Page 132 of Learn Your Lesson

She hurried off the bed without letting me see her face again, ducking inside the bathroom.

And the monster dragged me out of her sheets in a numb daze, hauling across the back yard until he could lock me in my castle once more.

This time, it felt like he threw away the key.

You Good?

Will

April came like Christmas, like a holiday that always seems so far away only to surprise you with its arrival as if it happened quickly and unexpectedly.

Eight games.

We hadeight gamesleft until the playoffs.

The pressure was so high, the tension thicker than I’d ever felt.

Coach was strung out, his usual cool façade interrupted by bursts of outrage when we fucked up in practice.

Aleks was focused on the ice, but was up to his usual shenanigansoffthe ice — which meant our PR team was busy cleaning up after him nearly every week when we were trying to focus on the games ahead.

Vince and Jaxson were wound just as tight as I was, the three of us trying to wrangle the team into one that could win the whole thing.

There was no question on whether or not we’d make it to the playoffs now. We were in.

We’d have a chance to fight for the Cup.

Now, it was about staying healthy, finishing strong, and securing our spot as top seed. That meant home ice advantage for four games instead of three in the seven-game series that made up the playoffs. Playing on our own ice, having our home crowd cheering for us — it meant everything. It could be the difference between winning it all and going home in the first round.

For so long, I’d worked with this team for this exact moment. Years and years of building, working hard, making adjustments. Finally, we just… clicked. We had the right players. We had the momentum. We had the energy, the drive, the luck.

And my focus was fucking shot.

When I was at the rink, I was there. I was in it. I was with my team, all my awareness on the goal I protected, on the players I was trying to lead to our first championship in decades.

But instead of that focus coming with me when I went home, it evaporated instantly the moment I crossed the threshold.

Because when I was home, everything revolved around Chloe.

Chloe, who had twisted me up so fiercely I could barely breathe in her presence. Chloe, who had infiltrated my home, my family, myheart. Chloe, who had become close friends with my chef, who had becomebestfriend to my daughter… maybe even more than that.

Chloe — who had barely talked to me in more than a week.

Since that night in the bathtub, she’d pulled away from me.

It was the smart thing to do. It was what we both needed — namelyme. Clearly, I was barely holding onto the reins of our arrangement. But somehow, I’d managed to keep myself on the other side of that line we’d drawn. I hadn’t stayed that night. I hadn’t given in.

Because of that, I’d completely lost her.

I felt it in the way she could barely look at me the next morning, at how every smile she gave me now was weak and lined with a sheen of pain.

In the process of saving myself, I’d hurt her.

It was so clear, so evident, and yet I couldn’t figure out what the hell to do about it.

She wanted this, too. She’d told me as much.I don’t date. I don’t want friends. We were on the same page. Where my reason stemmed from Jenny, hers came from her family, from her desire to be independent and to make them proud of her and her decisions.

But suddenly, it didn’t feel like our reasons were so clear. It didn’t feel like they made fuckingsense— not anymore.