Page 45

ELLIETTE

I dropped my last cardboard box onto the floor outside my— Daniel’s —door and fished my keys from my purse.

Kiera had dropped off nearly enough yesterday, but I’d come up one box short. Thank goodness for liquor stores because the one down the street had a healthy selection. But that’s where my luck ended.

That was because Lukas’s door suddenly opened, and he stepped out, carrying a large bulging duffel.

At the sight of all that was him, a tingling sensation swept across my scalp and down my spine. Damn . I was not ready to see him. I might never be ready to see him. He’d hurt me. Again. Just like before.

He’d made me feel small, insignificant, and beneath his notice. And he did it looking so damn beautiful. Again.

Lukas stood there, similarly frozen, though his face was completely unreadable.

“D- didn’t the team bus already leave for the airport?” I asked, cringing as my voice cracked over more than one word .

“Probably.” His aspect remained completely flat, as if he were talking to a stranger.

“Then…” I didn’t understand. Was he planning to drive himself? He’d never make it to Kansas City in time for the puck to drop.

The corners of his mouth tightened. “You didn’t hear?”

“Hear what?” Was there going to be a second plane? Was the game delayed?

“I busted my shoulder. I’m out.”

“I heard,” I whispered. “I still thought you’d be traveling to the game. ”

And, therefore, assuming we wouldn’t be running into each other.

“Not this game.” His face was still blank, but not like he was masking his emotions, more like he had nothing left to mask.

“Then where are you going,” I asked, glancing at his bag.

“Home.”

“Home?” I sputtered. “As in Montana? Today?”

“Today. Now , actually. And I won’t be coming back.” His tone was flatter than the highway that lay ahead of him.

That’s when I truly understood. He wasn’t just talking about his season. He meant his career. His life. The ramifications of one stupid shoulder were dire.

I took in his blank expression, his toneless voice, then the size of his duffle. He wasn’t just leaving. He was already gone.

My emotions ricocheted between anger and grief. Heat flared from my heart to my face, making my nose sting. “You were just going to leave without saying goodbye?”

His eyebrows rose—the first indication of the man I knew still lingering beneath the surface. “I didn’t think you’d want to see me.”

“I… I didn’t! ” The words burst out of me.

Okay, sure. I’d hoped to get into Daniel’s apartment without running into Lukas, but that didn’t mean I was going to disappear on him forever. Not like he was obviously willing to do to me.

“Well, there you have it,” Lukas said as the veil of apathy fell over his face again. That whole look succeeded in pissing me off even more. It was quite the feat.

“So, that’s it,” I said, still bewildered.

“What more should there be?” he asked.

Oh my god. Was he serious with that shit? “How can you be so indifferent?”

“I told you it would end this way.”

God, he sounded like a freaking robot! “Yeah? With you slinking away at the ass-crack of dawn?”

“You just got done telling me you didn’t want to see me.”

I blinked. He was right. I did say that. “Well…this is perfect then. You can go back to Montana and man-whore all over the place with all the women you want, and you won’t even have to pick them up in a bar.”

Lukas rocked backward, as though I’d slapped him across the face.

Before I could apologize—not that I was going to apologize—his jaw clenched, and he adjusted the strap of his bag over his shoulder.

“I think we should leave it here, Elliette. Before either of us says anything more. Anything we’ll regret.”

Defeated, I bent to pick up the box. I needed to do something with my hands, and strangling him wasn’t an option. How could he just leave like this ?

Lukas looked down at the box. “Did you decide to move out early because of me being next door? Because…since I’m leaving?—”

I clicked my tongue in derision. “I know you’re used to the world revolving around you, Lukas, but that’s not it.”

“Then why? You had more time to live off your ex’s dime. After what he did to you, you deserved that.”

“After what Daniel did to me? Have you forgotten how you humiliated me in that bar two nights ago?”

Lukas hung his head. “Sorry. I…”

“If you must know, I won’t be staying in Minnesota for long. I’ll be looking for a new job and?—”

“So, it is about me,” Lukas said. “O’Rourke fired you because I’m off the roster, and now he’s expecting a ticket slump.”

My lips parted, unable to determine whether it was arrogance or guilt that led him to that conclusion. The truth was, O’Rourke hadn’t fired me, though I did plan on quitting. And it wasn’t because of Lukas.

Or maybe it was a little bit. But one thing was clear, I needed a fresh start. And if I was ever going to land my dream job in Hollywood, it was time I stopped putting it off.

Lukas looked down at the keys in his hand, then up at me. “My dad is supposed to send movers, but I’ll cancel them.”

He took his apartment key off the ring and handed it to me.

I didn’t reach out to take it. “I don’t understand.”

“Take the key, Elliette. My rent is pre-paid for the year, so there’s no reason for you to be couch surfing with friends.”

“But…”

“I know it won’t be ideal, living next door to your ex. But with any luck, he won’t find it super comfortable either. Maybe he’ll break his lease. Or sublet.”

“I couldn’t…” And I really, really couldn’t. Did he honestly expect me to live in his space? Cry myself to sleep every night on his pillows?

“You could.” He grabbed my hand, lifted it, and shoved the key into my palm. “I want you to. Move in, Elliette. Don’t be stupid.”

“Now you’re calling me stupid?”

His body sagged with exhaustion. “Would you please stop trying to pick a fight? All I’m saying is, don’t be stupid now just because you’re pissed at me.”

I was pissed. But not for the reasons he thought.

“You might not be the woman for me?—”

Ouch. I’d heard that before. Seven years before to be exact. This time, his delivery was a little softer, but it didn’t hurt any less.

“—but we can still be civil. I can still take care of you in whatever way makes sense. You can go back to thinking of me like another brother.”

“A brother?” I scoffed. “Right.”

He cleared his throat. “Or better yet, forget about me altogether. I’m a stranger in a crowd.”

“Like I could ever forget your stupid face.”

I was still mad. I tried to sound mad. But the hitch in my voice gave me away because I hated how we were ending. I hated the future he was walking into—not for me, but for him.

Lukas’s jaw clenched again. “Try.”

Then he turned on his heel and walked away. He didn’t look back.

I was still holding his key.