answer, not even thinking.

The faster we get done, the faster I can put this problem behind me.

We step off the platform and my stomach drops as we fly down the line. Chloe’s shouts echo in my ears as I tighten my grip on her.

“Fuck!” I shout.

The sun flashes through the tops of the trees as we speed toward the second platform, kicking our feet onto the landing pad.

“Holy shit!” Chloe squeals as we get untethered from one line to the next. “I can’t believe we did that.”

Her face is full of excitement.

“Not as bad as I thought.”

She smacks me in the chest. “Could have fooled me.”

“The first one is always the hardest.” The guy on the platform moves us into place as another couple takes off in front of us. This platform is bigger, with a few more people in front of us to go. “The next ones are shorter and get progressively closer to the ground. Nothing to worry about.”

Chloe flits her gaze to mine. Those damn blue eyes of hers that I can never say no to. “See? It’ll get better.”

“It really wasn’t that bad.”

She pecks me on the cheek, not helping my earlier problem. “I know you didn’t want to come, but I’m glad you did.”

“Care to tell me what happened with Duncan?”

This close to her, I can feel the fury coming off of her. “He still wanted to get back together. Acted like it would be so magnanimous of him to take me. All I wanted was for him to admit he was cheating on me and he couldn’t even do that. Until he said no one is loyal.”

“He seriously said all that?”

She nods. “Yup. Said if I wanted someone loyal, I should go after you.”

“Why was he bringing me into it?”

“I don’t know. Jealous maybe? ”

“Jealous of me? Never.”

We move forward, hooking ourselves in again. The time for conversation is over as we take off again.

But this time, my brother’s words ring in my head.

Why on earth would he tell Chloe to be with me? He couldn’t have meant it. He must have meant someone like me.

That’s all. No need to spin out about it.

It at least helps distract me as we fly through the trees. Each zip line gets easier as we get closer to the ground. By the time we’re heading toward the last one, I’m actually enjoying myself.

Maybe I could use an anti-boring list to get out of my rut too.

“I can’t believe I’ve never done that before,” Chloe says as we descend down the stairs on the last platform, having finished the course. “That was so much fun.”

“I don’t know about so much fun, but I enjoyed it.” I unclip my helmet as we walk back to the equipment return booth.

“Only because you were with me.”

“Something like that.” I smile at her.

With the uneven ground below us, she’s eye to eye with me. Her blue eyes are happy. I like that I can make her feel better after having to deal with my brother.

“I’m sorry it didn’t go better with Duncan this afternoon.”

“I don’t know what I was expecting. But at least I’m done and can put him behind me.”

“Good. You deserve to be happy.”

“I’m happy with you, Dax.” Chloe smiles at me and I hate the way my traitorous body reacts. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For doing this with me even though you were scared.” She pecks me on the cheek before hugging me. “You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.”

“You know I’m always here for you.”

No matter how much it hurts that I can’t have you the way I want.

“C’mon. I’ll buy you dinner to celebrate both of us doing things we normally wouldn’t do.”

“I’ll buy. You’ve had enough excitement for one day.”

“Deal.” She squeezes me close before letting go. “But I’m going to make you dinner next week before your first preseason game.”

“It’s hard to believe the season is almost here already,” I say.

“That’s because you guys went far last season. Hopefully, next year you’ll go even further.”

“God, I hope so.”

“Me too. Because I want to be there cheering you on when you do win.”

I wink at her. “I’ll make sure of that.”

There is no one else I want more at my side when we lift the cup. Only Chloe. She’s the most important person in my life.

Even if we’ll only ever be just friends.