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She gave me a push, hands on my bare chest, which didn’t help my brain unscramble. I stepped back and she came in. Peering at me with narrowed eyes, she sighed. “I’ll make coffee. You wake up.”

I checked the time, and there were a good couple of hours before I needed to be at the arena.

I headed back to my room to pull on jeans and a T-shirt, then took Beast out for a pee.

By the time I was back the coffee was almost done and my mind was starting to function.

Sophie had dark smudges under her eyes and her lips were pressed tightly together. Her arms were wrapped around her waist.

“I’m sorry,” I blurted.

Her brows lifted. “Are you? What for?”

“I don’t know. But you’re upset and it looks like it’s my fault.”

“You don’t know.” She turned to the coffee cups, head shaking. “You took off and haven’t answered my messages and you have no idea why I’m upset.”

Oh. “I told you I needed some space.”

“How much space?”

“What?”

“How far did you have to go to get away from me?”

I gripped the edge of the countertop. “No, it wasn’t like that. How could you think that?”

She whipped around. “Because you didn’t answer? Took Beast and disappeared?”

I ran a hand through my hair. “I needed to clear my head. I spoke to the coaches and it looks like I’m done here.”

“Oh.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “You still could have messaged.”

I hadn’t meant to upset her. “You’re right, I’m sorry—I’m not used to anyone caring that much.”

She slammed the mug down in front of me, coffee splashing onto the counter. “Of course I care! I thought we were in a relationship. But apparently it’s not the kind where you think I give a damn if you disappear.”

I ran my hands over my face. “I didn’t mean to worry or upset you. I had a lot of things to figure out.”

“None of these things were something I could help you with?”

I blinked at her. “Help?”

She sighed. “Yes. Help. If nothing else, just listen while you get it off your chest.”

Not what I was used to, but I could make a start.

“I— I haven’t done that, not for a long time.

” Her eyes softened. “I’ll try. Probably fuck it up, but here goes.

” I took a breath. “I had a talk with the coaches. They’re figuring out if they’re making trades.

They asked me about Lappy, but when I told them the pressure was getting to him, they said it meant I’d get more starts if they eased off him.

They think I’m just saying what I did to help myself.

I’m pretty sure I’m either going to be traded or bought out.

And then there’s no reason for me to be here. ”

Silence. Not a comfortable, cozy silence. Tense, angry silence. Yeah, not sure this was going to help.

“So that’s it? I don’t matter? You’re just going to leave?”

“What choice have I got? I’m not an American, and without a job, I have to go back to Canada.”

“Do you even want to try to see if there’s a way to make this work?”

“Don’t you understand that I have nothing to offer? No job, no home in the winter, not even a career to brag about.”

“Bullshit!”

I took a step back. She followed me, her forefinger hitting my chest hard enough to sting. “You don’t get to decide what is or isn’t good for me. That’s my decision. And here’s a news flash for you. I. Don’t. Care. About. Hockey.”

I blinked. “You were married to one of the best goalies in the game.”

She poked my chest again. “I had a crush on Ollie when he moved next door to us. Before he started playing hockey. And when we got together? He wasn’t playing anymore.” Her hand dropped and she took a step back. “Wait, do you think I was with him only because of his hockey career?”

I shook my head. No, Sophie wasn’t that shallow.

She sighed, eyes raising to the ceiling before meeting my gaze. “I’ve lived my whole life in the shadow of men who are successful. You really think that’s what I want?”

My mouth opened but no words came out. I’d never considered it from that angle.

I knew her father ignored her in favor of Cash, since Cash was so successful.

But I hadn’t thought that even without that she’d always been Ryder Williams’s daughter.

Cash’s sister. Otts’s wife. Not Sophie , not to others.

“No?” I hoped like hell I was getting this right.

“I don’t need any reflected glory. I’ve had enough of that to choke me.”

“But I have no idea what I’m doing next. Where I’m going to be.”

“And?”

“I guess I just didn’t know what I had to offer.”

She crossed her arms. “You’d better not be saying that to manipulate me.”

I wouldn’t know how. “No, ma’am.”

She held up a finger. “You don’t care who my dad is.”

“I’m not a big country music fan.”

A second finger shot up. “Or who my brother is.”

“I do like him.”

“But you haven’t asked for an autograph, or to get to meet him.”

I hadn’t asked, but I had met him at the house. A little voice in my head told me not to bring that up.

Finger number three. “You don’t care who my ex is.”

I had to respond to that. “Actually, that I do care about.”

She straightened up. “Why?”

“Because he’s my coach.”

She waved her fingers. “Fair point. But you’re not starstruck.”

I snorted. “Hard to be after sharing locker rooms. Not that Otts and I played on the same team, but.”

Her hand dropped. “You’re one of the few people I know who sees just me. Sees me and likes me. And after years of being overlooked, that’s incredible.”

“But…it’s not something I tried to do.”

“No, it’s just how you are. You admired my work and saw how much effort I put into it when my family didn’t. You’re kind and patient. You’re loyal.”

“That sounds like a pet dog.”

She looked at Beast. “What you’ve done with your dog is pretty admirable too.”

She had a point there. Beast was drastically different from the scared, aggressive bundle of bones I’d rescued all those months ago. That was something I’d accomplished outside of hockey. Maybe I could… But that wasn’t what I needed to focus on now.

I swallowed. “My future isn’t entirely in my hands.”

“But you could still stay here, right? For a while? If they traded you, you could come back.”

I’d never thought anyone would want me to stay. “You’d like me to?”

She nodded.

I felt a smile lifting my cheeks. “You’d really like me to stay?”

“I would, yeah. I don’t know what’s in the future, but I think we have something. Do you?”

I wasn’t used to thinking I had that kind of something. I moved a lot, so I traveled light. Not just with physical things. It meant hockey was everything. Without it, I was lost. Maybe this, with Sophie, was something that could last past hockey.

“I’m afraid I’ll fuck it up. I don’t have any track record of being with someone.”

“Come here,” she commanded, and I obeyed. I stood in front of her and she wrapped her arms around my neck. “We’ll just have to unfuck it if that happens.”

“That simple?”

“Yeah. Now kiss me and say you’ll stay.”